Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: How to represent yourself in court

It sounds as though you may have your hands full. There are not really any good, simple books that describe what you should do or how you should do it. There is no simple set of objective rules the court will apply to determine whether custody should be modified. Rather, the law describes general considerations for the court, and it is up to the parties (usually through attorneys, but you can try it pro se) to develop factual arguments that suggest a certain outcome is required by the applicable statutory standards. You need to be aware that there is nothing so simple as a procedural checklist, where you can tick off the things that need to be done. The procedural rules provide for different types of discovery, among other things, and what a lawyer may choose to do (that is, how he or she will proceed) will not be the same in each case, even if the facts of different cases appear more or less similar.

If you want to try this on your own, you can review the dissolution statute, particularly section 518.18 (which governs modifications of custody, assuming that is what she actually intends to do, as a matter of law), and you can attempt to research appellate decisions, which are also part of "the law," and which interpret the statute. Finally, as to procedural rules, you should examine the rules of family court procedure. All of these are available on line. You will find a link to the Minnesota Statutes and Appellate decisions at my own website, among other places.

Thank you for your question. If you need further assistance, you will find my contact information below. Even if you do not retain a lawyer to represent you at the hearing, you would be well advised to spend a little time getting yourself pointed in the right direction.