First let me say how sorry I am for this difficult situation you are in, and you should seek assistance. As far as emancipation, Minnesota Statutes do not provide either the grounds or a procedure for emancipation. Minnesota case law has established that a minor can be emancipated by a legal... View More

Yes. You are legally considered to be an adult, however Minnesota law is clear:

259.241 ADULT ADOPTION.

(a) Any adult person may be adopted, regardless of the adult person's residence. A resident of Minnesota may petition the court of record having jurisdiction of adoption... View More

She can certainly petition the Court for emancipation. There is no real bright line test, but the Courts have a lot of discretion in declaring a minor emancipated. Some of the factors include the minor’s living situation, consent of the parents and the overall situation or actions created by the... View More

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "custodianship," but child support obligations end when the child has BOTH turned 18 and graduated. If still in secondary school, the obligation can continue until age 20.

Does the custody agreement include an order for parenting time? If not, what is the purpose of the drug-test provision? Does the agreement set forth penalties for failing to pass a test (in general, failure to take a test is treated the same as failing to pass)?

Generally, you can ask the court to order testing for the person you believe to be the father and, if necessary, your ex.

Unless something was inadvertently left off in uploading, there wasn't an admiralty/maritime element here. If there was a maritime element, you could repost and include it. Good luck

Tim Akpinar

By "separated," I assume you mean living apart, not legally separated. If you are married, you will both need to sign to transfer ownership of the house. You can refuse to sign unless you get a portion of the proceeds. I would contact the closing company and make them aware that you... View More

It is difficult to say what you can do without knowing more. Were you married? If so, are you divorced? You say that you are "supposed to have" custody. Is there a divorce decree or other court order that sets forth the parenting time you each get? If so, you can go to court to... View More

I would contact the court clerk's office and take a look at what documents have been filed. See if there is an affidavit of service. If not, you can raise that to the court.

It sounds like a custody motion. You can certainly oppose that.

If you are sure that you have never been served, then the case is not properly before the court. If, however, you have been served, you will need to make an appearance or the court can rule against you by default. If you... View More

Has your son been adjudicated the father? Does he have court-ordered parenting time? If so, you could see the child during that time. If not, neither he nor you have any enforceable rights.

If you have joint legal custody, you have equal say in determining medical/psychiatric treatment. You should have been consulted prior to starting therapy. You should raise to the court the fact that you weren’t and can then ask that they be removed for bias or other reasons.

You will likely want/need a transcript of the recording if it is to be presented to the court. For now, highlighting the conversation and noting that the entire conversation is available for the court may suffice. Note that court's generally dislike parents involving the children in disputes... View More

Yes, you should have access to the records. If they won’t provide voluntarily, you can subpoena them.

you cannot stop making payments unless the court modifies the child support order. You would need to go to court and ask first that parenting time be modified to reflect the actual situation, and then ask that support be modified per the new schedule. If mom voluntarily quit, income can be... View More

Normally, you can look up cases online, however, if this is a paternity case it would not show up. If it is a divorce, then it would. If your step son is seeking official parenting time, then yes, the living arrangement would help your case. That said, there are many variables involved.

If a father has been ordered to pay child support, that would indicate that he was either married to the mother or adjudicated the father. Presumption of paternity would no longer apply unless another man is challenging the paternity.

No. The ROP creates a presumption of paternity, but if the parties are unmarried, an adjudication of paternity is still required for paternal rights.

Termination of rights to one child does not terminate rights to other children.

You indicated that you and the mother have "separated" and agreed to custody and visitation. Were or are you married to one another? If not, you have no enforceable parental rights unless you go to... View More