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Date: 08-26-2024
Case Style:
In re the Marriage of Andrew Jeffery Helmin and Yuemin Xu
Case Number: 19HA-FA-18-587
Judge: Not Available
Court: District Court, Dakota County, Minnesota
Plaintiff's Attorney:
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
Hastings, Minnesota divorce lawyers represented the husband and wife in a marriage dissolution case involving child custody.
Father and mother married in 2017 and had a child who was born that same year. The parties began dissolution proceedings in 2018. The parties reached a settlement agreement on many issues, but proceeded to trial on childcare placement, international travel and vacation parenting time, and the distribution of funds given to the parties by mother's parents.
For childcare placement, mother wished for the child to remain in the child's current placement, but father wanted the child to attend childcare at a more centrally located placement between mother and father. The district court found that it was in the child's best interests to remain in the current childcare placement in Eden Prairie. For international travel and vacation parenting time, the parties disputed whether the child should be allowed to travel internationally. Mother is from China and wished to travel there with the child so the child could have contact with extended family. Father argued that, because China is not part of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, he would have no method to secure the child's return if mother refused to return the child to the United States. The district court found that it was in the best interests of the child that the child be permitted to travel internationally at the age of five.
The district court entered a final judgment on the marriage dissolution in April 2020 and ordered that mother and father share joint legal and joint physical custody of the child.
In 2023, after the child turned five years old, mother filed a motion in district court seeking an order that the child attend school in the Eden Prairie School District and that father execute the documents necessary for the child to travel to China, including applying for a passport. In response, father requested that the district court deny mother's motion. Father also moved for an order from the district court that the child attend school in the Eagan School District and that the child be prohibited from traveling internationally until the child is 16 years old.
Both mother and father filed affidavits supporting their motions. Following a hearing at which the district court heard arguments but did not receive evidence or hear testimony, the district court granted mother's motion and denied father's motion. Father now appeals.
In re Marriage of Helmin, A23-1345 (Minn. App. Aug 26, 2024)
Outcome: Affirmed
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: