Child Custody Lawyers Near Me

Child Custody Lawyers Near Me

If you are seeking a divorce that involves shared children or if you share children with someone whom you’re no longer with, child custody can be a major concern. Because protecting your parental rights is paramount, having an experienced child custody lawyer near you on your side is well advised. 

Physical and Legal Custody

In Minnesota, child custody is divided into both legal and physical custody. Legal custody addresses parental decision-making while physical custody addresses parenting time. Each of these facets of custody represents an important aspect of your rights as a parent and should receive the careful attention it deserves. 

It’s important to note that when Minnesota courts make decisions about child custody, they are always based on the best interests of the children involved, and the kinds of factors taken into consideration include:

• Each parent’s level of involvement in raising the children
• Each child’s unique needs, including any special needs
• Each parent’s preference on the matter
• Each child’s preference on the matter – if determined to be mature enough to contribute to the decision-making process
• Each parent’s ability and desire to bolster the ongoing relationship between the children and their other parent
• Each parent’s ability to provide the children with what they need
• The degree to which it’s beneficial to maximize parenting time for both parents

Legal Custody

Legal custody allocates the parental responsibility of making primary parenting decisions like the following:

• Where the children attend school
• Where the children make their primary home
• The medical care the children receive
• The extracurriculars and travel the children participate in

Legal custody can be sole or joint. With joint legal custody, one parent sometimes has the authority to break a tie when a consensus can’t be reached, and parents sometimes divide the decision-making power between them according to the category of decision that needs to be made. 

Physical Custody

Physical custody sets the parenting time schedule by which you and your ex will split your time with your children. If one of you becomes the primary custodial parent, the children are with that parent the majority of the time. Otherwise, parents typically divide their parenting time more evenly. If you and your children’s other parent are unable to resolve the matter of physical custody between yourselves, the court will base its decision on best interest factors like the following:

• Each parent’s preference
• The children’s needs
• Each parent’s ability to provide for the children’s physical and emotional needs
• The degree to which each parent has been involved in raising the children to date
• Each parent’s desire to support the children’s ongoing, healthy relationship with the other

Look to an Experienced Child Custody Lawyer Near You for the Help You Need

The practiced Minnesota child custody lawyers at Atticus Family Law take great pride in their impressive track record of helping clients like you favorably resolve their child custody concerns. We are on your side and here to help, so please don’t wait to reach out and contact us for more information today.