Gislason & Hunter Law Blog

Reading your divorce decree is not exactly a fun task.  Not only is reviewing the document dissolving your marriage emotionally difficult for many people, the documents are usually full of "legalese" and not always drafted with any eye toward making the document easy to read.  For complex cases, there may be more than one document to read of the parties agreed to "bifurcate" or deal with property issues separate from custody and parenting time, for example.  Complex cases can result in divorce decrees that look like (and weigh as much as) a book when they are done.   

It would be a big mistake to avoid reading and understanding these documents just because they are complex or picking them up causes a flood of emotions.  These documents guide and direct much of your life going forward, whether it is when and how you must pick up and drop off your kids in the absence of an agreement with your ex-spouse or under what circumstances and when  your ex-spouse has to chip in for unreimbursed medical expenses, you need to know and understand what your divorce decree actually says.  If you don’t understand something, call your lawyer and have him or her explain it to you—preferably before you sign it.

Andrew M. Tatge is a partner and chair of the Family Law and Divorce Practice Group at Gislason & Hunter LLP (www.gislason.com).  He regularly represents farmers, business owners, professionals, and other high earning and high net worth individuals (or their spouses) in divorce and related actions.  Andrew can be reached at atatge@gislason.com or (507) 387-1115. This information is general in nature and should not be construed as tax or legal advice.

The Family Farm brings a certain image to the minds of those who grew up in the Mid-west before the farm crisis of the early 1980’s.  However, our traditional visions of Mom, Dad, and the kids working the fields on a few hundred acres and having a couple of farm animals in the big red barn no longer match the reality of the modern farm.  The modern farm operation more and more consists of thousands of acres of crops and/or thousands of head of livestock.  These modern farm operations use many non-family workers to complete the heavy seasonal work around planting and harvest, as well as the maintenance and care of large herds of livestock.  Despite this change in agriculture, the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act still operates under a tradeoff based on this old view of the family farm, a tradeoff which is no longer fair to the modern farm.

In Minnesota divorce cases, trial judges have significant power to determine when and how to award marital assets.  Rarely are their decisions overturned on appeal.

Even before a divorce is final, judges have the power to permanently divide or dispose of marital assets.  If a judge believes it is necessary to preserve marital assets, the judge can order a sale of the homestead (or sale of any other marital asset—including business interests, farm land, etc.) and can also dispose of the funds from that sale as the Court deems fair and just.  The judge may also make a partial distribution of assets to one party or the other for good cause shown.  “Good cause” is hard to define, but most judges would probably say that they know it when they see it.  

Pre-decree sale and disposition statutes give judges the power to preserve assets, protect the parties’ interests, and otherwise "keep things fair" while a divorce case moves through the system.  Of course, the parties are free to avoid judicial involvement and divide or protect their assets on their own, but to do so requires cooperation.   

Andrew M. Tatge is a partner and chair of the Family Law and Divorce Practice Group at Gislason & Hunter LLP (www.gislason.com).  He regularly represents farmers, business owners, professionals, and other high earning and high net worth individuals (or their spouses) in divorce and related actions.  Andrew can be reached at atatge@gislason.com or (507) 387-1115. This information is general in nature and should not be construed as tax or legal advice.

Every employer who employs an individual who performs work inside the territorial boundaries of the United States must have a properly completed I-9 form for each of their employees on file during the course of their employment.  Each employee must, after being offered a job and accepting it, complete Section One of an I-9 prior to performing any work for the employer.  An employee must then, within three business days, provide sufficient original documentation to allow the employer to complete Section Two of the I-9.  If the employee cannot provide such sufficient documentation, then the employee can no longer work until he or she does provide the sufficient documentation.

No business wants to be sued by an employee or former employee.  It is expensive to defend employment lawsuits.  In addition, such litigation is time consuming for management and may decrease company morale.  There is a means by which employers can minimize employee lawsuits.  Your company can require that employees sign arbitration agreements and thus waive their right to file lawsuits in certain situations when they have a dispute with their employers.