Resources
To make things easier for you while yrou deal with the stress of legal matters, here are some links to other helpful and resourceful websites for more information.
1. Online Child Support Calculator
2. Minnesota State Bar Association
6. Center for Parental Responsibility
7. Minnesota Christian Legal Society
To educate yourself even further on some legal matters, here are some questions you can use to test your knowledge! Answers can be found at the bottom.
Divorce Quiz
1. To get a divorce in Minnesota you must prove that your spouse did something to warrant getting a divorce. True or False?
2. To get a divorce in Minnesota you must reside in Minnesota for least one month before commencing your divorce proceeding. True or False?
3. You can file for divorce in the county in which either you or your spouse reside at the time of commencement of the divorce. True or False?
4. A person cannot stop a divorce once it is commenced by his or her spouse. True or False?
5. If the husband and wife have no children of the marriage they can divorce one another without a court appearance, if they are in agreement with the divorce terms? True or False?
6. A spouse can rightfully request getting one-half of his/her spouse's IRA or 401(k) even if the spouse requesting it never directly contributed anything to it. True or False?
7. A wife that worked full-time during the marriage and had the added burden of caring for the children when she got home has a greater chance of getting spousal maintenance (alimony) than a wife who never worked during the marriage but stayed home to take care of the children. True or False?
8. Divorce cases, if contested, take up to a year, sometimes two years to complete. True or False?
9. Divorce cases, if uncontested, can be completed within 60 days. True or False?
10. For the most part, the Court takes great interest in the fact that one spouse is cheating on the other when it determines the terms for divorce. True or False?
(Answer key: 1-F, 2-F, 3-T, 4-T, 5-T, 6-T. 7-F, 8-T, 9-T, 10-F)
Child Support Quiz
1. Minnesota has always considered the gross income of both parents when determining how much child support one parent should pay the other. True or False?
2. A person court ordered to pay child support is allowed to take a tax deduction for that support. True or False?
3. A person who receives court ordered child support must pay taxes on that received child support? True or False?
4. Bill Gates could apply for the 'free services' of the county attorney's office to commence, collect or enforce child support by paying $25. True or False?
5. A person's occupational license can be taken away from them for not paying child support. True or False?
6. If a person falls behind in child support and is unable to make the minimum monthly court ordered payments, the court is likely to add 20% more to that person's support obligation to force payment on child support arrears? True or False?
7. If a person loses their job the court will automatically suspend their child support obligation during such time of unemployment. True or False?
8. The court gives a self-employed person the benefit of the doubt when it comes to determining their gross income from their business. True or False?
9. If a person has court ordered parenting time of at least 45%, they can get child support greatly reduced even if they don't have sole physical custody or joint physical custody. True or False?
10. A person paying child support has right to demand how the money paid to the other parent is being spent. True or False?
(Answer key: 1-F. MN has only recently considered both incomes (as of 2007). In the past MN only considered the income of the person paying child support to determine the child support amount. 2-F. 3-F. 4-T. Under Title IV-D any person, simply by filling out an application and paying this modest fee, can get these services for 'free'. 5-T. They can also have their driver's license & recreational licenses taken away. 6-T. 7-F. There is no automatic suspension. To the contrary, there is a presumption a person can find employment. 8-F. Self-employed persons are the most scrutinized of all child support payors. Beware! 9-T. 10-F.)