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mbensoni

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Minnesota
hi - I met a man who had previously been engaged. They had a child together and she cheated on him when the child was one. He moved out. He had her (his child)every weekend give or take one weekend a month - and sometimes during the week. We met - he was still getting her every weekend. He pays her weekly as they had there own arrangment set up. NOW that we are married - the mother has been a real pain. She claims that the daughter hates coming to visit her dad. She claims that my husband has no legal rights as a father and the daughter does not have to visit my husband (the child is 2). Recently I put my husband, his daughter under my health plan as it was cheaper and it's better coverage. The mother flipped out because she was unable to take her daughter to a specific daughter and freaked out on my husband. She said for us to drop the daughter from our health plan and she would cover her. Then she said it was his legal obligation as a father to provide the healthcare coverage. We refuse to drop the child. The mother is immature. I don't know how often she has her kid - most of the time the child is at the mother's parents house or with the fiance (who has been rumored to beat the mother) as the mother works and goes to school. She applied for child support through the state - this was mailed to my husband at her address Nov 8th 04 and she gave them to him Nov 23rd and the paperwork is due Dec 2nd. She has our address - don't know why she had to have them mailed to her only for her to sit on them. She claims she does not want more money - she just thinks it will be easier this way by having the money deposited into her checking account. Anyway - my husband is tired of her threats and tired of her using the child as a pawn. He wants to go for joint custody - she flipped out and said she wants to keep everything out of the courts. (so i suppose she did not think she would need to go to court for child support) Anyway - is he crazy to attempt joint custody.
 


his best bet, would be to have a court order, with details outlined. he would have to hire a lawyer and get this done thru the court. It is always best to have a court order to fall back on. but, the only draw back, is some judges will only follow them, by the letter. so be careful
 

djohnson

Senior Member
I don't think he is crazy and he could stand a chance at getting custody. First, if they were not married, has there been a paternity test done to prove he is the father? He will need that to file for custody and she will also need it to file for child support. If there is no legal custody papers right now, then they are both entitled to her and the first one to file can have an advantage. Be prepared for a battle with lots of costs. Also be prepared to have proof of your accusations against her and details of how often you have her and how living there could be to her best advantage. Also you need to drop out of it. As a step parent even though you are major involved, the court does recognize you. Keep that in mind as you do everything.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
djohnson said:
I don't think he is crazy and he could stand a chance at getting custody. First, if they were not married, has there been a paternity test done to prove he is the father? He will need that to file for custody and she will also need it to file for child support. If there is no legal custody papers right now, then they are both entitled to her and the first one to file can have an advantage. Be prepared for a battle with lots of costs. Also be prepared to have proof of your accusations against her and details of how often you have her and how living there could be to her best advantage. Also you need to drop out of it. As a step parent even though you are major involved, the court does recognize you. Keep that in mind as you do everything.

It is a complete and total "myth" that there is any advantage in being the parent to file first. Its also not necessarily true that they have equal legal rights. If his paternity has not been established legal then he has no rights at all at that point. He is a legal stranger to the child. Even if paternity has been established many states (I don't know about MN) give sole legal custody to the mother in an unwed situation. Therefore please be cautious when advising someone that if there are no custody paper then they are both "entitled" to her. In most states it doesn't work that way....and in NO state would it work that way if paternity hasn't been legally established.
 

djohnson

Senior Member
I advised about the paternity issue. If paternity has been established and there is no court order or custody has not been established then the father is within his rights to take custody or to file for custody. From what is stated here it seems he has her almost 50 percent of the time anyway so it would not be hard to establish joint custody if not full. Please don't be close minded to fathers getting and deserving custody. In many cases it is the best thing.
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
djohnson said:
I advised about the paternity issue. If paternity has been established and there is no court order or custody has not been established then the father is within his rights to take custody or to file for custody.

You are only partially correct. Dad is within his rights to file for paternity determination and custody. However, what LDiJ was trying to tell you is that some states do NOT provide equal custodial rights if the parents were unmarried and there are no custody papers - even if paternity HAS been established. SOME states automatically give custody to the mother in that situation. So before you tell OP that Dad has the exact same rights, you might research whether MN is one of those states.
 
First, you are going to need to establish paternity, once this is done, research the Standard Order of Possession in your state, this will give you an idea of what to expect as you take your ex to court. Keep in mind that you can negotiate everything. In MY state (TX), the court order my ex and I to go to a mediation for visitation prior to trying the case. We were able to iron out a lot keeping both our lawyer fees low. As the step-parent, the court is not going to acknowledge you.
 

colson111

Member
MN awards all varations of custody

It all depends on the case. I was informed that certain counties in MN are against joint custody though. My lawyer told me to file through Anoka county, so that I would be able to get full custody instead of joint.
 

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