Mediation, Family Law, Estate Planning, Probate

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Qualified Neutral Under Rule 114 of the Minnesota Rules of General Practice

Meredith conducts mediation as a neutral for parties needing assistance resolving matters related to family law including dissolution of marriage, custody, parenting time, paternity, child support, and spousal maintenance. In her role as a neutral, Meredith helps parties resolve their matters with a kind, professional approach with the goal of helping the parties reach a resolution to keep the parties from having to engage in expensive, stressful litigation.  

Meredith has extensive experience in mediation. Meredith is a Qualified Neutral under rule 114 of the Minnesota Rules of General Practice, which means Meredith has completed over 40 hours of training in how to conduct successful mediations. Not only does Meredith have the requisite training to be a Qualified Neutral, Meredith has also represented clients in 100s of family law mediations over her 16 years of practice. 

Dissolution of Marriage - Divorce

In Minnesota, the process of getting a divorce is referred to as a dissolution of marriage. Dissolving your marriage can be very emotional and complicated. It's important that you have a good, experienced, competent Minnesota Divorce Attorney. It is important to be thoroughly informed of what will occur throughout the dissolution process and how it will affect you and your family. It is also important you understand the responsibilities you may face once the dissolution of marriage has been finalized.

Custody

Custody of your children is one of the most, if not the most important thing in your life and your children's lives. You need a seasoned custody attorney in Minnesota that knows the ins and outs of Minnesota Custody Law. There are two types of custody: legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody is the right of a parent be involved in major decisions in a child’s life including education, health care and religion. Physical custody means the routine daily care, control and residence of a child. 

Parenting Time

Parenting time is a term that refers to how much time each parent spends with their children after a dissolution of marriage or after the establishment of custody. Parenting time involves a routine schedule that includes holidays, summers, vacations, and non-school days. Parenting time determinations are made based on the best interests of the child. Contact our Minnesota Family Law attorney today. 

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Step-Parent Adoption

A stepparent adoption is a complicated process. After the adoption is complete, the biological parent's rights are terminated, and the adopting parent will have all of the legal rights to the child as if the child was born to him or her. The stepparent assumes full legal responsibility for the child, raising that child as their own. Because the biological parent's rights to their child are terminated through the adoption process, Minnesota Statutes have safeguards to ensure that a biological parents’ rights aren’t wrongfully terminated.

Prenuptial Agreements

Marriage is one of the events in life that change it dramatically. It is a change of personal status and of legal status. A prenuptial agreement is a legally binding agreement both parties sign prior to a marriage that protects nonmarital assets and determines the distribution of assets in the event the marriage is dissolved and/or in the event of either parties' death.

Postnuptial Agreements

A postnuptial agreement is created between a married couple which details the division of assets in the event of a divorce and/or a spouse's death. Postnuptial agreements are very similar to prenuptial agreements but there are more procedures that must be followed, and requirements met in order for the agreement to be enforceable.

Cohabitation Agreements

Many couples live together, buy homes together and share financial responsibilities without being married. There is little to no legal protection for couples who combine their financial lives without getting married. Cohabitation agreements protect the couple's individual financial and property rights in if their relationship ends. 

Child Support
When going through a divorce, custody matter, paternity or any other family court matter, it is very important that you understand the law as it relates to child support. Child support is typically paid by one parent to another to help provide for the needs of the children. Child support is broken down into basic support, medical support, and childcare support.

In Minnesota, to calculate child support, both parents’ incomes are taken into consideration and a lengthy formula is used to determine the amount of support paid from one parent to another. The statute considers both parents’ gross income, the number of children they have, how much time each parent spends with the children, who pays for medical insurance, the cost of the medical insurance, and the cost of raising children at various income levels.​

In general, Estate Planning is the process in which you put certain things in place to ensure your property and assets go where and to whom you want upon your passing. It is also the process by which you do your best to ensure that when you pass, the process of dealing with your affairs, property and assets is as simplified for your family as possible. Your goals can be accomplished through things like wills, trusts, and titling of assets. 

Probate is the process by which an individual's estate is settled after their passing. Sometimes, probate is as easy as distributing assets by giving them to the individuals named in a will or listed as a beneficiary. Other times, it is necessary for the Court to be involved to issue orders that allow the Estate's assets to be distributed.