Practice Blawg » Legislation

Joint Physical Custody Bill on Governor’s Desk

Nancy Hupp — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:17:19 +0000

Last week we posted about a a bill, HR 322, that would raise Minnesota’s baseline custody presumption from 25% to 35%. Since our post, the Senate passed HF322. The MSBA Family Law Section opposes this legislation. The House had previously passed a version of the bill that set the presumption at 45.1% and only allowed the presumption to be overcome by proving, to a clear and convincing standard, the type of mistreatment that would trigger child protection proceedings. In the end, the House author asked her colleagues to concur with the Senate version; the House did so and the bill’s fate is now controlled by Gov. Dayton, who has not indicated whether he will sign it or veto it.

The Family Law Section Chair has written a letter asking Governor Dayton to veto the proposed legislation. To contact the Governor and express your views, please use this link.

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New Developments in Family Law

Andrea Hable — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:29:37 +0000

Lots happening to impact the practice of family law…

New Rules

Amended family law rules went into effect on May 1. You can read the amendments here.

Of note, the changes update terminology, streamline proceedings, and create three new forms. The changes came out of Divorce Camp 2009, with goals of making the rules reflect current practice in the District Courts and of making the rules more user-friendly for pro se litigants.

New Forms

The new rules require three new forms for all actions pending on the effective date of May 1 and to those filed thereafter.

Parenting/Financial Disclosure Statement
Certificate of Settlement Efforts
Initial Case Management Statement

These new forms are available at the Minnesota Judicial Branch website.

H.F. 322: Presumption of Joint Custody

This controversial bill is currently in the Senate. From the MSBA’s Capitol Connection email and blog:

JOINT PHYSICAL CUSTODY BILL ADVANCES IN SENATE

HF322, a bill that would alter Minnesota’s parenting time baseline presumption, was heard for a second time in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was re-referred after being altered in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The Judiciary Committee voted to send the bill, which is opposed by the Family Law Section, to the Senate Finance Committee without a recommendation. The version of the bill that passed the House last month would raise the current presumption of 25% physical custody to 45.1%, and would only allow the presumption to be overcome by proving, to a clear and convincing standard, the type of mistreatment that would trigger child protection proceedings. The presumption would therefore override the longstanding “best interests of the child” factors in most contested cases. The Senate Judiciary Committee eliminated most of the House language and set the presumption at 35%.

The Senate Finance Committee passed the bill today and sent it to the Senate floor. If the bill becomes law, a wave of custody modification requests is expected to strain the court system, but no plan has been offered to cover the increased costs, which, because of delayed effective dates, may not occur until the state’s next fiscal biennium.

Future updates will be posted here.

South Dakota recently rejected a similar bill. Consider contacting your local elected official to express any concerns about this bill.

practicelaw Family Law Forms and Advisory Group

I’m working on expanding the family law forms library on practicelaw. Of note:

A few months ago we added a Complaint to Establish Paternity (FAM-300), thanks to Central Minnesota Legal Services. Last week we updated it to reflect the new Rule 314 (Parentage Proceedings).
We are planning to add forms regarding custody outside of a dissolution, adoption (step and international), and third-party custody, plus a few other miscellaneous forms.
The J&D is regularly reviewed and updated. If you have a suggested change, please let me know. The form is here (FAM-680)

We need help with our new forms! We are in need of forms for international adoption and a financial affidavit for child support – if you have one that you would be willing to share, we will edit and format and give you credit on practicelaw.

We would also like to assemble a group of family law practitioners who we (I) can consult from time to time to ask questions as I update our forms. If you are interested in answering questions or reviewing language occasionally, please let me know. You can contact me by email.

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Minnesota Government Shutdown Resources

Andrea Hable — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:54:12 +0000

A lot of helpful information has been surfacing over the past few days as a potential government shutdown looms large. Frankly, I can’t even wrap my head around how far-reaching the impact of a shutdown will be. Rather than try to summarize it for you, here are the best websites and information we’ve found. If you have more information that would be helpful for attorneys, please share it in the comments.

Judge Kathleen Gearin’s order, issued yesterday, keeps core government functions open in the event of a shutdown. Overview at Star Tribune, MinnLawyer Blog.

Minnesota Management & Budget’s website, BeReadyMN.com, can be monitored for bulletins and media publications. Currently, it looks like most information is posted under 2011 State Government Contingency Planning.

The Minnesota Secretary of State announced today that it will be open. It has also extended its hours today until 8:00 p.m.

The Minnesota Department of Health will post a list of approved critical services and contact information at their website, which will be updated periodically if there are any changes. In a letter sent to the MSBA Family Law Section yesterday, Steve Elkins, the State Registrar, said that if services are not approved as critical, and the office is closed, “phones and faxes will be turned off and mail will not be delivered. We will be unable to process requests for replacement birth records after adoptions or paternity actions. We will also not be able to process Father’s Adoption Registry searches nor registration applications of putative fathers.”

What will be open, closed: Star Tribune.

Shutdown FAQ: NPR (6/20/11).

If you have more information, please post it in the comments below.

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New Site Focuses on Legislation Affecting Lawyers

Nancy Hupp — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:53:38 +0000

Billy Graham once said, “I just want to lobby for God.” Who wouldn’t? Sounds easy.

I am quite sure that Bryan Lake and Lloyd Grooms, who both lobby on behalf of the MSBA, would agree they have a tougher job. Regardless of your politics, this year will be particularly difficult for at least a few reasons:

Big hole – $6.2 billion budget deficit
Lots of newbies – approximately one-third of senators and more than one-fourth of representatives are beginning their first term
The big switcheroo – Republicans control both chambers for the first time in decades, but must deal with a Democratic governor

The MSBA speaks for lawyers at the state Capitol and monitors developments to keep members informed. During the 2011 session the MSBA will join with other voices to continue to advocate for adequate justice system funding, as well as other major profession-wide issues. The MSBA also promotes numerous technical updates to various laws that are drafted by MSBA sections.

To keep members informed on the association’s advocacy work, MSBA staff recently created MSBA Advocacy, a site that:

Outlines MSBA positions on legislative initiatives;
Tracks legislation that would impact attorneys and their practices, not just in substantive practice areas, but in more global ways (e.g., tax on legal services, justice system funding);
Allows members to sign up to receive regular updates on important legislative developments.

Last year, Bryan Lake published a weekly “Capitol Connection.” This year he will blog rather than email a weekly newsletter. You’ll get information faster and can visit the Advocacy site and sort the blog posts by subject matter area.

Check it out, sign up for email updates or get the latest news through the blog’s RSS feed. While it is a stretch to say that MSBA lobbyists have a task as easy as Billy Graham, we’ve made their task of communicating with members a whole lot easier.

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Post tags: Advocacy, Legislative Work, Policy

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Heads Up: New Legislation Effective August 1

Nancy Hupp — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:29:36 +0000

In addition to being National Raspberry Cream Pie Day and the birthdays of Dom DeLuise and Francis Scott Key, August 1 is the effective date of several new Minnesota laws.

The Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Service has information on 2010 legislation and specifically on laws with August 1 effective dates. The 2010 Session Laws are now online. See index and Table 1 (Session Laws Amended, Repealed, Etc.) and Table 2 (Statutes New, Amended or Repealed).

We’ve blogged previously about the changes to landlord tenant law, and we’ve been busy revising some of practicelaw’s Guardianship and Conservatorship forms to insure their compliance with legislation effective August 1. The outline of those changes will be posted on Monday.

Also, the most recent edition of MSBA’s Bench and Bar, has an article detailing the 2010 legislative action. For another take on those pieces of legislation effective Sunday, see the Pine City Community Blog.

So read up to stay up-to-date. And don’t forget to enjoy a piece of raspberry cream pie.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: conservatorship, guardianship, New Laws

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