Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: sparating and taking children

This is not a simple issue and certainly not as simple as taking the children to Tennessee and then finding a lawyer to try to keep them there. Such an act is full of all sorts of risks.

First, there is nothing that prevents eaither parent from having the children in their care or taking them out of state. this creates a bit of a tug of war.

If, however, one party did leave the state with the children with the intention of reestablishing their residence in another state, the other parent could, and likely would, file a legal action and seek an ex parte order requiring the immediate return of the children to their forum state in Minnesota. That may or may not be granted depending on the reason for the departure from the state by the otehr parent. This could place the departing parent at a significant disadvantage with regard to any custody proceeding.

If a parent took the children out of state and did not provide the location where the children were staying, it may even be considered a parental abduction which could result in criminal charges.

The wise action would be to commence an action in Minnesota and to seek permission to relocate withe the children in that venue.

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Re: sparating and taking children

Certainly you can take your children. When you get to TN, contact a lawyer about maintaining your case in TN. Good Luck

Re: sparating and taking children

Thank you for your question. This is a very serious issue. I can provide you with a general description of the law, but many more facts are required for a competent answer.

First, virtually every state in the country has adopted, with more or less minor variations, a law called the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. The purpose of this law is to try and prevent conflicts between states over custody jurisdiction, and among other things, to discourage or prevent what lawyers call "forum shopping."

In general, a state has jurisdiction to determine a custody issue if it is the child's "home state." The home state is defined as the state in which the child has lived for the last six months. As with many general rules of law, there are exceptions. A state (such as TN, perhaps) can exercise emergency jurisdiction under certain circumstances, and whether the court in TN or Minnesota would take jurisdiction (MN because it is presumably the home state, TN because of an emergency) cannot be determined without knowing many more facts than are presented in your question.

Second, nothing in the law of either TN or MN (to my knowledge, and I do have some familiarity with TN law, due to several jurisdiction disputes I have handled between MN and TN) would prevent a parent from taking the children to TN, provided it is not done for the purpose of interfering with the parental rights of the other parent. If the purpose of the move is to interfere with the other parent's rights, the law of each state might consider this a felony. The "old fashioned" term for this would be child kidnapping, although today we refer to it as a deprivation of parental rights.

If the parent leaving for TN is doing so because of violence, she should also consider the propriety of obtaining a restraining order in MN (if violence is threatened), and may wish to consider commencing a divorce and custody action in MN, rather than going to TN and beginning one there.

I caution you that this is an area fraught with many legal pitfalls, and you are strongly encouraged to consult with an attorney about this matter. It is simply not possible, in this limited forum, to offer anything but the most cursory advice, and even that must be heavily qualified because important facts are not known to me.

You may certainly feel free to contact my office. My contact information is provided below. Good luck.