Parenting Time

Posts Tagged ‘Parenting Time’

Common additional provisions added in custody agreements

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

When parties reach an agreement on custody and parenting time, there are often other provisions added into the agreement that would not otherwise be if the court decided the issue. Below are a few common provisions:

• Right of first refusal: The right of first refusal means that if the parent “on duty” is unable to care for the children for a period of time (often specified in the agreement), that the other parent has the first opportunity to say they will care for the children. This allows the off-duty parent to spend more meaningful time with the children rather than the children being cared for by a babysitter or other family members. This can get contentious if the boundaries are not set by the parents though. For example, if a time period is not specified and the child is regularly in daycare, the parents may not later agree on whether time in daycare is subject to this right or not.

• Vacation time: If the parents want to take extended vacation time with the children uninterrupted by parenting time of the other parent, they are able to agree to this. Often parents will agree to anywhere between one and three weeks during the summer or school breaks. This time can be spent just staying in town if the parent has time off of work or going away on vacation.

• Telephone/Email/Skype contact: Parents are able to set parameters for contact from the other parent during their parenting time. It is always the same for both parents, depending on what home the children are in at the time. Some parents prefer to allow unfettered access to the children, whereas others prefer to have a smaller block of time (generally a couple hours in the evening) where the parent may call. If the noncustodial parent does not live nearby, Skype allows an opportunity for the noncustodial parent and the children to have face time together.

• Extracurricular expenses: In a general divorce decided by the court, extracurricular expenses may not be addressed. However, this often is a large expense of the custodial parent that should be shared. The parents are able to agree as to how these expenses should be divided, whether it is by their percentage of income, shared completely, or if one parent will pay all expenses in exchange for something else.

• Mediation: Most parents that reach an agreement on parenting time and custody are able to work together to an extent. To that end, when problems arise in the future, there is often a provision added to the agreement that the parents will try to work out the problem before going to court. If they used mediation in the past, they most often will include that.

Tags: Custody, Parenting Time, Stipulation
Posted in Child Custody, Child Support | No Comments »

How is child support calculated in Minnesota?

Monday, April 12th, 2010

In the state of Minnesota, child support is determined based on both parents’ income and the amount of parenting time each parent is awarded. Custody labels such as “joint physical custody” or “sole physical custody” do not carry the weight that they once did. If the court is looking to determine the custodial arrangement for child support, they only look at the percentage of parenting time each party exercises or was awarded in a prior court order.

If a parent is on any form of public assistance (i.e.-food stamps or Minnesota Care insurance), the court cannot impute income to a parent. This means the court may only calculate child support based off of what the parents actually made for a gross monthly income. Otherwise, if public assistance is not involved in a case, the parties may argue that one party should have a certain income due to prior work experience or that the other party is willfully underemployed or unemployed. Most often, if one parent does not work and there is no clear income level to impute to them, the court will consider 150% of minimum wage for that party’s monthly income.

Once the parties’ income is established, the numbers are put into a child support calculator, available online. Both parents’ income is added together, giving a monthly income available for the child. each parent’s percentage of that total income is the percentage of responsibility assigned to them for child care expenses, medical insurance, and other unreimbursed costs related to the children.

While child support is calculated in a straight-forward way, it can be very confusing to parents looking to establish an amount of support or wondering if their child support obligation should be modified. If you have questions about how child support is calculated, call the family law attorneys at Heimerl & Lammers today.

Tags: Child Support, Custody, Parenting Time
Posted in Child Custody, Child Support | No Comments »

How are custody matters determined in same-sex families in Minnesota?

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Minnesota does not recognize same-sex marriage. Of course there are still families of same-sex couples, and custody matters need to be decided. How do the courts in Minnesota determine these issues?

A couple is able to establish custody and visitation rights at any time, even if they are still in a relationship together. That can be helpful to set parameters and make sure both parties have rights in case something goes wrong in the relationship. However, if the parties are residing together, issues of parenting time and who is the custodial parent may not be determined.

Another solution is for the party who may not be the biological parent of the child to adopt. What happens if the parties do not plan ahead when they are involved in the relationship and do not have any parental rights to enforce in court?

An individual may be able to bring a request for custody and/or parenting time under Minnesota Statutes establishing third party custody. There are requirements for how long you were involved in the child’s life and what role you had in raising the child. If you meet the standards, you may still be able to get parenting time or custodial rights even though you are not recognized as the child’s parent under the law.

There are very technical requirements to be able to bring a third party custody matter. If you are interested in pursuing a third party custody case or have questions as to whether you may fit the statutory requirements, contact a family law attorney at Heimerl & Lammers today.

Tags: Custody, Parenting Time, Same-sex couple
Posted in Child Custody | No Comments »

Child support: how is it calculated in Minnesota?

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

In the state of Minnesota, the way child support is calculated underwent a major change in 2007. Child support is now calculated by a strict formula, taking into account each parent’s gross monthly income and the amount of parenting time that is exercised by the non-custodial parent. The parenting time is divided into three ranges, and an adjustment is applied to the base child support award based on the parenting time the parent has been awarded by a court: 0-10%, 10-45%, and 45-50%.

The court has made the child support calculator available online on the Minnesota Department of Human Services website. If you have questions about the amount of child support you may be awarded, it is a good idea to start there and experiment with income figures.

If a parent is under- or un-employed, the court may impute income to them. Income may be imputed to an amount that they are capable of earning, have earned in the past, or a default amount of 150% of minimum wage (approximately $1,702.00 per month). If after child support has been awarded there are changes in a parent’s income, the court may modify the child support award. This is done through a motion filed by the party requesting the change. The court will look at the request, see if it qualifies as a change in circumstances defined in Minnesota Statute § 518A.39, and determine if a modification would be appropriate.

If you have questions about child support in general, or more specific questions about your case, call the family law attorneys at Heimerl & Lammers today.

Tags: Child Support, Custody, Parenting Time
Posted in Child Custody, Child Support | No Comments »

will domestic abuse affect my custody or divorce case in Minnesota?

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Sometimes when parties are nearing the point of divorce or a custody battle, there is an incident of domestic abuse that occurs between the parties. If the domestic abuse extends to the children, where they either witnessed or were part of the abusive event, the court may restrict parenting time or any contact between the abuser and the children. The effect of this is clear on any custody dispute: if there is a protective order in place barring a party’s contact with their children, they will not be able to have contact through the family matter. The provisions of the Order for Protection will extend to the family law case, and short of the parties agreeing to modify those terms, it will last the full time of the protective order (generally two years).

This can have long-term effects on custody as well. The abuser may not be prohibited from having any relationship in the future, but it is difficult to overcome an abusive past to reestablish a relationship with your children. The abuser and children will probably go through some reunification therapy and gradually work to develop a relationship and trust again.

If an Order For Protection only protects one parent from the other but the children are not involved, there will generally be parenting time involved. An Order For Protection does make it more likely that the court would order sole legal custody, meaning that the custodial parent would have the sole right to make the big decisions in the children’s lives. However, there would be parenting time arranged through a third party or through a safety center.

The parenting time awarded to parents in abusive relationships varies depending on the unique circumstances of each case. If you have questions about parenting time in your family law case, contact the family law attorneys at Germscheid, Heimerl & Lammers today for a free consultation.

Tags: Custody, Divorce, Domestic Abuse, Parenting Time
Posted in Child Custody, Contested Divorce, Domestic Abuse | No Comments »

Holidays for Divorcing Families in Minnesota: Who Gets the Kids?

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

One issue every divorcing family with children needs to deal with is the change in the holiday schedule. Holidays are generally a time, sometimes the only time, that the children spend time with their extended family and everyone gets together. There is often travel involved, if families have moved apart from each other over time. Holidays in divorcing families can obviously be a trying time.

First, the parties need to figure out when holiday plans overlap who gets to celebrate with the children. It is easy to work out for some special events, such as a birthday, where possibly the child could spend half the day with each parent or there could be celebrations on different days. But what happens when both parents want the child for a specific time, such as Christmas morning?

In final divorce documents, the parties agree to or the court determines a holiday schedule. A common schedule would be where the parents alternate holidays every other year. That way, both mom and dad are able to maintain a tradition with the children and the children are able to spend time with extended family on both sides. This, of course, is something that is able to be worked out by the parents. If a family has different traditions, a holiday schedule is able to incorporate that. For example, if mom wants to bring the children up north to see her family the first week of winter break, but dad likes to take a vacation with the children the second week of winter break, the parties are able to put those specific terms into an agreement for the court to sign off on. The parties are always able to agree on things outside of court, but it is only binding and really enforceable without going back to court if the court incorporates the terms into a court order.

Tags: Custody, Divorce, Holiday Schedule, Parenting Time
Posted in Child Custody, Collaborative Divorce, Contested Divorce, Divorce Mediation, No Fault Divorce | No Comments »

The Rights of Unmarried Fathers in Minnesota Family Court

Monday, October 12th, 2009

What are an unmarried Father’s Rights?

If a man and a woman are unmarried at the time of a child’s birth, the mother has sole legal and physical custody until the Court issues an Order stating otherwise. An unmarried father has to establish himself as the legal father of a child before he has any rights to ask for parenting time. Even if the parties are exercising parenting time and getting along, it is always best for the father to get his rights established through the Court system. Without a Court Order granting the father parenting time, the custodial parent (presumed to be the mother in these cases) could abruptly stop parenting time or not allow the father to see the child. In most cases, this is not in the child’s best interest, but she has the legal right to stop visitation unless paternity has been established.

How can an unmarried father establish paternity?

Paternity can be established in one of two ways:

By both parents signing a Recognition of Parentage (ROP). The ROP must be filed, and accepted by, the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of the State Registrar. An ROP does not automatically give the father the right to see the child. An ROP gives the father the right to go to court to ask for custody or parenting time. This is a “starting point” for a father to ask for legal rights.
By court order in a Paternity Action (Paternity Order). You may be granted some custodial or parenting time rights in the paternity action.

Parenting Time and Child Support

Even if an unmarried father is paying child support, he does not necessarily have legal rights to have parenting time with the child. Additionally, a father should not be told that he cannot see his child until he is current on his child support obligation. There are two different kinds of child support processes in Minnesota: one that uses a Magistrate and one that happens in District Court in front of a Judge.

An open child support case in front of a child support Magistrate is not the appropriate place to discuss parenting time or visitation. A child support Magistrate cannot hear issues on parenting time or visitation. The only time a child support Magistrate can decide an issue with parenting time and custody at a child support hearing is when the child support hearing is part of a hearing to establish paternity. Then the child support magistrate can issue an order about those issues the mother and father agree on, like custody, parenting time, or the name of the child.

However, if the motion or action is brought in District Court, the Judge has the power to hear all of the issues, including child support and visitation.

Can an unmarried father get 50/50 or joint physical custody?

The court looks at many different things the first time it decides custody. But the decision depends on the facts of each specific case. It is difficult to change a judge’s decision about custody after the decision has been made.

The court looks at the following 13 “best interest” factors to decide what is in the best interests of the child. This is for the very first time the court decides custody. These factors are:

What each parent wants for custody;
What the child wants. This only counts if the child is old enough. Generally a child must be at least 10 years old before a court will ask about what they want. But the court will look at each child’s situation and decide if the child is old enough or able to say what they want.
Who is the child’s primary caretaker;
The closeness of the relationship between each parent and the child;
The situation and relationship between the child and parents, siblings and other people who may play a big part in the child’s life (like grandparents or parent’s new partner);
The child’s adjustment to home, school and community;
The amount of time the child has lived in a stable and good environment and the need to maintain what the child is used to;
The permanence of the proposed custodial home. For example, does the mother or father have a new boy or girl friend? If they live together, how long has it been? Is it likely to last?
The mental and physical health of everyone involved;
The ability and willingness of the parties to give the child love, affection and guidance and to keep educating and raising the child in his/her culture or religion;
The child’s cultural background;
If there is, or has been, domestic abuse by one parent against the other. How has that affected the child?
The willingness of each parent to support and allow the child to spend time with the other parent (unless there is, or has been, domestic abuse).

The Court will take all of these factors into consideration when ordering custody. If parents do not agree on a custody arrangement, a parenting time evaluation may be ordered and then the evaluator will look at these factors and make a recommendation.

What if the Father is on the birth certificate?

Even if the father is on the birth certificate, he still may not be the legal presumed father. A birth certificate is not the legal proof of paternity in a court case. A father seeking to establish parenting time will need the certified ROP or a certified copy of the paternity order from the Court.

Tags: Custody, Father's Rights, Legal Custody, Parenting Time, Physical Custody, Unmarried Parents
Posted in Child Custody, Child Support, Paternity | No Comments »