Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: Looking for an experienced attorney

The law changed in July and moving out of State requires your permission or the permission of the court. The court will use the best interests standard to decide whether such a move would be appropriate.

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Re: Looking for an experienced attorney

The law generally permits the custodial parent to move the child out of the state, if the move is not intended to interfere with the non-custodial parent's right of visitation (now called parenting time). If the proposed move is not ill-motivated, the general rule has been that the move will be permitted.

Despite this general presumption in favor of the custodial parent (and that presumption has eroded of late), the court can and will deny a move and modify custody if you can establish that the move will "endanger" your child's emotional or physical development. And even if the court does not modify custody, it will almost certainly make a substantial modification to your parenting time schedule, and possible order her to pay some or all of the costs of transportation. Although modification seems like a substantial legal hurdle, it is not insurmountable. Your ability to accomplish something, however, depends on acting sooner, rather than later. Again, I stress the need for prompt action on your part. Success depends on promptly gathering the facts about your relationship with your son, the nature of his mother�s relationship with him, and about the likely effects of a move.

Even under the most ideal of circumstances, you could not get into court in most counties (and certainly the metro counties) for at least one month, and thereafter, an evaluation could take three to six months. If you start the process too late, and the mother's move is tied to a job, for example, the court may feel compelled to act (though it will not say this) by the force of circumstance.

Feel free to contact me if you have further questions about this matter. My contact information is below.

Again, thank you for your question and, most important, don't delay in dealing with this issue.

Re: Looking for an experienced attorney

Only limited space is provided for a response to your questions on this site. The following are more specific answers to some of your questions:

Change custody: yes, you have a chance, although more facts are required -- as suggested in my earlier message. As to the judge, there is no guarantee, since we cannot choose who will hear a case.

As indicated earlier, the process could take several months. If you are a resident of Washington County (suggested by your residence), it would three or four months would be typical.

Finally, yes you should act now. Although the mother is required to get your consent before a move, she could certainly move and tell you later. It would be improper, but could happen, and could effectively determine the issue for the court.

Good luck.