Attorney Ryan Bies Receives Favorable Ruling in Family Law Appeal
Family law attorney Ryan Bies recently won an appeal in a parenting time dispute, which resulted in a 17-page published opinion by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Court’s syllabus made the following determinations in the appeal:
1. Absent an indication that the district court intends to modify the physical custody of a minor child or change the primary residence of the child, an order modifying parenting time, so that the non-custodial parent has more parenting time than the custodial parent during the child’s summer break from school and the custodial parent has more parenting time during the school year, is not a modification of custody or a change of the child’s primary residence.
2. Where an alleged restriction arises solely from the amount of a change in parenting time, an order modifying the parenting time of the non-custodial parent so that parenting time is increased during the child’s summer break from school and decreased during the school year, without a substantial modification of overall parenting time over the course of the year, is not a restriction of the custodial parent’s parenting time.
3. When a modification of a parenting schedule treats holidays and other special days differently from the rest of the parenting schedule, resulting in the non-custodial parent having exclusive parenting time during all school breaks and on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, the district court must make findings adequately explaining its apportionment of parenting time on those breaks, holidays and special days.
About Ryan
Ryan joined the firm as a law clerk while still in law school. Following his graduation from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Ryan began representing clients in both family law and general civil litigation matters. Today, Ryan continues to devote much of his practice to assisting clients with family law matters. He also serves as an assistant city attorney for a number of south metro municipalities. Ryan’s municipal law practice includes representing municipalities in both criminal prosecution and civil matters.
In 2014, Ryan was named to the Minnesota Rising Stars list, an honor received by fewer than 2.5% of Minnesota’s attorneys.