Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

child visitation outing

I have a 5 year old boy. The childs mother and I recently called off the relationship. Visitation for me is limited (I only get him to see him every other weekend) as she has moved 120 miles away from me. This weekend (Aug 15-17) I am scheduled to have him. I informed his mother that I would be taking him innertubing on a river for some fun over the weekend. His mother said it was too dangerous and forbid him to go, threatening that I would lose all of my visitation rights if I took him. We have not gone to court yet for custody, and I don't see any snags for joint custody (except that she wants full custody and I want joint). My question is, would it be okay to take my son innertubing as long as he wore a life jacket and was with me at all times, or would this look bad in the courtroom in the future and ruin my chances for joint custody? One more thing to mention is that the river in question is only 3 feet deep or less for most of the river, and two of my accompaning friends are certified life guards. Thank you for your answer :)


Asked on 8/14/08, 11:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Maury Beaulier612.240.8005 Minnesota Lawyers

Re: child visitation outing

I doubt that a court would see tubing as dangerous so long as there was supervision and precautions for safety were taken. However, if you have no court order specifying your parenting schedule, you have no schedule that can be enforced. In other words, the other parent could simply refuse to allow the child to go and you would have no remedy.

I would also mention that joint physical custody is not usual in Minnesota and you must oresent a compeeling case for the court to order that result in most instances.

For Minnesota family law matters visit divorceprofessionals.com

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Answered on 8/16/08, 11:16 am


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