HF 561

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to child custody; disallowing persons with
specified criminal convictions from becoming
custodians of unrelated children; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, sections 257C.03, subdivision 7;
518.179, by adding a subdivision.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 257C.03,
subdivision 7, is amended to read:

Subd. 7.

Interested third party; burden of proof;
factors.

(a) To establish that an individual is an interested
third party, the individual must:

(1) show by clear and convincing evidence that one of the
following factors exist:

(i) the parent has abandoned, neglected, or otherwise
exhibited disregard for the child's well-being to the extent
that the child will be harmed by living with the parent;

(ii) placement of the child with the individual takes
priority over preserving the day-to-day parent-child
relationship because of the presence of physical or emotional
danger to the child, or both; or

(iii) other extraordinary circumstances; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(2) prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it is in
the best interests of the child to be in the custody of the
interested third party new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (3) show by clear and convincing evidence that granting the
petition would not violate section 518.179, subdivision 1a new text end .

(b) The following factors must be considered by the court
in determining an interested third party's petition:

(1) the amount of involvement the interested third party
had with the child during the parent's absence or during the
child's lifetime;

(2) the amount of involvement the parent had with the child
during the parent's absence;

(3) the presence or involvement of other interested third
parties;

(4) the facts and circumstances of the parent's absence;

(5) the parent's refusal to comply with conditions for
retaining custody set forth in previous court orders;

(6) whether the parent now seeking custody was previously
prevented from doing so as a result of domestic violence;

(7) whether a sibling of the child is already in the care
of the interested third party; and

(8) the existence of a standby custody designation under
chapter 257B.

(c) In determining the best interests of the child, the
court must apply the standards in section 257C.04.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 518.179, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 1a. new text end

new text begin Custody of child. new text end

new text begin A person convicted of a
crime described in subdivision 2 may not be considered for
custody of a child unless the child is the person's child by
birth or adoption.
new text end