Child Custody vs. Parenting Time

A common request is that a parent will state, “I want 100% custody” or “I want 50% custody”. But what does that mean? In the State of Minnesota, custody and parenting time are two very different things.

Custody is the label assigned by the Court or by the parents agreement. Custody is broken down to two things – legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody is major decision making – health care, religion, and education. The presumption is in the law is that should be joint as parents should make those major decisions together. Physical custody is defined as the routine daily care and control and residence of the minor child. Both of these labels can be either joint or sole. Joint meaning that it is shared, or sole meaning that one parent has priority over the other.