On May 15, 2024, Governor Tim Walz signed HF 3204, a bipartisan bill making significant changes to Minnesota family law statutes. These new laws went into effect on August 1, 2024 and are summarized in this article.

Definitions of child abuse are found throughout the Minnesota statutes. Whether specific conduct constitutes child abuse varies based upon the type of court proceedings in which the allegations are being examined. For instance, allegations of child abuse may give rise to proceedings in family court, juvenile court, criminal court, or a combination of the three. This article provides a general overview of child abuse allegations in the context of family court, juvenile court, and criminal court, and sets forth a number of frequently asked questions our clients ask us on a regular basis.

A Child in Need of Protection or Services (“CHIPS”) matter is a court action occurring in juvenile court involving children removed (or at risk of being removed) from their parents’ or custodians’ care by the county social services agency due to allegations of abuse or neglect. Some of the most common reasons these cases are initiated are when the parents or custodians are suffering from chemical dependency issues, lack of adequate housing, not enrolling children in school, and domestic abuse. If you receive a call or visit from child protection, it is likely because they received a screened-in report of child abuse and/or neglect involving your children. They are likely contacting you to request an interview as part of their investigation or to conduct what is known as a family assessment.

Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) is exactly how it sounds—parental rights are terminated or taken away. This means that the person whose rights have been terminated is not legally the child’s parent anymore. Once someone’s parental rights have been terminated, they lose the right to visit or contact their child, they are unable to control the child’s upbringing, and the child may be adopted without the parent’s permission. Due to the number of rights parents have—many of which are constitutional in nature—parental rights are typically only terminated for grave and weighty reasons.

In Minnesota, a divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of the marital relationship between a husband and wife. A Divorce Decree completely terminates the marital status of both parties and is granted when there has been an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage relationship. The Divorce Decree governs certain rights and responsibilities of the parties including, but not limited to, custody of minor children, parenting time rights, child support, spousal maintenance, and division of property. However, in certain circumstances, one or both parties may essentially reverse the marriage relationship as being void.

Attorney Dan McGuire specializes in child custody, parenting time, and other family court proceedings. While many people in the middle of custody or family law cases initially believe that they can represent themselves in court, they often come to us in the middle of these cases realizing that they were wrong. Family law is a lot more complex than it seems at first glance and, without an understanding of the Statutes and caselaw in this area, we do not recommend representing yourself in these proceedings. Below are some common questions our family law clients often ask us at their initial consultation.

If you or your child have been the victim of domestic abuse, it is important to obtain either a no contact order or restraining order protecting you or your child from the abuser. A domestic abuse no contact order (DANCO) is a specific type of criminal no contact order that can be issued in any criminal case against a defendant in which pretrial release or sentencing issues are decided and where the underlying criminal charges or convictions are for domestic abuse, stalking, or violation of an order for protection. An order for protection (OFP) is a restraining order issued out of family court when someone has committed domestic abuse against a family or household member (which includes roommates). Unlike a DANCO, which may only provide no contact, the relief provided by an OFP is much broader, and may provide no contact, temporary custody, parenting time, child support, and the exclusion from a child’s school or daycare.

If you are going through a Minnesota divorce, custody or other family court proceeding and want to ask the Court to do something or grant you a particular form of relief, you typically would file a document called a Motion. Generally, Motions filed in family court need to be served upon the other party at least 21 days prior to the motion hearing (or 24 days if served by mail). This gives the other party time to serve a responsive motion upon you.

In certain situations, however, the circumstances are such as to warrant a court hearing on the matter on an expedited or emergency basis. And, on rare occasions, the Court may allow you to file a motion without even providing the other party notice that you have done so. Below is a breakdown of common scenarios in which the Court will allow you to forego the typical 21-day service requirement and file a family court motion on either an emergency or ex parte basis.

In the United States Supreme Court case Troxel v. Granville, Father and Mother had two daughters from a relationship that ended in 1991. After their separation, Father lived with his parents and regularly brought his daughters to his parents' home for weekend visitations. Father died in May 1993, and in October 1993 Mother informed Father’s parents that she wished to limit visitations to once a month. The paternal grandparents petitioned to obtain visitation rights with their granddaughters under a Statute that allowed any third part to Petition for visitation with children at any time.

The United States Supreme Court held that "the interest of parents in the care, custody and control of their children—is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court." That fundamental right is implicated in grandparent visitation cases, and as such, it struck down the visitation statute because it unconstitutionally infringed on the right.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

 The above Preamble to the United States Constitution outlines the general goals of its framers—(1) to create a just government and to ensure peace; (2) an adequate national defense and; (3) a healthy, free nation. With its first three words, “We the People,” the Preamble emphasizes that the  Nation is to be ruled by the people. Our nation is not to be ruled by a King, dictator, president, Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress, state legislators, or the police.

In Minnesota, it is far too easy for the County Social Services Department to open a Child in Need of Protection or Services (CHIPS) case against you based on one—oftentimes false or exaggerated—anonymous phone call. While the County is required to first “investigate” these anonymous allegations, many times—even if the allegations are truly false—they will “err on the side of caution” and file a CHIPS Petition against you anyways—after removing your children from your care. Defending against a CHIPS Petition is a daunting and grueling experience for even the most responsible parents. It is important to retain the services of an experienced child protection attorney to assist you each step of the way.

If you are a parent in a CHIPS case, here is what you need to know:

If you are representing yourself in a Minnesota divorce, custody or other family law trial, you may suddenly see an attorney jump from his or her seat and yell, with great confidence, “Objection, that’s hearsay!” The judge then decides whether the witness can or cannot answer the question. At first glance, you might believe that hearsay is simply a statement that someone else told the witness. However, this is not necessarily true.

n general, each party to a lawsuit is responsible for paying his or her own attorney’s fees and court costs incurred during the case. However, there are two main exceptions to this rule. First, if the parties to the lawsuit have previously entered into a contract or stipulation that provides for a different method of allocating future attorney’s fees (usually in the event one party acts in bad faith), that contractual provision may apply and one party may be required to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees and court costs. Second, a party may get his or her attorney’s fees paid for by the other party if a Minnesota Statute expressly authorizes it.

With these basic principles in mind, there are a number of ways a party may get reimbursed for his or her attorney’s fees and court costs in a Minnesota Divorce, custody case, or post-decree matter.

Do you live in Minnesota? Has your child’s other parent moved the residence of your child to another state? Do you want to establish custody and parenting time with your child? If so, an important question that must be determined is whether or not a Minnesota Court has jurisdiction to make custody determinations regarding your child.

When determining what parenting time schedule is appropriate for any given child, it is important to consider what is in the child’s best interest—not the parents’ best interest. A parenting time schedule that is beneficial for a child may not always be ideal for the parents. Child development must be considered when constructing a parenting time schedule that is in the best interest of any given child. While this is often a complex issue that many parents and lawyers do not fully understand, the following factors are important to consider:

During the months of November to March in Minnesota, temperatures drop well below freezing and even sub-zero at times. Cars are covered in snow and children get frostbite if they forget to wear their mittens during recess. These unbearable temperatures leave many Minnesotans craving a warmer climate and they often ask—Can I move out of state? The answer is always yes, since Americans have the constitutional right to travel. However, when that question becomes, “can I move out of state with my child?,” the answer changes to—it depends.

In many divorce and child custody cases, Minnesota Judges and Judicial Officers often set forth a parenting time schedule which will enable the child and the parent to maintain a child to parent relationship that will be in the best interests of the child. However, in order to meet this goal of enabling the child to have a relationship with both parents, the Court expects that both parents will follow the court-ordered parenting time schedule. Unfortunately, not all parents follow court orders and, far too often, one parent makes the unilateral decision to deny the other parent his or her parenting time. If you find yourself in a situation where your ex is withholding parenting time from you, there are a number of legal remedies available.

In Minnesota, biological parents typically have the constitutional right to control the upbringing of their children, including the child’s education, health care, and religious training. However, a grandparent, non-parent, or other third party may petition the Court for custody of a child under certain exceptional circumstances. This article will discuss the two ways someone other than a parent can have standing to start a third-party custody proceeding in Minnesota.

In Minnesota, it is presumed that a mother is a child’s legal parent when she gives birth to a child, regardless of whether or not she was married at the time of the child’s birth. Similarly, a man is presumed to be the biological father of a child if he was married to the child’s biological mother when the child was born. If, however, a child’s parents were not married to each other when the child was born, there is no legal father—until paternity is established. There are certain legal requirements that must be satisfied prior to an unmarried father establishing paternity and, then, custody and parenting time rights.

At the beginning of many child custody or divorce proceedings involving children, many Minnesota Family Court Judges will order the parties to participate in the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process (unless there are claims of domestic abuse). The two most common forms of ADR used in Minnesota family court proceedings are mediation and the Social Early Neutral Evaluation (SENE). In a traditional mediation, the parties discuss their disputes with the assistance of a trained impartial third person who assists them in reaching a settlement. While in an ordinary mediation, the mediator generally will not take a position regarding how the parties should think about settling their disputes, the SENE process is much different. It is important to know what to expect during the highly structured SENE process.