Legal Question in Disability Law in Minnesota

In order a father to have the right to parenting time (formerly called visitation), paternity must first be established. This is done either through a court order or a Recognition of Parentage document (ROP), a legal document establishing that the man is the child's father when the father is not married to the mother.

Paternity requires the father to pay child support but does not guarantee the father's right to parenting time. If you don't agree that he should have parenting time, or if he refuses to follow your wishes regarding contact with his wife, then you can refuse. However, he then has the right to take the matter to court. The court decides parenting time according to the best interest of the child (taking into consideration a number of factors such as age of the child, relationship with noncustodial parent, prior reports of abuse/neglect, etc...).

In your case, the court will likely give the father parenting time. Unless the wife's contact with your child is not in his/her best interest, the court will probably not prohibit contact, especially if the father can have unsupervised visits.

If you are against your child having contact with the wife, you should be ready to give the court some concrete and valid reasons why contact with your child is not in his/her best interest.