A proceeding for dissolution or legal separation may be brought by either or both spouses and shall be commenced by personal service of the summons and petition venued in the county where either spouse resides. If neither party resides in the state and jurisdiction is based on the domicile of either spouse, the proceeding may be brought in the county where either party is domiciled. If neither party resides or is domiciled in this state and jurisdiction is premised upon one of the parties being a member of the armed services stationed in this state for not less than 180 days immediately preceding the commencement of the proceeding, the proceeding may be brought in the county where the member is stationed. This venue shall be subject to the power of the court to change the place of hearing by consent of the parties, or when it appears to the court that an impartial hearing cannot be had in the county where the proceedings are pending, or when the convenience of the parties or the ends of justice would be promoted by the change. No summons shall be required if a joint petition is filed.
Minn. Stat. § 518.09
PROCEEDING; HOW AND WHERE BROUGHT; VENUE.
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Owings v. Brown (1995)
Most recently applied in 2012 OK CIV APP 26 - Hanger v. Hanger (November 2011)
(8588) RL s 3577; 1931 c 226 s 1; 1974 c 107 s 6; 1978 c 772 s 25; 1979 c 259 s 7; 1981 c 349 s 3
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Minnesota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.