CHILD CUSTODY 

Under Minnesota law, there are two types of child custody.

"Legal custody" refers to the right to make decisions about how to raise the child, including decisions about education, health care, religious training and certain activities. 

"Physical custody" refers to the right to make decisions about the routine day-to-day activities of the child and where the child lives.

Many parent share Legal custody and Physical custody for their child or children.  This is referred to as Joint Legal and Joint Physical custody.

"Joint legal custody" means that both parents share the responsibility for making decisions regarding how to raise the child, including the right to participate in major decisions about the child's education, health care, and religious training.

"Joint physical custody" means that the routine daily care and control and the residence of the child is structured between both of the parents.

In some cases parents share Joint legal custody but one parent has Sole physical custody.  This is common in cases where parents disagree about who should be the primary caregiver for the child or children.  Other factors also contribute to the granting of Sole physical custody by the court to one parent.

If custody issues cannot be resolved many parents will be required (or in some case will choose) to go through the "custody evaluation" process.  Most psychologists feel that custody evalations bring unnecessary emotional trauma to children.  The process is generally long and quite often emotionally painful.  In addition, the custody evaluation process can be biased (depending on the background of the evaluator) and often produces a result that further divides parents thus creating more obstacles for successful co-parenting after the divorce.  

In most cases, custody evalations should be (and can be) avoided.  There are less stressful ways to resolve custody issues without resorting to a custody evaluation.         
       
"Parenting time," also commonly referred to as "visitation," refers to the time the non-custodial parent spends with a child (regardless of any labels used in the custody arrangement).  Parenting time is often set according to a schedule as a result of a court order.  Parents are encourages to create parenting time schedules that benefit the children and help the co-parenting process after the divorce.

Child custody issues are generally emotional (but not always) and can be complex. 
Please call to speak with a lawyer regarding your specific child custody situation.  
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Attorney & Mediator Randall A. Smith is the founder of Lake Harriet Law Office & Mediation Services, LLC.  Mr. Smith earned his B.A. Degree from Hamline University, his J.D. Degree from Drake University Law School and his M.B.A. Degree from the University of St. Thomas. 

Mr. Smith has practiced law since 1996 and is licensed in all Minnesota Courts and in United States Tax Court.  He is a Minnesota Rule 114 Neutral Mediator for Family & Civil cases and he performs Social and Financial Early Neutral Evaluations (ENE) in divorce cases.

Randall has previously worked at law firms in Minneapolis and in St. Paul and he is a mediator with the Hennepin County Courts CHIPS Mediation Program.