Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: parental rights, never married to the mother

You do have rights to participate in your daughter's life. The stepfather has no legal rights. He gets to particpate only because he is there!

Your daughter is in Mn and you are in Ohio. That is the biggest barrier. Any legal action that you take would have to be in Minn. That makes it expensive but does not change your rights.

Call if you want to discuss this further.

Good Luck!

DH Davies

Re: parental rights, never married to the mother

Thank you for your question regarding parenting time with your daughter.

I presume you were never married to the mother, since you indicate that you executed a declaration of parentage. In general, until you obtain a court order that specifically determines custody and parenting time, you do not have any legally enforceable right to visit with your daughter. The fact that you have a child support order is irrelevant to the question of parenting time.

Under Minnesota Law, until custody and parenting time are established by court order, the mother has sole legal and physical custody, with no legal obligation to provide you with parenting time. It does not appear this was previously a problem in your case, since I presume you were able to exercise parenting time with the mother's agreement, and without difficulty.

In the event you petition the court for a parenting time order, the court will likely order time that is consistent with your prior schedule, but may also expand on that, particularly during the summers. Further, the court could order the mother to share transportation costs, depending on her income and yours. Many more facts are needed to fully evaluate the matter, such as the reason there has been a change in your parenting time (if that has occurred), the nature of your relationship with your daughter, etc.

If you are encountering problems with parenting time, contact my office for a free consultation, at 952.285.2944.