When parents divorce, Minnesota courts must make and evaluate custody decisions to ensure they protect the children’s best interests. With the proper underlying circumstances, this often means that the children should have healthy continued relationships with both parents.
Whether you’re negotiating a custody arrangement or preparing for a court hearing, you should know the decision-making factors that judges must consider under state law.
Types of Child Custody in Minnesota
There are two distinct types of child custody in Minnesota:
- Legal custody – A parent with legal custody can make decisions about their children’s healthcare, education, and religious upbringing.
- Physical custody – Children live with a parent who has physical custody. These parents are responsible for daily needs like food, hygiene, and discipline.
Courts can award each type of custody to one parent only (sole custody) or both parents together (joint custody.)
Unless there is a history of domestic abuse, the law presumes that joint legal custody serves a child’s best interest if either parent requests it. There is no similar presumption for joint physical custody, and Minnesota doesn’t require both parents to share equal time with their children.
How Courts Determine Child Custody
Where possible, Minnesota courts encourage parents to negotiate custody agreements directly. So long as these agreements align with the children’s best interest, the court will approve them.
If parents can’t reach a mutual agreement, the court must evaluate the children’s circumstances and each parent’s ability to care for them. Minnesota Statute 518.17 outlines these key factors that judges must consider:
- Child’s needs – This factor encompasses a child’s physical, cultural, spiritual, and emotional needs.
- Special needs – Some children have unique medical, developmental, or educational needs, and custodial parents must be equipped and prepared to support them.
- Past abuse – If one or both parents has a history of domestic abuse, the court must consider it even if the children were not directly involved. Courts must also consider whether either parent ever falsely reported child abuse in violation of Minnesota Statute 609.507.
- Parents’ health and wellbeing – The court must consider any physical or mental health problems, including drug dependencies, that may impact a parent’s ability to care for their children.
- Past participation and future willingness – The court must consider each parent’s historical role in caring for their children and their willingness to continue the parental relationship.
- Changes to routine and relationships – Changes in custody may impact where a child goes to school and their relationships with siblings and friends.
- Parenting time – The court must consider the benefits of maximizing the children’s time with both parents and the drawbacks of limiting children’s time with one parent.
- Parents’ cooperativeness – The court must determine the likelihood that the parents will follow the custody arrangement and share necessary information. It must also consider how a potential custody arrangement will protect children from interparental conflict.
State law also defines factors courts cannot consider when making child custody decisions. They include:
- The gender of the parents
- Conduct of the parents outside of their relationship with their children that does not affect the children
- Disability of the children or parents, on its own
Consult a Shakopee, MN, Child Custody Lawyer
If you’re fighting a child custody battle, the Twin Cities child custody lawyers of Jaspers, Moriarty & Wetherille, P.A. can help. We were founded over four decades ago by a former Scott County Attorney and take an honest, upfront approach to protect your rights and your children’s wellbeing. Contact us today for an initial case review.