Minnesota Senate Bill SF900

Minnesota 2023-2024 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/27/23
• Refer: 1/27/23

Caption

Parenting time provisions modifications

Impact

If enacted, SF900 would revise Minnesota Statutes section 518.175 significantly, incorporating new guidelines that law judges must follow when making decisions about parenting time. This includes considering a parent’s mental health, substance abuse history, or other factors that could jeopardize the child's safety. Importantly, it ensures that courts do not deny parenting time solely based on a parent's failure to provide support financially, which may reflect a progressive shift in family law emphasizing the importance of maintaining parent-child relationships above financial viability alone.

Summary

SF900 aims to modify the existing provisions surrounding parenting time in Minnesota. It emphasizes the need for courts to uphold a rebuttable presumption that custody should be as equally shared as possible between both parents, aiming for an allocation of parenting time that approaches a 50-50 split. The bill provides a comprehensive framework for judges when determining parenting schedules and ensures that both parents maintain substantial contact with the child, which is viewed as essential for the child’s emotional and social development.

Contention

There are notable points of contention regarding SF900. Advocates argue that the bill strengthens the rights of both parents and focuses on the best interests of the child by promoting maximum parenting time. Critics, however, might argue that it simplifies complex family dynamics into a numeric framework and could overlook essential considerations in individual cases—such as domestic violence or significant parental absence. The bill’s approach to presume equal time may also face scrutiny if it potentially places children in unsafe scenarios due to lack of individual assessments on a case-by-case basis.