Family Law: Marriage, Divorce, Custody, and Support
What the exam tests
Family law covers marriage formation, divorce grounds, property division, spousal and child support, custody, parentage, adoption, and interstate custody jurisdiction. Minnesota uses no-fault divorce and equitable distribution.
Core rules
- Marriage: license, solemnization, and capacity. Common-law marriage is limited; do not assume it without a recognized state rule. Premarital agreements must be in writing and voluntary, with fair disclosure.
- Divorce: no-fault based on irretrievable breakdown. Property division is equitable, not necessarily equal. Marital property includes earnings during marriage; separate property includes premarital assets and gifts.
- Spousal maintenance: consider need, ability to pay, standard of living, duration of marriage, and health.
- Child support: income shares model and guidelines; deviation requires findings. Support continues until emancipation or as ordered.
- Custody: legal and physical; best interests of the child. Factors include stability, caregiver relationship, and the child's needs.
- UCCJEA: home state has priority if the child lived there for at least six months immediately before the proceeding. Emergency jurisdiction addresses immediate harm.
- Parentage: presumption of legitimacy; genetic testing; adoption requires termination or consent.
Worked example
Mother and child live in Minnesota for eight months. Father files a custody petition in Wisconsin, where the child was born. Under the UCCJEA, Minnesota is the home state because the child lived there for at least six months immediately before the filing. Wisconsin should decline jurisdiction unless emergency jurisdiction applies.
Traps
Equitable distribution is not automatic 50/50. Separate property can be commingled. A custody order must be modified in the issuing state unless it declines jurisdiction.