A new piece of proposed legislation in England aims to achieve more equality in child custody settlements.
The legislation touts the importance of a child having contact with both their mother and father. But David Norgrove argues that his recent findings in the independent family law review, prove that “the law should not be changed.”
Minnesota Law
This is a hot issue that is under debate in Europe, as well as right here in Minnesota.
The 2012 Minnesota legislative session is freshly underway and the topic of physical custody is again at issue. The Children’s Equal and Shared Parenting Act, or House File 322, would require that in almost all divorce cases with minor children, each parent would be awarded at least 45.1 percent of parenting time which would effectively establish a presumption of joint physical custody. Currently, when parties cannot agree on custody and parenting time, the Judge makes the decision based upon the statutory “best interest factors” without a presumption of joint physical custody.
According to the Minnesota Lawyer, “The bill has been debated for many legislative sessions but broke through last year. It passed a hearing in the House Civil Law Committee in April and is poised for additional hearings this session in the House Judiciary and Policy Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill’s chief House author said she has the votes to pass the bill in the chamber and is optimistic for similar bipartisan support in the Senate.”
The family law section of the Minnesota State Bar Association testified against the proposal last legislative session and plans to fight it this year, too.
Related Sources:
The Telegraph
