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Minnesota courts aim to reduce conflict in child custody disputes

Litigation is adversarial. It is frequently the nature of the process. In most instances the litigation process serves our interests, allowing truth to emerge at the conclusion of legal hearings. In family law, however, when child custody is at issue, many believe that the cost of battle may simply be too high to allow a dispute to be litigated in court.

In an effort to alleviate some of the burdens of divorce, and hopefully avoid some of the hard feelings that may develop in a bitter custody dispute, the Minnesota district courts have instituted a program known as Early Neutral Evaluation to help divorcing couples along.

The new initiative is a case management program that assists divorcing couples early in the process to resolve issues that may arise in family court. There are two forms of Early Neutral Evaluation. One addresses issues such as child custody and parenting time. The other addresses financial issues, like property division. Both processes involve the parties and their attorneys.

During the evaluation process, each party is allotted time to make a brief presentation of their position, and both parties are allotted time to respond to those positions. The parties also take questions from the program evaluators.

In child custody cases, the Early Neutral Evaluation team consists of two male and two female team members experienced in family court cases. These advisors help parties reach compromise and settle disputes, such as visitation rights. In financial cases, the team normally consists of one qualified financial evaluator, but the overall process is similar to that of custody cases.

Throughout the neutral evaluation process, parties are allowed to negotiate settlement agreements with the assistance of their counsel and the team. Though it's a neutral process, it's important to make sure each individual's position and rights are defended in negotiations.

So far, this process has been highly successful. It's positive news that the court system is taking steps to help Minnesota families through potentially contentious aspects of divorce. At the same time, both spouses can decide to work together to create a fair settlement without the assistance of the court. Whatever the case, there is a framework in place to make sure divorces are settled fairly..

Source: Echo Press, "From the Bench-Reducing family court pain and expense," Judge Frank Kundrat, Sep. 7, 2012

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