Governor Mark Dayton today informed Speaker of the House, Kurt Zellers, that he would not sign HF 322, the “Equal and Shared Parenting Act.” This Act would have created a rebuttable presumption under state law that each parent would be entitled to at least 45.1% parenting time with his or her children. This presumption could only be overcome by clear and convincing evidence of the “unfitness of the parent being challenged that would cause substantial harm to the children.” Current law provides for a rebuttable presumption of at least 25% parenting time for each parent and the law does not require a finding of “substantial harm” to overcome this presumption.
All family law cases are different and intensely fact based. Discretion on the part of the court is needed to serve the best interests of the children. Governor Dayton’s decision is thus the proper one in this instance.