Description: Minneapolis, Minnesota family law lawyer represented the Defendant in a paternity action

Mother and father were in a romantic relationship but never married. They have two joint children, twin boys born in October 2014. The children have always lived with mother. The parents have a volatile history punctuated by instances of domestic abuse on both sides.

In spring 2020, respondent Hennepin County (the county) initiated this action seeking to establish father's paternity.[1] The district court adjudicated father's paternity that December. Thereafter, progress toward a resolution of custody and parenting time moved slowly, marked by several changes in counsel for each parent and recalcitrant behavior from both.

In February 2021, the district court ordered the parents to participate in a custody and parenting-time evaluation, to be completed by June 23. On June 22, evaluator Jason Chinander wrote to the district court to say that he was closing the file because of the parents' "lack of cooperation." The district court released Chinander from his duty to complete the evaluation.

In July 2021, the district court noted Chinander's concerns that both parents are "mentally and emotionally unstable" and ordered the county to arrange for psychological evaluations of both parents. The court later learned that the county was not taking family court referrals but reiterated that psychological evaluations of the parents are "necessary," and the parents agreed to select a private evaluator. After they settled on Michelle Millenacker, Psy.D., the court ordered the parents to undergo psychological evaluations with Dr. Millenacker and ordered Dr. Millenacker to submit her findings to the court. Each parent met with Dr. Millenacker multiple times, and she filed a report for each.

In the meantime, the district court awarded father temporary supervised parenting time. Mother refused to cooperate with parenting time for months, so father was unable to exercise parenting time until early July 2022. According to staff at the center supervising the visits, the first one seemed to go well but subsequent visits deteriorated. The children repeatedly refused to attend and disparaged father, and mother did not encourage them to attend. After three canceled visits, the center ended its supervisory services. Father was thereafter unable to exercise parenting time.

During a three-day trial in February and March 2023, the district court received testimony from both parents; each requested sole legal and physical custody of the children and substantial restrictions on the other's parenting time. The court also heard from several other witnesses, including Chinander. Dr. Millenacker did not testify, but the district court received her reports as the direct testimony of a court-appointed expert, over mother's objection.[2] The district court also received extensive additional documentary and video evidence, including records from the center that supervised father's visits with the children, chemical-health assessments for both parents, numerous police reports, and videos of the parents' hostile interactions, often in front of or involving the children.

In a July 2023 order, the district court made express credibility determinations- particularly emphasizing that neither parent was "entirely credible"-and findings as to the children's best interests and the presumption in favor of each parent receiving at least 25% parenting time. Based on those findings, the court awarded mother sole legal and physical custody, subject to father's parenting time. Its order provides for two parenting-time phases. In phase one, through the end of 2023, father has up to four hours of weekly supervised parenting time and must participate in six reunification-therapy sessions. In phase two, starting on January 4, 2024, regardless of what happens with reunification therapy, father has unsupervised parenting time every other week from Thursday evening
to Monday morning. The order also requires both parents to refrain from using alcohol or other nonprescription chemicals during parenting time and to participate in alcohol monitoring before and during their parenting time; they may file a motion to discontinue testing after one year with no positive results.

Both parents moved for amended findings. The district court corrected clerical errors and made minor modifications but otherwise denied the motions. Mother subsequently moved to suspend indefinitely the transition to phase two unsupervised parenting time. The district court denied the indefinite suspension but delayed the start of unsupervised parenting time by one month, to February 4, 2024, to allow for additional reunification therapy and supervised parenting time.

Cnty. of Hennepin v. VonderHaar, A24-0225 (Minn. App. Nov 18, 2024)

Outcome: Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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