FATHER’S RIGHTS IN DETERMINING A CHILD’S NAME
I sometimes get asked by mothers whether they can change their child’s name, without the permission of the father. It’s a fair question; why should the child not have the…
Divorce Settlements: Your Terms versus the Judge’s Terms
Clients will sometimes ask me whether the Court would “allow” a certain settlement proposal. My response is almost always that so long as both parties agree to the terms, you…
Child Custody: The Importance of Making it Legal
When married couples separate with the intention of making it permanent, a divorce almost always follows. That is because the law recognizes the legal relationship known as marriage. In order…
Out of State Moves
In my opinion, one of the most difficult issues in family court cases is out-of- state moves. Let’s say that following a divorce, Mom has primary physical custody of the…
WHEN SCIENCE IS NOT ENOUGH; MAKING THE CASE FOR PATERNITY IN MINNESOTA
If you’ve ever wondered how a father can ‘prove’ he is dad, you wouldn’t be wrong in assuming that a genetic test, or a ‘paternity test’ is the way to…
Unmarried Parents and Custody / Parenting Time
I previously blogged about Orders for Protection and divorce. My basic point was that when police advise people to “Get an OFP,” it’s usually because all they really want is…
THE COST OF INACTION – CHILD CUSTODY MODIFICATION BY ACQUIESCENCE
Remember when our parents warned us not to make goofy faces lest they get stuck that way? Sadly, this kind of, sort of, happened recently when a parent failed to…
MARATHON RUNNING & THE PRESUMPTION OF JOINT LEGAL CUSTODY
Not quite ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Mechanics’, but, I recently came to a revelation. This past Sunday I (very slowly) ran the Twin Cities Marathon. One of the…
Right of First Refusal: Good or Bad?
It is not uncommon to see a “right of first refusal” clause in the custody and parenting time provisions of a divorce decree. It simply means that if a parent…
Guess What? The Judge Doesn’t Love Your Kids
Before I was a practicing attorney, I clerked for a District Court Judge. He presided over many divorce cases. Whenever a contested custody case was before him, he had a…