Tens Don’t Marry Twos
I clerked for a District Court Judge my first job out of law school. Prior to court hearings, the Judge regularly brought the lawyers back into his chambers to privately…
Paternity; Still a Matter of Biology
In Minnesota, the legal relationship between a child and parent is recognized because there are rights awarded and obligations imposed by that relationship. The State has an interest in not…
Posting Your Kid’s Images on Social Media
Recently, the Minnesota Court of Appeals was asked to consider whether a Family Court judge can prohibit a parent from featuring or mentioning his children in YouTube videos and remove…
Physical Discipline or Domestic Abuse?
I hope this is not a distinction we need to spend a lot of time worrying about; either way someone’s getting hit, and unless we’re talking about contact sports or…
ENFORCING SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE AND CHILD SUPPORT FROM ANOTHER STATE
Minnesota courts recognize that not all Minnesota divorced residents became divorced by a Minnesota court. Many people who move to this State, became divorced by the courts of another State,…
Watch Tim Simonson Speak To Kare 11 News About Privacy Rights in Divorce Matters
Recently, the divorce file of a high profile public servant, Representative Keith Ellison, brought to attention the issue of divorce files in family court. The question raised was whether a…
The Judge Knows All – Or Do They?
Every Judge was first a lawyer. In many cases, they are former litigators (meaning they regularly appeared in Court) although not always. But even as litigators, they probably focused their…
A Lesson from Child Support Court: “Pull No Punches”
Minnesota Child Support Law mandates that child support is determined primarily by the parents’ incomes. Because income is so important to a court when figuring out a child support obligation,…
Credibility is King
When a divorce case goes to a trial, one of the more basic functions of the Court is to make “findings of fact.” Both parties will testify, and there is…
Tough Love
As the party to a divorce case, you see the world through a different lens than I do. Your perspective is necessarily clouded by emotion and the daily grind of…