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HF2937 (Legislative Session 94 (2025-2026))

Use of parenting consultants in family court cases regulated.

AI Generated Summary

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of this bill is to regulate the use of parenting consultants in family court cases within Minnesota. This involves establishing guidelines for their role and limiting their influence on legal decisions related to custody and parenting time disputes.

Main Provisions

  • Qualifications: A person appointed as a parenting consultant must meet the same qualifications as a parenting time expeditor or a licensed marriage and family therapist.
  • Role of Parenting Consultants: They act as neutral third parties hired by disputing parties to help resolve conflicts regarding parenting time without the authority to alter custody orders or parenting time allocations.
  • Discharging a Consultant: Any party involved can terminate the services of a parenting consultant by providing written notice to the consultant and filing it with the court. The court may also remove a consultant if they are found not to be serving the child’s best interests.
  • Voluntary Resolution: Parties are not restricted from voluntarily using a neutral third party to resolve disputes outside the formal involvement of a parenting consultant.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

  • Non-binding Decisions: The bill introduces a new provision specifying that decisions made by parenting consultants are not binding on the parties. Courts are instructed to treat any evaluations or recommendations from a parenting consultant as inadmissible in legal proceedings, ensuring that final custody and parenting time decisions remain within the jurisdiction of the court.

Relevant Terms

parenting consultant, family court, custody disputes, parenting time, neutral third party, discharge, inadmissible evidence, marriage and family therapist, parenting time expeditor, child’s best interest.

Bill text versions

Actions

DateChamberWhereTypeNameCommittee Name
March 31, 2025HouseFloorActionIntroduction and first reading, referred toJudiciary Finance and Civil Law

Citations

 
[
  {
    "analysis": {
      "added": [
        "A new subdivision discussing decisions of parenting consultants and inadmissibility of their determinations in court."
      ],
      "removed": [
        ""
      ],
      "summary": "The bill modifies the role of parenting consultants in family court cases under section 518.1751.",
      "modified": [
        "Details on qualifications and discharge of parenting consultants."
      ]
    },
    "citation": "518.1751",
    "subdivision": "subdivision 4"
  },
  {
    "analysis": {
      "added": [
        ""
      ],
      "removed": [
        ""
      ],
      "summary": "This section relates to the qualifications of a marriage and family therapist which parenting consultants must meet.",
      "modified": [
        ""
      ]
    },
    "citation": "148B.33",
    "subdivision": "subdivision 1"
  }
]

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