Relating to family law, reforming and recodifying the law relating to marriage dissolution, child custody and support, spousal maintenance and property division

ARTICLE 1 - MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION, LEGAL SEPARATION AND
ANNULMENT

Temporarily imposing a marital dissolution fee on petitioners and respondents in marriage dissolution or legal separation cases to be collected by district court administrators for forwarding to the commissioner of finance; providing for review of dissolution or legal separation cases involving child custody, parenting time or support rights and obligations; providing for the enforcement of maintenance obligations; requiring court orders or judgments and decrees providing for child support, spousal maintenance, custody or parenting time to include certain notices; making certain technical corrections and clarifying certain provisions; clarifying or modifying certain definitions; removing certain references to child support orders and certain provisions relating to modification of the orders; specifying certain renumbering and cross reference correction instructions to the revisor of statutes for recodification purposes; repealing certain provisions relating to recovery of certain child support enforcement costs, security for maintenance or support payments, child support controlling order determination, the awarding of temporary maintenance and support, the continuation of child support after death of the obligor, automatic termination of support upon emancipation and a certain child support modification form and notice requirements

ARTICLE 2 - CUSTODY, PARENTING TIME AND VISITATION

Providing for temporary orders for custody and parenting time; specifying certain custody or parenting time notice requirements; providing for the awarding of attorney fees, costs and disbursements; providing for child custody orders, requiring court consideration of best interests of the child in determining custody, prohibiting parent preference, specifying certain factors to be considered in determining best interests; providing for joint custody, specifying certain factors and presumptions; specifying the access rights of parents; clarifying certain provisions regulating marriage dissolution; specifying certain renumbering and cross reference correction instructions to the revisor of statutes for recodification purposes; repealing certain recodified provisions including provisions relating to the best interests of the child, false allegations of child abuse, departure from the guidelines, grandparent visitation and certain affidavit requirements

ARTICLE 3 - CHILD SUPPORT

"Minnesota Child Support Act"; defining certain terms; specifying certain requirements and preferences for child support orders, authorizing departure from certain presumptions under certain conditions; providing for temporary child support orders; providing for determination of the controlling order in cases of the existence of more than one order; providing for court award of attorney fees, costs and disbursements; providing for the exchange of certain information between the parties, specifying certain documentation requirements; providing for the protection of certain personal information; defining income for child support determination purposes, specifying certain exclusions; providing for the determination of imputed income under certain conditions; providing for presumptive child support orders; providing a basic support computation schedule; providing for the determination of child care and medical support, requiring ex-spousal medical coverage under certain conditions, imposing certain responsibilities on employers and obligors, providing a self support adjustment and for enforcement; requiring the commissioner of human services to create and publish a worksheet to assist in calculating child support, requiring annual adjustments; specifying certain factors to be considered by the court in determining whether or not to deviate from the presumptive guidelines; requiring written findings; requiring department of human services periodic guidelines review; authorizing the parties to agree to establish a trust fund for post-secondary education costs; specifying certain requirements for court modification of child support orders; authorizing the court to rescind child support orders or judgments and order a new trial or grant other relief under certain conditions; providing for changes in custody or parenting time and for termination of child support under certain conditions; requiring and providing for cost of living adjustments to child support orders; providing for the assignment of child support payments to public authorities responsible for collection in public assistance cases, authorizing and providing for public authority child support collections in other cases, specifying the role of public authorities and providing for the imposition of service fees and for preparation and filing of case information sheets; specifying the authority of public authorities relating to establishing paternity or to establishing, modifying or enforcing support orders; providing for the sharing of certain information; requiring the commissioner of human services to create and maintain a central collections unit to receive, process and disburse child support payments and to maintain payment records, providing for mandatory payments to the unit; regulating the withholding of income for child support orders compliance or arrearages payment purposes, providing for certain lump sum payments, authorizing contempt actions against employers for failure to comply with withholding requirements; providing for the establishment of child support deposit or escrow accounts in financial institutions; providing for the appointment of trustees under certain conditions; providing for the treatment of overpayments; requiring and providing for the independence of child support and parenting time; providing for arrearage payment agreements; providing for certain obligor employment or community service orders under certain conditions; providing for contempt proceedings and drivers, occupational or recreational license suspension and motor vehicle liens for nonpayment of support; providing for the publication of names of delinquent child support obligors; specifying certain case reviewer availability requirements; providing for child support obligee entitlement to recovery of reasonable attorney fees and other collection costs incurred to enforce child support judgments; providing for the form of certain required notices; appropriating money to the commissioner of human services to implement the provisions and to reimburse counties for implementation costs; specifying certain cross reference correction instructions to the revisor of statutes; repealing certain existing provisions providing for child and medical support

ARTICLE 4 - MISCELLANEOUS

Modifying the procedure for custodial parents moving of children to another state in marriage dissolution cases, requiring the court to apply a best interests standard in considering move requests and specifying certain factors to be considered in best interests determination; burden of proof to be on the requesting parent, exception in cases of domestic abuse; modifying the distribution of defined benefit pension plan assets or benefits for marital property division purposes in marriage dissolution proceedings; providing for modification of child support obligations of persons called into active military service under certain conditions, defining active military service
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