Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: child travel divorced parents

Whether you can object to your former wife's trip depends on a number of factors. First, I presume she is arranging a trip during a school vacation, at a time when she has visitation or parenting time. Second, I presume she has custody and that, although you have concerns about her care of the children, the court has never imposed any restrictions on her parenting time.

With those assumptions in mind, I believe the court will not restrict her right to travel with the children (even to Mexico on a passport), unless there is credible evidence she lacks the capacity to care for or protect the children. If you want to restrict her right to travel, and there is evidence she lacks the ability to protect or care for the children, you could bring a motion and request an order that prevents her from removing the children from the country.

However, bringing such a motion raises a number of serious questions. First, if you are concerned about her ability to care for or protect the children, what difference does it make whether she travels to Mexico or Madison? Taking the analysis one step further, if there is a concern about her ability to care for or protect the children, why is she allowed to retain custody in the first place? Is there some suggestion that the children are endangered in her care? If the answer is that she left the children alone in a hotel lobby, what was the consequence of that incident? Did you seek relief from the court soon after that (or other) incident(s)? If not, why not? If those incidents occurred six months or a year ago, for example, the court would likely consider them to be so remote in time that they are not relevant today, especially if nothing was done as a consequence, and the parenting schedule has otherwise continued unchanged.

The Court would certainly expect her to provide a complete itinerary, with contact information, and direct her to ensure you can have phone contact at some point during the trip. All of this presumes you have the time (and inclination) to bring an appropriate motion. In general, you must serve and file your motion at least two weeks before a scheduled hearing.

Short of bringing a motion, you can make a written demand for an itinerary, along with contact information and lodging plans. You can also affirmatively state that you do not authorize your former wife to remove your children from the U.S., although I believe you are correct that this would not prevent them from taking a cruise. Beyond this, if she does not cooperate with you, your only remedy is to file a motion -- bearing in mind the limitations discussed above.

Feel free to contact me if you have further questions and concerns. I don't mean to suggest that your concerns are unimportant or trivial, but that there are serious practical limitations on seeking relief from the court (particularly in Anoka).