QUESTION
What are my rights if my ex-wife has primary custody of our child?
Asked on Mar 02nd, 2012 on Child Custody - Minnesota
More details to this question:
My ex-wife and I were divorced in one state and have since both moved to different states. Neither of us had a lawyer at the time of our divorce and she got primary custody of our child and the divorce decree says that I am to have reasonable visitation. Her and I had agreed outside of court that I would get him during the summers when he is out of school and certain holidays, it''s just a notarized piece of paper that we had written up at the time of our divorce. It has been almost 4 years since our divorce and she has now decided that she doesn''t want him with me during the summers. Can she do this? What are my rights as the father when she has primary custody? I pay my $440 in child support every month and have never been late. I have kept up every obligation as required by our decree, does she have full control of when I am allowed to see my child or can I take her back to court and have any chance at all of getting fair visitation?
1 ANSWER
William/J Joanis
In Minnesota we use different terms than "primary" custody. While we have the terms sole and joint "physical" custody, what is really significant is the amount of parenting time. That is not related to whether the noncustodial parent has sole or joint physical custody. If you are not satisfied with the amount of your parenting time, and if the child or mother is living in Minnesota, you should get counsel to petition the court to obtain an order defining your parenting time. Our firm represents people in these types of cases on a sliding fee basis, and we have payment plans. Other firms do so as well. You should contact a firm, such as ours, that will give you a free, no commitment, consultation.
Answered on Mar 04th, 2012 at 8:19 PM