Attorney Todd Dwire speaking with staff member in conference room

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Parental gatekeeping and child custody in Minnesota

On Behalf of | Aug 15, 2014 | Firm News |

The idea behind parental gatekeeping in Minnesota is basically that one parent may decide to make it harder for the other parent to see a child after a divorce. Gatekeeping is the act of restricting the open access that these two parties have to one another.

It is important to note that this can sometimes be done for valid reasons. For example, if one of the parents is abusive, the other one may choose to limit access in an effort to protect the child. This is absolutely something that needs to be done, as the child’s best interests always have to be considered.

However, it can be done for other reasons, which could cause some problems within the relationships in the group. A parent may want to harm the relationship that the child has with the other parent, for instance. The gatekeeping could be done to keep them apart so that they cannot get to know each other and form the bond that they deserve. This is a serious issue when there is no other reason for the child to be restricted.

Furthermore, not all states have put laws on the books to punish parents who do this. They can be very detrimental to the relationships that children have with their parents, and there may be nothing that can be done to stop them.

For this reason, it is incredibly important for parents to know all of the legal rights that they have under their child custody agreement. If this agreement is violated because one parent is acting as a gatekeeper, then they may have legal options to put an end to the behavior.

Source: Huffington Post, “Are Child Custody Laws That Treat Parental Gatekeeping Like Child Abuse Long Overdue?” B. Robert Farzad, Aug. 12, 2014

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