Publications

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Tax attorney Stephen L. Hopkins has co-updated a chapter for Minnesota CLE on appeals of United States Tax Court decisions to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals with John Barrie, partner at Bryan Cave. The chapter discusses the procedures that apply to review of cases on appeal from the United States Tax Court. It includes an…

An equitable division of property can be difficult when the homestead is the only asset with equity and won’t be sold immediately. A marital lien in favor of the party moving out may be the only option but careful consideration must be given when drafting the decree to ensure all parties’ intentions are fulfilled. Read…

Henson Efron mourns the loss of Robert F. Henson, one of the leading attorneys to ever practice in the State of Minnesota. Bob epitomized what every lawyer should aspire to be: He was a highly skilled practitioner of law and our greatest friend, mentor, colleague and leader. Bob was recognized as a consummate professional by his…

Corporate and business law attorney John C. Levy contributed an article titled “Delaware court’s decision could affect reverse triangular mergers” for the October edition of Minnesota Lawyer.  The article covers the decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery in Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC v. Roche Diagnostics GMBH regarding the ruling that a reverse triangular merger…