Hennepin County Child Custody Overview
Under Minnesota law, there are two types of child custody.
“Legal custody” refers to the right to make decisions about how to raise the child, including decisions about education, health care, religious training and certain activities.
“Physical custody” refers to the right to make decisions about the routine day-to-day activities of the child and where the child lives.
Some parents share Legal custody and Physical custody for their child or children. This is referred to as Joint Legal and Joint Physical custody.
“Joint legal custody” means that both parents share the responsibility for making decisions regarding how to raise the child, including the right to participate in major decisions about the child’s education, health care, and religious training.
“Joint physical custody” means that the routine daily care and control and the residence of the child is structured between both of the parents.
The Social Early Neutral Evaluation (SENE) process has been adopted by Family Courts in all counties in the Twin Cities metro area, and has proven to be an effective process at resolving custody issues at the early stage of a Family Law case.
Family Mediation can also be used to assist parents in resolving custody disputes.
A Custody Evaluation is often used in cases where parents have strong disagreements regarding custody.
Attorney and Mediator Randall A. Smith is the founder and principal attorney of Lake Harriet Law Office and has practiced law since 1996. Mr. Smith earned his B.A. from Hamline University, his J.D. from Drake University and his M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas.
Lake Harriet Law Office represents clients in Minneapolis, Edina, Bloomington, Golden Valley, Hopkins, Eden Prairie, Plymouth, New Hope, Minneapolis, Linden Hills, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, St. Paul, Wright County, Anoka County and Scott County.