Post-Decree Issues

Post-Decree Issues There are times when a divorce does not end issues of property division, pension division, spousal maintenance, or legal and physical custody of children because of a change of circumstances. Should one or both parties not be honest in declaring marital and non-marital property, it may be necessary to address the non-declared property in a legal proceeding. Sometimes divorcing couples with no ill intent overlooked certain assets and debts and did not include them in the divorce paperwork and now need to work through how to divide them. There may be times when someone was court ordered in the divorce to do something, such as refinancing a mortgage or the parenting time schedule is not being followed, and you feel you must return to court to get a judge involved.   COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT POST-DECREE ISSUES What does post-decree Motion mean? Post-decree means a judge has signed a divorce decree, or final order, granting a divorce and issues have now surfaced that need to be addressed. For example, a person can file a post-decree Motion if a situation arises when one of the parties is not following the divorce Decree. A court hearing, or Motion hearing, is scheduled once the parties file the appropriate paperwork with the court and pay the required filing fee to allow them both to explain the conflict to a judge. That same judge after the hearing issues an order within 90 days deciding if the divorce Decree is in fact being ignored and the violator’s consequences. What happens if a divorce decree is not followed? A former spouse may file a post-decree Motion to obtain a court hearing to explain and show a judge how the other former spouse is not complying with a divorce decree or the issues, like an undisclosed asset that was not addressed in the divorce case, have surfaced. It can take several months to have a judge hear the Motion and for the judge to issue his or her ruling. How to file a post-decree Motion to enforce a divorce Order? Both the forms and instructions on how to file this Motion are found on the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s website, which is https://www.mncourts.gov/GetForms.aspx?c=15&p=61. The forms can be filled out either by typing in the information into each separate form or legibly completing the forms by hand. Are divorce decrees final? Yes, they are final once the 60-day period to appeal a divorce decree to the Minnesota Court of Appeals has run.