Child Custody in Minnesota

By Matt Majeski, Minnesota divorce and family law attorney since 2008. Last reviewed October 2026.

Child custody is a key issue for divorcing parents. It can also come up for parents who were never married.

Custody Labels: Physical and Legal

Minnesota law uses two kinds of child custody: physical custody and legal custody.

• Physical custody is the right to decide where your child lives. It also covers daily care, such as housing, feeding, and clothing your child. This is what most people think of when they hear the word “custody.”
• Legal custody is the right to make major decisions about a child’s education, religious upbringing, and medical care.

Child Custody Designations: Sole and Joint Custody

In Minnesota, a parent may have both legal and physical custody of a child. Sometimes a parent has only legal custody, and in serious cases, a parent may have neither. Courts use the labels “sole” and “joint” to describe these arrangements.

Joint Physical Child Custody

With joint physical custody, the child lives with both parents. Each parent makes the daily decisions, such as what the child will eat and wear. The parents follow a structured parenting time schedule to manage this routine.

Historically, courts tended to award sole physical custody to one parent, usually the mother. That has changed. Parents are now awarded joint physical custody more often, but it’s still decided case by case. Minnesota law does not presume that parents should have joint physical custody or equal (50/50) parenting time.

Minnesota law does presume that each parent should have at least 25 percent of the parenting time. This presumption applies in most cases. If you want the other parent to have less time, you must show why.

Joint physical custody doesn’t necessarily mean each parent has the child 50 percent of the time. This is where it gets confusing. In Minnesota, “parenting time” means how much time a parent spends with the child. It is separate from the custody label.

For example, parents could share joint physical custody even though one parent sees the child only every other weekend.

To learn how parenting time works, read Parenting Time in Minnesota.

Joint Legal Child Custody

Joint legal custody means both parents share the major decisions. These include education, religion, and medical care. School enrollment is the most common legal custody dispute, and medical care is sometimes disputed too.

In Minnesota, if either parent asks for joint legal custody, the law presumes it is best for the child. The exception is when there has been domestic abuse between the parents. As a result, Minnesota parents frequently share joint legal custody.

When Parents Don’t Agree, Step 1: ADR

Often, parents can agree on custody. If they do, they can put their agreement in writing (a “stipulation”), and the judge will usually approve it.

If parents can’t agree, usually at least one parent, and often both, hires a family law attorney. Custody cases can be hard to navigate. That is especially true when parents are already upset with each other.

Once a case has started, judges encourage parents to try alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The most common types are mediation and Social Early Neutral Evaluation (SENE). Both parents and their attorneys take part, along with at least one neutral professional.

Everyone meets with the neutral, in person or by video. Together, you talk through your custody concerns and try to resolve them.

In an SENE, the neutral tells you what would likely happen at trial. This honest feedback often helps parents settle. If the parents reach an agreement, they can put it in writing and submit it to the court. Once the judge signs it, it becomes a binding custody order.

When Parents Don’t Agree, Step 2: Custody Evaluations

If ADR doesn’t produce an agreement, the parents may need a custody evaluation. A custody evaluator is a neutral professional who is either appointed by the court or hired by both parents.

The evaluator looks closely at your family’s background to decide what’s best for the child. To do this, they use the same best-interest factors a judge would use. Finally, the evaluator writes a report to the judge with a custody recommendation and the reasons for it.

Because most judges give a neutral evaluator’s opinion a lot of weight, parents often reach an agreement at this point. As with ADR, once the parents sign their agreement and the judge approves it, it becomes a binding custody order.

If the case still doesn’t settle, it goes to trial, and the judge decides the remaining disputes.

When Parents Don’t Agree, Step 3: Trial

Judges, like custody evaluators, decide custody based on the best interests of the child. Minnesota law requires the judge to consider the best-interest factors listed in Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1.

One factor looks at whether the parents can cooperate in raising the child. But parents’ disagreement about custody, by itself, is not proof that they can’t cooperate. Judges understand it’s harder to reach agreements in the middle of a custody dispute.

Best Interests: What the Court Considers

The judge disregards a parent’s conduct or circumstances that don’t affect the child. For example, a parent with a disability wouldn’t automatically lose custody. Neither would a parent who had an affair.

However, the court does consider a knowingly false report of child abuse made to sway a custody decision. Making a false report of child abuse can also be a crime in Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 609.507).

The court also considers each parent’s history with the child. Since August 1, 2024, courts must look at the child’s relationship and time with each parent before the case began. However, the court shouldn’t penalize a parent because the other parent limited their access to the child before the case.

Considering the Factors

The judge reviews the evidence at trial, including any custody evaluation. In addition, the judge relies on past court decisions (case law) to interpret the factors.

In addition, the law includes rules for applying the factors. For example, “the court shall consider that it is in the best interests of the child to promote the child’s healthy growth and development through safe, stable, nurturing relationships between a child and both parents.” This recognizes how important both parents are in a child’s life.

Finally, the judge must explain how they weighed each factor. The judge then makes a final custody decision, which becomes a binding order that both parents must follow.

Related reading: Is Minnesota a 50/50 Custody State?, Changing Custody or Parenting Time in Minnesota, Unmarried Parents: Paternity and Custody in Minnesota, and Guardians ad Litem and Custody Evaluations in Minnesota.

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