Duluth Attorney - Minnesota Family Law

Here in Your Time of Need

Nothing is more stressful than going through a divorce, seeking custody of one’s children, navigating through the child support court system, establishing a parent’s legal rights to a child or protecting one’s grandchildren from parents who are not able to parent properly. Victims of domestic abuse need information to protect their families and themselves. The stress level grows thinking about going through the legal system without an attorney advocating for you.

Why hire an attorney? Can’t I represent myself? You actually do not need an attorney. Would you jump from an airplane without a parachute? Jessica L. Sterle is here to represent your interests giving you high quality representation and advocacy allowing you to make informed decisions which benefits your family and you. Jessica L. Sterle provides you with professional and respectful representation reducing stress and anxiety.

Whether you need legal advice or legal representation, Jessica L. Sterle is here in your time of need.

About Jessica L. Sterle

Growing up in Nashwauk, Minnesota, she graduated from Nashwauk-Keewatin High School in 1990. After attending Hibbing Community College for two years, she continued her education at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. While attending Hamline University and before attending law school, she worked for the late Senator Paul Wellstone as an administrator of the Wellstone Alliance and later as a staff member of his 1996 re-election campaign team. In 1995, Jessica L. Sterle was accepted at William Mitchell College of Law and graduated in 1998 with her Juris Doctorate in law.

Jessica L. Sterle has worked as a law clerk for the Honorable John T. Oswald with the Sixth Judicial District from 1999 to 2001 where she then took a position with the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office in Duluth from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, she returned to the Nashwauk area working as a Staff Attorney for Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota in Grand Rapids representing clients in family law matters. Jessica L. Sterle opened her law practice in Duluth in 2006.

Jessica L. Sterle is licensed to practice law in the State of Minnesota and before the US District Court of Minnesota.

Active in the legal community, Jessica L. Sterle is a member of the Minnesota Bar Association including the Family Law Section of the organization as well as the 11th District Bar Association. She is past president of the Duluth New Lawyers. She is a volunteer attorney with the Volunteer Attorney Program.

Jessica L. Sterle is a member of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce as well as the Professional Women’s Network.

*The information in the website is intended for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. One should seek competent legal counsel for advice concerning your legal issues.

Practice Areas

Jessica L. Sterle represents clients throughout Northeastern Minnesota in the following areas:

PREMARITAL AGREEMENTS
An agreement a couple agrees to before marriage stating how the parties’ money, debts, property and assets must be divided should the parties ever divorce. Premarital agreements are also knows as antenuptial agreements or pre-nups.
DIVORCE
Also known as marital dissolution, divorce is a court proceeding to legally end a marriage. It can include a court hearing to decide temporary relief of various issues in the early stage of proceedings. Ultimately, the parties must either agree on their own or have a judge decide how the parties shall permanently provide for care and access of marital children (custody and visitation), who must pay child support and how much, who must pay alimony (otherwise known as spousal maintenance), if any, how to divide marital property (debts, personal property, vehicles) and name change, if any.
LEGAL SEPARATION
A legal separation involves all of the issues in a divorce except the marriage is not dissolved. The couple remains married until the parties go through the divorce proceeding. Should the parties wish to divorce, the terms of the legal separation are put aside and all the issues of legal and physical custody of the children, spousal maintenance, division of debts and so on, must be resolved.
CHILD CUSTODY
Legal and physical custody must be determined for the children. Initially a custody determination is based upon the “best interests of the child,” which is an examination of 13 factors set forth in Minnesota law. If custody was established in the past, then custody can only be changed by written agreement or by showing physical or emotional harm or endangerment to the child under the current arrangement.
VISITATION ISSUES
Minnesota law gives every parent the right to see and spend time with his or her children. Sometimes parents have difficulty arranging when the parents are going to have time with their children during the school year and during summer break. Holidays can be particularly difficult. As children grow older, the visitation schedule parents created no longer works so it may need to be changed.
CHILD SUPPORT
Child support is the money the non-custodial parent, known as the obligor, must pay to support his or her children. This child support is paid to the obligee, or custodial parent. The amount of child support an obligor must pay is based upon each parties’ financial situation, but key is the net monthly income of the obligor. It may be possible to modify a prior child support order if the obligor’s financial situation has changed “substantially", meaning his or her finances have had a change to cause a 20% change in ongoing support.

Tied into the issue of child support is also issues of medical support for the children including health insurance coverage, if any, as well as whom is responsible for any unreimbursed health and medical expenses for the children, such as braces or glasses.
PATERNITY
This is a legal process to establish the biological father of a minor child. Paternity is an issue when a child is born to parents who are not married. Mother or father may initiate a paternity action. Paternity is usually settled at the child’s birth when mother and father sign a Minnesota Recognition of Parentage form. The parties may submit to a paternity test generally at their own expense.

Once paternity is established, legal and physical custody, visitation and child support must be determined.
SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS ALIMONY
Spousal maintenance is paid by one former spouse to the other former spouse because he or she cannot financially support himself or herself for whatever reason. Spousal maintenance can either be temporary, for example for two years to allow the husband to finish a college degree, or permanent because the wife was a housemaker for 25 years and does not have an education.

Although the parties are divorced, issues involving spousal maintenance may surface again requiring legal advice.
PROPERTY DIVISION
The property husband and wife accumulated during a marriage is marital property requiring the parties to equitably divide all items. The name assets are held in is irrelevant. Such property includes furniture, house wears, vehicles, ATV’s and real estate. Property is not usually divided on a 50/50 basis. It may be necessary to have a professional appraise or value assets. If there is a question if property is marital or non-marital, it may be necessary to hire a professional to make this determination.
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 change of circumstances. Should one or both parties are not honest in declaring marital and non-marital property, it may be necessary to address the non-declared property in a legal proceeding.
ORDERS FOR PROTECTION
An Order for Protection is an order one receives from a judge prohibiting a spouse, ex-spouse, ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend from having contact with him or her. A court hearing is set allowing the parties to present witnesses, police reports and other supporting documentation. A judge issues an Order for Protection upon proof that someone (1) committed physical harm, bodily injury or assault, (2) committed the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, or assault, or (3) terroristic threats, criminal sexual conduct or interference with an emergency call. A judge has the ability to make determinations of temporary legal and physical custody of children, child support, and property division.

Courts sometimes see a party inappropriately seeking an Order for Protection with little supporting evidence hoping to use the Order for Protection against the other party for strategic purposes in a divorce or custody action. Such behavior is used against the improper party in future hearings.
HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDERS
A Harassment Restraining Order is an order one receives from a judge against another preventing contact whether by telephone, mail, email or through third parties. A court hearing is set allowing the parties to present witnesses, police reports and other supporting documentation. The person seeking a Harassment Restraining Order must prove a pattern of harassing and unwanted contact, such as repeated telephone calls over several days, unwanted visits at work, or the person constantly drives past one’s house.
GRANDPARENT'S RIGHTS
There may be circumstances when parents are unable to properly care for their children. Drug and alcohol abuse are main reasons why county Social Services steps in to provide children with a safe environment. Often times, grandparents step in to care for their grandchildren. Under Minnesota law, there are times when grandparents can seek and obtain legal and physical custody of their grandchildren ensuring they are properly cared for.

Contact Information

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The Law Office of Jessica L. Sterle is conveniently located in downtown Duluth on Superior Street between Second Avenue West and Third Avenue West on the same block as Wells Fargo in the Skyway midblock. Metered parking is located on Superior Street and on Second Avenue West and Third Avenue West. Parking ramps are available on Michigan Street between Third Avenue West and as well as Fourth Avenue West.

For legal advice and legal representation, contact Jessica L. Sterle at:

Law Office of Jessica L. Sterle
208 West Superior Street, Suite 202
Duluth, Minnesota 55802
Telephone: (218) 722-2655
Fax: (218) 722-2656
jls_law@yahoo.com

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