Divorce in Minnesota, start to finish
See a different stateMinnesota
Minnesota calls it a “dissolution of marriage,” gives you every form for free, and — unlike most states — doesn’t make you get anything notarized. What it doesn’t give you is the order, the real timeline (there’s no fixed waiting period, except for one narrow track where there very much is), or the one filing mistake that can put your Social Security number in the public record permanently. That’s this.
Put in the day you filed and this page works out every deadline in your case, then hands you a calendar file that reminds you a week before each one and again the day before. It opens in the calendar you already use. Free, no account, nothing stored.
1 · The three routes, and what the rule requires
Minnesota has three tracks, not two: a narrow fast lane called Summary Dissolution that almost nobody has heard of, a Joint Petition track for any couple who agrees, and the regular Petition track for everyone else. Getting this wrong mostly costs time rather than a rejected filing, but the fast lane is worth knowing about, so all three are set out below with the conditions attached to each.
Residency comes first. Minn. Stat. § 518.07 requires one spouse to have resided in — or been domiciled in, or, for military, been stationed in — Minnesota for 180 days immediately before filing. There is a narrow exception where the marriage took place in Minnesota and neither spouse lives somewhere that would refuse to grant the dissolution.
Summary Dissolution
Minnesota’s real fast lane, and almost nobody uses it because almost nobody knows it exists. There is no hearing, ever.
Available only where all of these are true:
- The marriage has lasted 8 years or less.
- There are no living minor children born to or adopted by either spouse, and neither spouse is pregnant.
- Neither spouse owns real estate.
- Marital assets are at or under $25,000.
- Nonmarital assets are at or under $25,000 each.
- Debts taken on during the marriage are at or under $8,000, cars excluded.
- There is no history of domestic abuse between the spouses.
- Both spouses file jointly, as co-petitioners.
- Neither spouse is asking the court to decide spousal maintenance now.
There is a fixed, mandatory 30-day wait between filing and the decree — the one hard deadline in this kit. The decree reserves spousal maintenance rather than deciding it: either spouse can still ask for it later by separate motion, but not in this proceeding.
Joint Petition
Minnesota’s cooperative, no-service track for a couple who agrees but does not fit inside Summary Dissolution’s limits. Both spouses sign as co-petitioners, and there is usually no hearing.
Available only where all of these are true:
- Both spouses sign on as co-petitioners.
- Everything is already agreed — property, debts, and, where there are children, custody, parenting time and support.
Critically, there is no fixed statutory waiting period the way Summary Dissolution has one. Once the paperwork — and any parenting-class certificates, where custody was contested — is complete, a judge can sign the decree on their own schedule.
Petition
The regular track. It does not mean contested: plenty of regular-Petition Minnesota divorces are entirely uncontested once served. They just need the service and 30-day answer machinery in Section 5.
This is the route wherever either of these is true:
- The spouses are not filing jointly as co-petitioners.
- Property, debts, or — where there are children — custody, parenting time and support are not yet agreed.
A cooperative spouse can skip formal service entirely. Form CIV022A is sent, and the spouse signs CIV022B, the Waiver of Service of Summons — no process server needed.
2 · Every form Minnesota publishes for a divorce
The complete list for all three routes, not a shortlist — because which forms a case needs depends on facts only you and, if you need one, your lawyer can weigh. Each row says which route it belongs to. Every form here is free from the Minnesota Judicial Branch, which lists well over 60 individual divorce forms across ten sub-packets in its full catalog.
The Cusp is not a law firm and cannot tell you which forms are right for your case. Everything here is general information about how Minnesota handles divorce, and every form below is published free by Minnesota itself — you do not have to buy anything from anyone to get them. If your situation is not straightforward, a consultation with a Minnesota family lawyer costs far less than fixing a filing that went wrong.
| Form | What it is | Route | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIV201 | Instructions – Summary Dissolution | Summary Dissolution | Download |
| DIV202 | Summary Dissolution Form (Joint Petition) | Summary Dissolution | Download |
| DIV301 | Instructions – Joint Petition for Dissolution Without Children | Joint Petition | Download |
| DIV302 | Joint Petition And Decree Without Children | Joint Petition | Download |
| DIV1701 | Instructions for Joint Petition for Dissolution With Children | Joint Petition | Download |
| DIV1702 | Joint Petition for Marriage Dissolution With Children | Joint Petition | Download |
| DIV401 | Instructions – Dissolution without Children | Petition | Download |
| DIV402 | Petition for Dissolution without Children | Petition | Download |
| DIV403 | Summons | Petition | Download |
| DIV408 | Affidavit of Non Military Status — the version used without children | Petition | Download |
| DIV801 | Instructions – Dissolution with Children | Petition | Download |
| DIV802 | Petition for Divorce with Children | Petition | Download |
| DIV803 | Combined Summons | Petition | Download |
| DIV808 | Affidavit of Non Military Status — the version used with children | Petition | Download |
| CIV022A | Notice of Lawsuit and Request for Waiver of Service of Summons — where a spouse will cooperate instead of being served | Petition | Download |
| CIV022B | Waiver of Service of Summons — the responding spouse signs this | Petition | Download |
| DIV103 | Certificate of Dissolution | Petition | Download |
| DIV103S | Certificate of Dissolution (for co-petitioners) | Summary Dissolution, Joint Petition | Download |
| FAM101 | Instructions for Financial Affidavit | Petition | Download |
| FAM102 | Financial Affidavit | Petition | Download |
| CON111 | Confidential Information Form (Form 11.1) — for any restricted identifiers | All | Download |
| CON112 | Cover Sheet for Non-Public Documents (Form 11.2) — where financial documents are attached | All | Download |
Every one of these is free. Download fresh each time — the Judicial Branch revises forms periodically, and this list links the current version as of 08/2026. Full catalog: mncourts.gov/getforms/divorce-dissolution.
3 · Getting the forms and filling them in
Nobody explains this part, so here it is. Every Minnesota form is free, most are “Fillable Smart Forms” you complete on screen, and — the part people from other states don’t expect — nothing has to be notarized.
You may e-file, but you do not have to Your choice
- Portal
- eFile and eServe (eFS)
- Paper
- Still accepted — you can file over the counter.
- What it costs
- No portal fee published.
- Account
- Only if the self-represented party opts in. The judiciary cautions that only 'parties to a case or attorneys representing parties' should register — advocates should not register on a self-represented litigant's behalf. litigant's behalf.
- Worth knowing
- Minnesota states the pro se position twice — once in the rule and once in plain language on its public site: self-represented filers 'can file on paper by going to the courthouse or by mailing their filings to the courthouse.' The one-way door applies here as well: once a pro se filer uses eFS in a case, they must keep using it for that case. eFS accepts VISA, MasterCard and Discover; American Express is not accepted. A judge may order an individual self-represented litigant to e-file, so the exemption is not absolute.
Step one — download them free
All Minnesota Judicial Branch divorce forms live here, at no cost:
mncourts.gov/getforms/divorce-dissolution — Divorce / Dissolution Forms
Minnesota’s own free tool, Guide & File, is a guided interview that builds the correct packet for your situation — Joint or regular, with or without children — and can e-file it for you when you’re done. It’s free, and for a Joint Petition it genuinely replaces most of what’s in this section. Learn more at the Guide & File help topic.
Step two — fill them in on screen
Most Minnesota family forms are Fillable Smart Forms — open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) or a modern browser, type into the fields, and save or print. Write “N/A” anywhere something doesn’t apply rather than leaving a field blank.
Step three — sign it. That’s it. No notary.
This genuinely surprises people who’ve dealt with Florida’s or Connecticut’s process. Under Minn. Stat. § 358.116, signing a Minnesota court document under the printed declaration “I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct,” along with the date and the county and state where you signed, is a full legal substitute for notarization. Minnesota’s own courts FAQ confirms it directly: divorce forms “do not require notarization.” Petitions, financial affidavits, and the non-military affidavit are all signed this way — not sworn before a notary.
Skipping the notary doesn’t lower the stakes. Falsely signing a document under this declaration is perjury under Minnesota law, the same as lying to a notary or a judge.
Step four — file them
Self-represented filers can e-file through Minnesota’s statewide eFS system, or file on paper at your county courthouse — both are fully valid, and it’s genuinely your choice. The one thing to know going in: once you e-file a single document in a case, you must keep using eFS for the rest of that case — you can’t switch back to paper partway through. Hennepin and Ramsey Counties now require eFiling for attorneys and agencies, but self-represented parties are still exempt everywhere.
4 · Your deadlines, calculated
This is the part to get right. Minnesota has no fixed statutory waiting period for most divorces — unlike Florida’s flat 20 days or Connecticut’s 90-day floor, an agreed Minnesota case moves at the pace of your paperwork and your court’s calendar. The one exception is Summary Dissolution, which has a real, fixed 30-day wait built into the process. Pick your track below and we’ll calculate the dates that actually apply to you.
5 · The order it actually happens in
6 · Minnesota’s trap: the confidential-information rule
This one is genuinely distinctive to Minnesota’s public-access court rules, and it trips up self-represented filers constantly.
Under Minnesota General Rule of Practice 11, your Social Security number, employer ID numbers, and financial account numbers are “restricted identifiers.” You are not allowed to write them directly on a pleading that goes into the public case file. Instead:
Restricted identifiers go on Form 11.1 (CON111), the Confidential Information Form — filed alongside, but kept separate from, your public case file. Financial source documents (pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns) need a Form 11.2 (CON112) Cover Sheet for Non-Public Documents attached, or they’re publicly viewable by default. If you file restricted identifiers unprotected, the rule gives you only a short window — as little as 3 days — to fix it before the document can simply be struck, and there’s no guarantee the exposed information is fully removed from the public record once it’s in. The court can also charge you costs for the correction.
Read the instructions on Form CON110 before you file anything, and use Guide & File or the Smart Forms’ built-in fields for Social Security numbers — they’re designed to route that data to the confidential form automatically.
7 · The Financial Affidavit — what FAM102 requires
Required whenever the court needs to decide property, support, or maintenance — in practice, every regular Petition case with disputed finances. Joint Petitions that fully agree on the numbers don’t file a separate one; the agreement itself states the terms.
Like every other Minnesota form, FAM102 is signed under the penalty-of-perjury declaration (Minn. Stat. § 358.116), not sworn before a notary. Use FAM101, the instruction sheet, if any line isn’t obvious — it walks through each category.
8 · The rejection-proofing checklist
Before you file
Forms people forget
Timing
Summary Dissolution permanently waives deciding maintenance now — the decree “reserves” it, meaning either of you could file a separate motion years later, but neither of you gets a maintenance order today. And if you use Guide & File or eFS and submit even one document electronically, you can’t switch back to paper filing for the rest of that case.
9 · What this costs
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Filing fee, Hennepin County | $402 |
| Filing fee, Ramsey County | $405 |
| Filing fee, Dakota County | $405 |
| Personal service of process, if formally served | $40–$100 |
| Parenting education program, per parent (if custody unresolved) | member-reported, varies by provider |
| Notary fees | $0 — not required |
| Typical all-in, doing it yourselves, uncontested | $400–$500 |
Ask the court administrator for an In Forma Pauperis (IFP) fee waiver application. It’s decided on your household income and circumstances, and if granted it can also cover service costs. County fees above are the base court fees under Minn. Stat. § 357.021 plus each county’s law library fee — confirm your own county’s exact total with its court administrator, since the law library portion varies.
What this is. A guide to Minnesota’s own process, built from Minnesota Statutes chapter 518 (including §§ 518.06, 518.07, 518.12, 518.13, and 518.157), Minn. Stat. § 358.116, Minnesota General Rule of Practice 11, and the official DIV/CON/CIV/FAM forms and instructions published by the Minnesota Judicial Branch at mncourts.gov. The forms themselves are free and this kit links you to them rather than reselling them. Every form link in this kit was checked against the live Minnesota Judicial Branch site.
What this is not. The Cusp is not a law firm and does not practice law. Nothing here is legal advice, and nothing here tells you which choice is right for your particular situation — only what Minnesota requires of each path. If your case involves contested custody, a business, hidden assets, domestic abuse, or a spouse with a lawyer, talk to an attorney; many offer free consultations. Court administrator staff can give you procedural information but cannot give legal advice.
Confirm current numbers with the clerk. Filing fees include a county-specific law library fee that varies by county, and program costs and county-level Early Neutral Evaluation availability change. Where this kit could not verify an exact figure or link with confidence, it says so or points you to mncourts.gov rather than guessing.
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Everything we have written about Minnesota specifically. Every figure on these pages is quoted from Minnesota’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
The most expensive mistakes in a divorce are made in the year after it, by people who thought the case was over. After the divorce is the checklist for that year — the health-coverage clock, the retirement order a decree cannot replace, and the beneficiary form that outranks your will.
Filing is one household becoming two, and the second one starts empty. The two-household list is what to send the people who keep asking how they can help — the second of everything, and the half of it that costs nothing. Some people call it a divorce registry.