DIVORCE HEADQUARTERS NEWSLETTER       Issue #27           September 2002 Know someone else going through the process? If you think they could benefit from this newsletter feel free to pass it on in it's entirety to them. "The most important things a child can inherit are fond memories."     unknown Don't forget to mention DivorceHQ.com when contacting the divorce professionals listed on the site. In this Issue: Credit and Divorce Grandparents Rights to Visitation     by Maury D. Beaulier, Esquire Divorce Humor 1. Credit and Divorce Mary and Bill recently divorced. Their divorce decree stated that Bill would pay the balances on their three joint credit card accounts. Months later, after Bill neglected to pay off these accounts, all three creditors contacted Mary for payment. She referred them to the divorce decree, insisting that she was not responsible for the accounts. The creditors correctly stated that they were not parties to the decree and that Mary was still legally responsible for paying off the couple's joint accounts. Mary later found out that the late payments appeared on her credit report. If you're considering divorce or separation, pay special attention to the status of your credit accounts. If you maintain joint accounts during this time, it's important to make regular payments so your credit record won't suffer. As long as there's an outstanding balance on a joint account, you and your spouse are responsible for it. If you divorce, you may want to close joint accounts or accounts in which your former spouse was an authorized user. Or ask the creditor to convert these accounts to individual accounts. By law, a creditor cannot close a joint account because of a change in marital status, but can do so at the request of either spouse. A creditor, however, does not have to change joint accounts to individual accounts. The creditor can require you to reapply for credit on an individual basis and then, based on your new application, extend or deny you credit. In the case of a mortgage or home equity loan, a lender is likely to require refinancing to remove a spouse from the obligation. Source: Federal Trade Commission- Facts for Consumers The following is an excerpt from an article submitted by one of our professional members. For full text of all articles visit http://Divorcehq.com/articles.html 2. Grandparents Rights to Visitation -         Maury D. Beaulier, Esquire Grandparents often envision their golden years spent by happily caring for and treating their grandchildren. In recent years, as a symptom of our skyrocketing divorce rates, much litigation has occurred when grandparent's are prevented from seeing their grandchildren. As a direct result, today all states have statues authorizing a court to award visitation to a grandparent under certain circumstances. In Minnesota, a district court has broad discretion to determine what is in the best interests of a child regarding visitation. The authority of the Court to consider grandparents when making visitation decisions with regard to Grandparents is spelled out in Minnesota Statute § 257.022, subd. 2 (1994). This statute specifically allows the district court to consider a request (by petition) for grandparent visitation if the grandparents are the parents of a deceased parent of the child. It states that: If a parent of an unmarried minor child is deceased, the parents and grandparents of the deceased parent may be granted reasonable visitation rights to the unmarried minor child during minority by the district court upon finding that visitation rights would be in the best interests of the child and would not interfere with the parent child relationship. The court shall consider the amount of personal contact between the parents or grandparents of the deceased parent and the child prior to the application. during or after proceedings for dissolution of the child's parents' marriage, child custody, legal separation, annulment, or paternity; or if the grandchild has resided with the grandparents or great-grandparents for a period of twelve months or more and is subsequently removed by the child's parents. Visitation must be found to be in the best interest of the child. M.S.A. §257.022. Moreover, Minnesota's divorce statute also allows grandparents to file a petition for visitation as a separate action outside of a divorce , paternity action or legal separation. Minnesota's divorce statute includes visitation within its definition of custody providing: In a court of this state which has jurisdiction to decide child custody matters, a child custody proceeding is commenced: * * * (b) by a person other than a parent, where a decree of dissolution has been entered or where none is sought by filing a petition or motion seeking * * * visitation of the child in the county where the child is permanently resident * * *. A person seeking visitation pursuant to this paragraph must qualify under * * * section 257.022. Minn. Stat. § 518.156, subd. 1(b) (emphasis added). If a motion for grandparent visitation has been heard and denied, unless agreed to in writing by the parties, no subsequent motion may be filed within six months after disposition of a prior motion on its merits. For the full the version of Mr. Beaulier's article go to: www.divorcehq.com/articles/grandparentvisit ABOUT THE AUTHOR Maury D. Beaulier is the founder of The Beaulier Law Office which has developed a large and active family law practice dedicated to providing each family law client with detailed information about every element of their case. He can be contacted by phone at (952)746-2153 or or Visit Web Site 3. HUMOR Marriage, five minutes to get in and a lifetime to get out of. -        --- Submitted by cabriloboy