Shakopee Fathers’ Rights Attorney

You may have heard or read about lawyers who claim to be “father’s rights” attorneys. If you are going through a divorce proceeding and you are a father, you need to understand this – you have no fewer and no greater rights than the mother. That’s right – both parents have the exact same rights. You have the same rights with respect to physical custody. You have the same rights with respect to legal custody. You have the same rights with respect to parenting time. There is nothing whatsoever in either Minnesota’s custody statute or the parenting time statute that gives any preference to either the mother or the father in a divorce proceeding.

Shakopee Attorney for Child Custody and Child Support

Minnesota laws pertaining to custody and parenting time provide a number of factors (seventeen, to be exact) that the court must consider in determining what is in the best interests of children, and none of those factors makes any reference specifically to the father or the mother. Rather, the court must view the family dynamic as a whole, and analyze the situation under each of those factors.

With that said, there are some situations in which parents can be on unequal ground in terms of their rights to children. For example, if a parent has been convicted of certain types of criminal offenses, that parent may have restricted rights to custody or parenting time with children. Again, those restrictions apply the same to both mothers and fathers. Essentially, the only circumstances in family law proceedings where the mother has different rights to children, and where those rights are unrelated to specific past acts of the parents, is in a paternity proceeding, prior to the father being adjudicated (in other words, prior to the father being formally recognized as the father). Prior to the time when a father is legally recognized as a parent by the court, the mother has custody of the child by default.

Scott County Divorce Lawyer for Fathers and Mothers

If you are looking for a father’s rights attorney, I can certainly help you. I represent both fathers and mothers in family court proceedings, and I think it is important to understand that both parents have the same rights in these proceedings. Contact me today for a free initial consultation.