Property Division

According to Minnesota Statutes Section §518.003, all property accumulated during the course of a marriage is generally considered to be marital property, regardless of who actually accumulated the property or earned it. For example, under the law a non-working spouse is entitled to a portion of the other spouse’s pension or retirement account even though he or she had nothing to do with the accumulation of the retirement account.

Minnesota’s property division statute states that the Court shall order an equitable division of property (Minn.Stat. §518.58), which, generally speaking, has come to mean an equal division of property.

Minnesota case law also allows a Court to defer a party’s realization of the equity in a marital homestead if there are minor children and the Court finds that it would be a “hardship” for the “custodial” parent to pay the equity to the “noncustodial” parent.

As a result, the noncustodial parent can be required to wait until the minor children reach the age of majority before he or she can receive his or her share of the equity in the marital homestead.

Nonmarital property is defined as any property, real or personal, which is:

• Acquired by either spouse before, during, or after the existence of their marriage;
• Acquired as a gift, bequest, devise or inheritance made by a third party to one but not to the other spouse;
• Acquired before the marriage;
• Acquired in exchange for property owned before the marriage or which was acquired as a gift to one but not the other spouse;
• Acquired by a spouse after the valuation date for the marital estate; or
  Excluded by a valid antenuptial contract.

According to Minnesota law, once a property division is finalized in a case it cannot be reopened unless, generally speaking, the Court finds that one of the parties engaged in fraud by hiding assets or income.

The Nygaard & Longe Law Office has settled or litigated many, many complex property division cases involving businesses and other tangible and intangible assets.