Hennepin County Child Custody Attorneys

Hennepin County Child Custody Attorneys

If you have a child custody concern – whether it is related to divorce, is outside of marriage, or relates to a post-decree modification – it is an important matter that deserves careful legal attention. Your child custody arrangements are a direct reflection of your parental rights, and having an experienced Hennepin County child custody attorney in your corner is the surest way to help protect these rights. 

Legal Custody

In Minnesota, child custody is divided into two categories that include legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody determines who will be making the important parenting decisions that guide your children’s growth and development, including those related to the following:

• Your children’s schooling
• Your children’s religious upbringing
• Your children’s healthcare needs
• Your children’s extracurricular activities

Legal custody can be addressed in all of the following ways:

• You and your children’s other parent can make the decisions together.
• You and your children’s other parent can make the decisions together, but one of you retains tie-breaking authority in the event you cannot resolve a matter between yourselves.
• One of you can take on this decision-making authority on your own.
• You can divide this decision-making authority according to the kind of decision being made (in a way that makes sense for both of you).

Those day-to-day decisions that parents need to make about whether to have PB&J again or what movie to choose for bedtime remain the responsibility of the parent who has the children at the time. 

Physical Custody

Physical custody determines how you and your children’s other parent will schedule your time with your shared children. If you can hammer out a parenting time schedule that works for your family between yourselves, you can devise any kind of schedule you’d like. If, however, you are unable to come to a meeting of the minds, you’ll need the court to intervene on your behalf, and you will likely receive one of the court’s standard parenting schedules. Ultimately, physical custody comes down to one of two basic options that include: 

• You and your children’s other parent split your time with the kids evenly between you.
• One of you becomes the primary custodial parent with whom the kids spend the majority of their overnights while the other parent has the kids according to a visitation schedule.

The Court’s Position

If you need the court to intervene in your child custody arrangements, its position is always in support of the children’s best interests. Barring a reason for determining otherwise, the court finds that children are best served when they continue to spend time with both parents, which means it will likely attempt to maximize the amount of parenting time both of you are awarded.

An Experienced Hennepin County Child Custody Attorney Can Help

If you are facing a child custody concern, the trusted Hennepin County child custody attorneys at Atticus Family Law have the compassion, experience, and legal insight to skillfully advocate for your parental rights in pursuit of a favorable case resolution. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.