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How to Treat Negative Equity in Real Estate

By: Alan Eidsness , Jaime Driggs | Minnesota Lawyer | December 16, 2013
Domestic Relations, Real Estate Equity

Ever since housing prices plummeted, family law attorneys have struggled to determine how to treat real property with negative equity. Does it go on the balance sheet as a negative number or does it get valued at zero? With Middendorf v. Middendorf, the Court of Appeals issued a decision addressing how to treat real property with negative equity, an issue family law attorneys have struggled […]

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Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl

By: Alan Eidsness , Jaime Driggs | Minnesota Lawyer | December 9, 2013
Adoption, Domestic Relations, Divorce Settlements

In their article, “Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl,” family law attorneys Alan C. Eidsness and Jaime Driggs examined the recent United States Supreme Court decision addressing the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The case involved the difficult issues of race, fathers’ rights, adoption placement, and Indian rights. Though it had the potential to provide a meaningful […]

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Waiver of Retirement Benefits in Antenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

By: Alan Eidsness , Lisa Spencer | Minnesota Lawyer | November 27, 2013
Divorce Settlements, Retirement Benefits

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently determined that broad provisions for the waiver of retirement benefits in antenuptial and postnuptial agreements are ineffective if the terms lack strict conformity with 29 U.S.C. §1055(c)(2)(A) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Family law attorneys Alan C. Eidsness and Lisa T. Spencer discuss the Court’s decision […]

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Child Support for Business Owners Following Haefele v. Haefele

By: Alan Eidsness , Melissa Nilsson , Jaime Driggs | Minnesota Lawyer | November 18, 2013
Child Support, Divorce Settlements

The Supreme Court’s decision in Haefele v. Haefele changed the landscape in child support litigation involving owners of closely-held businesses. Before Haefele, disputes in such cases frequently centered on the availability of the owner’s income. The reason for retaining earnings, degree of control, and true cash flow were always topics of inquiry and debate. After Haefele, these considerations still matter, but not with respect to calculating income and […]

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Vocational Evaluations After Graybow v. Graybow

By: Alan Eidsness , Jaime Driggs | Minnesota Lawyer | November 11, 2013
Spousal Maintenance

The importance of vocational assessments became unmistakable after Passolt v. Passolt but while some types of evaluations are provided for by statute, none exist for vocational evaluations. Read family law attorneys Alan C. Eidsness and Jaime Driggs’ analysis on requesting vocational evaluations after Graybow v. Graybow. The article is part of a series previously printed […]

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Parenting Consultants: Lessons from the Case Law

By: Alan Eidsness , Jaime Driggs | Minnesota Lawyer | November 4, 2013
Child Support, Domestic Relations

Family law attorneys Alan C. Eidsness and Jaime Driggs co-authored “Parenting Consultants: Lessons from the Case Law,” which covers recent court decisions that shed light on the challenging issues raised by the use of parenting consultants. The article is part of a series previously printed in Minnesota Lawyer concerning topics relevant to the area of […]

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