Minnesota Financial Early Neutral Evaluation Lawyer

Hennepin County FENE Attorney: Board-Certified in Family Law

Veteran Minneapolis family law attorney Kathleen Newman has a long and successful history as a family advocate in Hennepin County. In addition to providing advocacy and counsel to individual men and women involved in family law disputes, Kathleen serves on the Hennepin County roster of Financial Early Neutral Evaluation neutrals.

A commitment to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a central pillar of our practice at the law office of Kathleen Newman + Associates. With regard to financial issues, alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation and early neutral evaluation (ENE) allow the parties to keep more control over the outcome than they would have if a judicial officer decided the case. Mediation and Financial Early Neutral Evaluation (FENE) give the spouses room to consider creative solutions that are acceptable compromises, in contrast to the "winner take most" proceedings of formal divorce trials.

Contact our Minneapolis family law office for more information. Kathleen also serves as on the Hennepin County Social Early Neutral Evaluation panel.

What Is Financial Early Neutral Evaluation?

Financial Early Neutral Evaluation (FENE) is a family court program available in Hennepin County and Ramsay County. Ms. Newman serves as an ENE neutral in Hennepin County.

A judicial officer may refer parties to FENE, or the parties may agree on their own to use FENE to resolve outstanding financial disputes. The divorcing spouses agree on which evaluator to use, and meet with the evaluator to present important preliminary information. The evaluator then decides what additional information the parties should exchange and give to the evaluator. Within 60 days, the evaluator will make his or her recommendations how to settle the outstanding financial disputes. The parties are not obligated to accept the evaluator's recommendations.

The overriding purpose of Financial Early Neutral Evaluation is to help parties reach an early settlement before expending financial resources on litigation. To help the parties reach agreement, all conversations held between the parties and the evaluator during the FENE process are confidential.

Contact a Hennepin County Financial Early Neutral Evaluation Lawyer

Using Financial Early Neutral Evaluation can result in tremendous cost savings. As an added benefit, negotiated divorce settlements are often less stressful for the parties — and any children of the marriage.

For more information about Financial Early Neutral Evaluation, contact us online, call 612-424-9477 or call toll free 888-862-4174.