Oney + Kim PLLC | Eagan Family Law Attorneys

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Effective Resolutions For Child Custody Disputes

Child custody disputes often take a tremendous emotional toll on parents. Concerns over the prospect of shared parenting or worries about losing your connection with your children may keep you up at night. Protecting your rights, as well as your children’s best interests, is vital.

At Oney + Kim Family Law, PLLC, our experienced lawyers understand the urgency you feel to resolve your child custody conflict and other matters that affect your relationships with your children. They can help you.

Understanding Child Custody And Parenting Time

In Minnesota, there are two types of custody: legal and physical.

Physical Custody

Physical custody involves where the child lives. In most cases, physical custody is shared between the two parents as part of a comprehensive parenting plan.

Legal Custody

Legal custody is a bit more complicated. It refers to a parents’ rights and responsibilities regarding the child’s:

    • Medical care: Parents often disagree about what types of medical treatment their child should receive, especially involving emergency procedures. If one of the spouses has sole legal custody, he/she will be able to make these determinations.
    • Education: Some parents prefer public school, others prefer private schools or home schooling options, and most parents have thoughts about the type and frequency of extra-curricular activities. These are serious decisions that will impact the child’s long-term development and career prospects, and most parents have strong opinions about schooling options.
    • Religious instruction and affiliation: Faith and religion are often hotly debated topics between divorcing spouses. How to raise the children regarding the type of religion and church attendance can be challenging decisions for divorcing parents to make.

Like physical custody, there are a few different ways to divide legal custody. When divorcing parents are more or less amicable with each other and are able to work together, joint legal custody could be a good option. In joint legal custody, the parents make big decisions about the children together. In other cases, one parent retains legal custody alone and is thus solely authorized to make any and all important decisions regarding the child.

Parenting Time

Parenting time is the time that the noncustodial parent spends with his or her children. Under optimal circumstances, children will benefit from having continuous physical and emotional contact with both parents. Therefore, when appropriate, generous parenting time is granted to a noncustodial parent to ensure that he or she can be involved in all aspects of the children’s lives. Parenting time may be supervised or unsupervised, depending on the relationship between parent and child.

What Options Are Available For Parenting Plans?

Parents in Minnesota can craft a parenting plan in lieu of a traditional custody award. This option allows parents the freedom to create unique parenting plans by allocating time in a way that the parents feel will best benefit their children.

All parenting plans are subject to court approval. Our attorneys at Oney + Kim Family Law, PLLC, in Eagan are intimately familiar with the child custody guidelines and will help you draft a proper plan. Email us or call 612-279-8655 to schedule your free consultation.