Jennifer Ronae Lewis Kannegieter's Answers

MN child custody law

By statute, when a child is born to unmarried parents, the mother has sole legal and sole physical custody until there is a court proceeding determining otherwise. (In comparison, parents have equal rights to the children when they are married until there is a court proceeding determining otherwise). The father should probably be talking to lawyers about bringing a custody action to establish his rights. Depending on when the mother and children left the state, the custody action may...

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How old do you have to be to choose which parent to live with?

Unfortunately in Minnesota there is no set age at which a child can decide who to live with. (I have heard that this is true in other states, and for some reason a lot of people do believe it to be true). When a court is looking at deciding custody matters, the court considers "the best interests of the child," 13 different factors which include the relationship between the child, parents, and others in the home, adjustment to home, school and community, mental and physical health. One...

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What are a spouse's rights against ex-husband that lost job and is not paying maintenance

He is currently under a court order to pay spousal maintenance. Whether or not he can change the court order depends on the terms of your divorce decree. Sometimes parties specify the spousal maintenance will be "non-modifiable," but if not, he could bring a motion to modify before the court. (If he does bring a motion to modify, he may need to attend mediation first, depending on the terms of your divorce decree). You may be able to apply for income withholding services through the county....

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MN state laws regarding spousal maintenance, alimony, calculating spousal maintenance

Spousal maintenance can be a tricky things. The law does not provide clear guidelines on when and how much spousal maintenance should be paid. Instead there are several different fact-specific issues to consider (one party's need, the other party's ability to pay, the length of the marriage, the standard of living during the marriage, work history or health considerations, property division, etc). Whether or not it was a "good" settlement is impossible to know and you can't go back and...

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Does my wife of 3 years have rights to a home that I owned before marriage

The husband has a non-marital interest in the home owned prior to marriage. The wife may have accumulated a marital interest in the home, i.e if marital funds have been paying the mortgage. In a divorce proceeding, the husband would have to prove his non-marital claim if it were contested.

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Child support modificaton. Children now reside in a different state than original order

If the case is moved to the state of Washington, then the Washington court will use Washington laws in determining child support.

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My ex and I bought a home, gave him legal rights in divorce decree- any way to put a limit on time to refinance?

Carefully read the language of your divorce decree for any deadline. When I draft this type of language, I always include some sort of "drop-dead" date (i.e. 1) when the house is sold 2) when the house is refinanced 3) or no later than January 1, 2010). If you need to enforce something in the divorce decree, most decrees contain some sort of language requiring parties to try mediation before going back to court., so you will want to check your document for that. If there is no date certain,...

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Family Law - Want to be removed as guardians

The guardianship provision only comes into play upon the death of the last surviving parent. It is possible that your brother and sister-in-law have already changed this provision due to the falling out. And you and your wife would not be forced to accept guardianship of your nieces and nephew if you did not want to. Though it could avoid some headaches for everyone if your wife were to let her brother know that the two of you are not willing to accept responsibility for his children and his...

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DIVORCE

Your first step should be to educate yourself on the divorce process and your right. Go to a divorce class or have a consultation with an attorney who will take the time to explain the process to you. Chrysalis has Divorce Information sessions, 2 1/2 hour classes for $20. When getting divorced, there are many decisions to be made. What will the final arrangements be for property division, child custody, parenting time, and support? How will you reach these decisions? Can you talk to...

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Texas Divorce Laws

Your daughter should consult with a Texas divorce lawyer to learn about Texas laws. She may be able to get automatic income withholding for child support set up, which might help her get regular payments. She will specifically want to ask about moving out of Texas. If she was in MN and wanting to move to Texas, she would need her husband's agreement or a court order to move her daughter out of the state.

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