Child Custody Attorneys Edina

Child Custody Attorneys Edina

Child custody concerns are often the result of divorce, but they are also common to custody issues outside of marriage and to those situations in which custody modifications are necessary. Whatever kind of child custody issue you face, the surest path forward toward a beneficial resolution is with an experienced child custody attorney in Edina on your side. 

Legal Custody

Child custody breaks down into two major components that include both legal and physical custody. Legal custody concerns itself with important decision-making responsibilities. The options for legal custody include:

• You and your children’s other parent will make the decisions together (one parent may have tie-breaking authority)
• One of you will take on this responsibility on your own
• You will divide this decision-making authority between you (according to the kinds of decisions being made)

The categories of decisions involved include:

• Matters related to schooling
• Matters related to healthcare
• Matters related to religious upbringing
• Matters related to extracurricular activities

Physical Custody

Physical custody concerns itself with how your children will divide their time between you and their other parent. The basic approaches to scheduling include:

• One parent becomes the primary custodial parent who has the children the majority of the time, and the other parent receives a visitation schedule
• Both parents divide their time with the children more equally

Negotiating Child Custody Terms

You and your ex are allowed to negotiate whatever child custody terms work for you, and toward this end, you have a variety of options available to you, including:

• Negotiating between yourselves (with the careful legal guidance of your respective child custody attorneys)
• Allowing your respective child custody attorneys to negotiate for you (on behalf of your parental rights and best interests)
• Negotiating terms via mediation – at which a professional mediator will act as a neutral third-party who helps you explore your best options

If you exhaust these negotiation options, the court will intervene and hand down child custody orders. 

The Court’s Role

Most parents prefer to make decisions related to child custody between themselves, but if you have reached an impasse in the negotiation process, you will need the court’s intervention. The most salient point to make here is that the court is always guided by what it determines to be in the best interest of the children. One guiding rule of the court’s decision-making process is that children are better off when they are able to spend a considerable amount of time with both parents, which means that it is very rare for a parent to lose the right to at least some form of visitation. The court takes all relevant factors – which tend to be wide-ranging – into careful consideration when making child custody determinations.

Turn to an Experienced Child Custody Attorney in Edina for the Legal Guidance that You Need

The accomplished child custody attorneys at Atticus Family Law in Edina, Minnesota, have the legal insight, drive, and experience to help you obtain favorable child custody terms that work for you. To learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.