Rule 351.Scope; Purpose

Last verified July 1, 2026

In one sentenceRule 351 sets the scope of the expedited child support process, extending it to every proceeding heard there regardless of who presides, and lays out the purposes and goals, from a streamlined and uniform system to one that is fair to the parties and consistent statewide.

Full Text of Rule 351

Text sizeJump to: (351.01) (351.02)

351.01 Scope These rules govern the procedure for all proceedings conducted in the expedited process, regardless of whether the presiding officer is a child support magistrate, family court referee, or district court judge. The Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, Minnesota Rules of Evidence, and other provisions of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice for the District Courts shall apply to proceedings in the expedited process unless inconsistent with these rules. These rules do not apply to matters commenced in or referred to district court.

351.02 Purposes and Goals of the Expedited Child Support Process

Subdivision 1. Purposes. The purposes of these rules are to establish an expedited process that:

(a) is streamlined;

(b) is uniform across the state;

(d) results in timely and consistent issuance of orders.

Subd. 2. Goals. These rules should be construed to:

(a) be a constitutional system;

(b) be an expedited process;

(d) be fair to the parties;

(e) be a cost-effective system;

(f) address local administration and implementation concerns;

(g) maintain simple administrative procedures and focus on problem cases;

(h) comply with federal and state laws;

(i) maximize federal financial participation;

(j) ensure consistent decisions statewide; and

(k) have adequate financial and personnel resources.

End

Plain-English Summary

Rule 351 marks the outer boundary of Part B of Title IV: everything that follows in this set of rules applies only inside the expedited child support process, the administrative-hearing track that runs before child support magistrates rather than district judges. It reaches every proceeding held in that track no matter who is presiding, so a family court referee or a district judge sitting in for a magistrate still follows these rules. The Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, the Minnesota Rules of Evidence, and the rest of the General Rules of Practice continue to apply in the expedited process as well, yielding only where they would conflict with something this part specifically requires. A case that begins in district court, or one referred there, stays outside this rule's reach entirely.

The rest of Rule 351 states why the expedited process exists and what it is supposed to accomplish. Its purposes are practical: a streamlined path to a support order, applied the same way from one county to the next, open enough that parties without a lawyer can use it, and quick enough to produce a timely, consistent result. Its goals go further, describing the kind of system the rules are meant to build, one that respects constitutional rights, treats families and self-represented parties with consideration, stays fair to both sides, and keeps costs down while still meeting federal and state legal requirements.

None of this is decorative. When a later rule in this part is ambiguous, or a magistrate has to exercise discretion, Rule 351's statement of scope and purpose is the backdrop against which that choice gets made. A magistrate weighing whether to grant a continuance, or how strictly to read a filing deadline, is meant to keep these purposes and goals in view, not just the bare text of the rule in front of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What proceedings does Rule 351 cover?

It covers every hearing and proceeding conducted in the expedited child support process, no matter whether a child support magistrate, a family court referee, or a district court judge happens to be presiding. It does not cover a matter that was started in district court or sent there instead.

Do the ordinary Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure still apply in the expedited process?

Yes. The Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, the Minnesota Rules of Evidence, and the rest of the General Rules of Practice continue to apply to expedited process proceedings, except where following them would conflict with something these expedited process rules specifically require.

What is the expedited child support process trying to achieve?

Rule 351 describes a process meant to be streamlined, applied uniformly across every Minnesota county, easy for parties to access, and capable of producing support orders on a timely and consistent basis.

Why does Rule 351 list goals separately from purposes?

The purposes describe the outcome the process is built to deliver, while the goals describe the character the system itself should have, including being constitutional, fair, cost-effective, family-friendly, and compliant with federal and state law, so that magistrates have something to weigh when a rule does not spell out exactly what to do.

Can a case that starts in district court be handled under these rules instead?

No. Rule 351 states plainly that these rules do not apply to a matter commenced in, or referred to, district court, so that kind of case is governed by the ordinary district court rules rather than the expedited process.

Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Committee Comments are reproduced verbatim from the official Minnesota Rules of Family Court Procedure (Minn. R. Gen. Prac. 351). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 480.051). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 1, 2026. · Official source

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