Child custody and parenting time

Child custody in Minnesota

Custody is mostly decided by state law. This page covers what Minnesota sets: the words it uses, how judges decide, how to ask the court, moving with your child, relatives and free help.

Move-away notice tool Parenting plan worksheet

What Minnesota calls custody

Minnesota calls it: legal custody, physical custody and residence, and parenting time
Time with each parent: parenting time

legal custody: The right to decide your child's upbringing, including education, health care, and religious training.
joint legal custody: Both parents have equal rights and responsibilities, including the right to take part in major decisions about the child.
physical custody and residence: The routine daily care and control of the child and where the child lives.
joint physical custody: The child's daily care and residence are shared between the parents. It does not have to be an exactly equal split of time.
parenting time: The time a child spends with each parent. Unless there is other evidence, the law presumes each parent gets at least 25 percent of parenting time.
parenting plan: A written plan that sets the schedule and how parents will make decisions. Parents can use it instead of custody labels.

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 518.003, subd. 3; 518.17, subd. 1(b)(8); 518.175, subd. 1(g); 518.1705

How the judge decides in Minnesota

What the law tells the judge to look at

In the order the law lists them.

Your child's physical, emotional, cultural, spiritual, and other needs, and how the proposed plan would affect the child's needs and development.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(1)
Any special medical, mental health, developmental disability, or educational needs that may call for special parenting arrangements or services.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(2)
The child's reasonable preference, if the judge finds the child has enough ability, age, and maturity to express an independent, reliable preference.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(3)
Whether domestic abuse has happened in either parent's home or relationship, what kind and in what context, and what it means for parenting and for the child's safety, well-being, and development.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(4)
Any physical, mental, or chemical health issue of a parent that affects the child's safety or developmental needs.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(5)
The history and nature of each parent's part in caring for the child.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(6)
Each parent's willingness and ability to keep caring for the child, meet the child's developmental, emotional, spiritual, and cultural needs, and stay consistent and follow through with parenting time.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(7)
How changes to home, school, and community would affect the child.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(8)
How the proposed plan would affect the child's relationships with each parent, brothers and sisters, and other important people.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(9)
The benefit to the child of having as much parenting time as possible with both parents, and the harm of limiting time with either parent.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(10)
Each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent and allow frequent and continuing contact. The judge does not use this factor if there has been domestic abuse.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(11)
Whether the parents can cooperate in raising the child, share information, keep the child away from parent conflict, and use ways to settle disputes about major decisions.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a)(12)

Other things the judge considers

The judge must make detailed findings on each factor and explain how each led to the decision. No single factor can be used to the exclusion of all others.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(b)(1)
It is in a child's best interests to have safe, stable, nurturing relationships with both parents. The judge must assume both parents can develop nurturing relationships with the child unless there are substantial reasons to believe otherwise, and must recognize that parents and cultures respond to children in different ways.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(b)(2)-(3)
The judge must consider evidence that a party knowingly made a false report of child abuse or neglect to influence the custody case.Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(b)(6); § 609.507
A parent convicted of certain serious crimes (within 5 years, still under sentence, or against a family or household member) must prove custody or parenting time is in the child's best interests. A guardian ad litem must be appointed.Minn. Stat. § 518.179
State policy is to ensure frequent and substantial contact between a child and both parents, as long as the parents have shown they can act in the child's best interests, and to encourage parents to share the rights and duties of raising their child.Minn. Stat. § 518.0011

What the judge may not consider

The judge cannot prefer one parent over the other just because of the parent's gender. The judge cannot consider conduct that does not affect the parent's relationship with the child. A disability alone does not decide custody, and a court cannot deny or limit custody or parenting time because of a parent's disability unless the other side proves by clear and convincing evidence that specific behaviors would endanger the child. A judge cannot base the decision only on a parent's past or possible future military deployment.

Joint custody

If either or both parents ask for it, the law presumes joint legal custody is in the child's best interests. There is no presumption for or against joint physical custody. If domestic abuse has happened between the parents, the law presumes that joint legal or joint physical custody is not in the child's best interests. Disagreeing about sole or joint custody does not, by itself, mean parents cannot cooperate.

The child's wishes

The judge considers your child's reasonable preference if the child has enough ability, age, and maturity to express an independent, reliable preference. The law does not set an age.

Domestic violence

If domestic abuse has occurred between the parents, the law presumes that joint legal custody or joint physical custody is not in the child's best interests. That presumption can be overcome; the judge looks at the nature and context of the abuse and what it means for the child's safety and development. The judge also does not consider which parent better supports the other parent's relationship with the child when there has been domestic abuse. The judge can order supervised parenting time or a neutral exchange place, and must restrict or deny parenting time if it is likely to endanger the child.

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 518.0011, 518.17, 518.175, 518.179

If the parents are not married in Minnesota

Who has custody before a court order

If the mother was not married to the father when the child was conceived or born, the mother has sole custody until paternity is established or a court decides custody. This is still true after the parents sign a Recognition of Parentage: until a court order gives custody to someone else, the mother has sole custody. The father can then ask the court for custody or parenting time; the court treats it as a first custody decision.

To ask for custody, you must first be a legal parent of the child.

Establishing paternity

How: The mother and biological father can sign a Minnesota Voluntary Recognition of Parentage (ROP) in front of a notary and file it with the Office of Vital Records. Hospitals and the state registrar give out the form and notary help. Once filed, it has the force of a court judgment of parentage, and the father is added to the birth record. It does not by itself give anyone a right to custody or parenting time; you must go to court for that. Either parent can revoke it in a notarized writing filed with Vital Records within 60 days, or before the first court or agency hearing about the child, whichever is sooner. After that, a court can vacate it only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. A parent who signed it must file within 1 year after signing, or within 6 months after getting genetic test results showing the man who signed is not the father. If parentage is disputed, a court case can decide it.
Form: Minnesota Voluntary Recognition of Parentage (ROP) (DHS-3159 (rev. 2-25))
Cancellation form: Revocation of Recognition of Parentage: a writing signed before a notary and filed with the Office of Vital Records within the 60-day window
Agency: Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Vital Records (with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Child Support Division)
https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/vitalrecords/birthreg/index.html

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 257.541, 257.75, subds. 2-4

How to ask the court in Minnesota

Court: District Court (family court) in the county where the child lives or is found, or where an earlier custody order was entered
Court self-help center: https://mncourts.gov/help-topics/custody-and-parenting-time
Court forms: https://mncourts.gov/getforms/custody-and-parenting-time
Self-help center in Spanish: https://www.lawhelpmn.org/es

What it costs

$310 — First paper filed by each party in a civil or family case other than divorce, such as a custody petition after a Recognition of Parentage, or the other parent's answer (the fee is $340 in a divorce). Most counties also add a law library fee.

Fee schedule: Minn. Stat. § 357.021, subd. 2(1) (2026 Minnesota Statutes) (Source)

Other fees

$100 — Filing a motion or a response to a motion in a family case (not child support)Minn. Stat. § 357.021, subd. 2(4)
$50 — Motion or response to modify child supportMinn. Stat. § 357.021, subd. 2(13)

Fees by county

Most counties add a county law library fee to the first filing; the amount differs by county.

Fee waiver: In Forma Pauperis (IFP) application to waive court fees (Minnesota Judicial Branch fee waiver forms)

After you file

Time to respond: 30 calendar days after you are served with the petition. If service is by publication, the 30 days start after publication ends.
Mediation: If custody or parenting time is contested, the court may send the case to mediation before, during, or after setting a hearing. The court must not order or refer parents to mediation if there is probable cause that one parent, or a child, was physically or sexually abused by the other parent. Before the first case management conference in a contested case, the court must tell you about the option of private mediation.
Parenting class: Yes, if parents have not agreed on custody or a parenting time schedule: the court must order each parent to attend, in person or online, at least 8 hours of a parent education program. Participation usually starts within 30 days after the first filing. There is a fee on a sliding scale, waived if you qualify for a court fee waiver. If domestic abuse is alleged, parents do not attend the same sessions. In other cases the court may order it.
Emergency orders: While the case is open, either party can ask for temporary custody and parenting time orders. The court can also issue an ex parte restraining order, but it can grant custody or deny parenting time this way only if it finds immediate danger of physical harm to the children. If you have been denied parenting time for 14 days in a row or more, you can ask for a priority hearing on temporary relief, which must be held within 30 days. If you need protection from domestic abuse, you can ask for an Order for Protection.

Which state's court decides: Minnesota has adopted the UCCJEA, the uniform law on this (Minn. Stat. chapter 518D (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act)). How the home-state rule works →

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 357.021, 518.12, 518.131, 518.156, 518.157, 518.619

Changing or enforcing an order in Minnesota

Changing an order

Unless both parties agree in writing, you cannot ask to change a custody order or parenting plan until 1 year after the divorce or separation decree. After a modification motion is heard, you must wait 2 years before filing another. These limits do not apply if there is persistent and willful denial of parenting time, or reason to believe the child's present home may endanger the child's health or emotional development. To change custody or the child's primary residence, the court must find a change in circumstances (based on new facts or facts unknown before) and that the change is needed for the child's best interests. The court keeps the current arrangement unless, for example, both parties agree, the child has been integrated into the other family with consent, the present home endangers the child and the benefits of change outweigh the harm, or the parent with custody moved to another state after the court denied the move. Parenting time can be changed when it serves the child's best interests, but it can be restricted only if it endangers the child or a parent has chronically failed to follow the schedule.

Waiting period: 1 year after the decree; 2 years after a prior modification motion was decided (exceptions for endangerment or persistent denial of parenting time)

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 518.175, subd. 5; 518.18

If the other parent does not follow the order

Each parent must follow the custody and parenting time order unless both agree otherwise in writing. If the other parent intentionally keeps you from a substantial amount of parenting time, the court must order compensatory (makeup) time, unless that is not in the child's best interests, of at least the same type and length, taken within 1 year, at a time you accept. If the denial is repeated and intentional, the court must order the other parent to pay your costs and reasonable attorney fees (if that parent has the means to pay), and it may impose a sanction of up to $500, change custody, or order other relief. Interfering with parenting time can be contempt of court, and depriving a parent of custodial or parental rights can be a felony. A parenting time expeditor can help resolve disputes, and any party can ask in writing for a six-month review hearing within 6 months after an order first sets custody or parenting time, to check compliance.

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 518.175, subd. 6; 518.1751; 518.1781; 609.26

Moving with your child from Minnesota

The parent the child lives with cannot move the child's residence to another state without the other parent's consent or a court order, if the other parent has parenting time under the decree. The court will not allow a move whose purpose is to interfere with the other parent's time. The judge applies a best-interests test that looks at the child's relationships, age and needs, whether the relationship with the other parent can be preserved, the child's preference, each parent's past conduct, whether the move improves life for the child and parent, each parent's reasons, and domestic abuse. The parent who wants to move has the burden of proof, unless the court finds that parent was a victim of domestic abuse by the other parent; then the parent opposing the move has the burden. Minnesota law has no separate rule or notice period for moves within the state.

Notice required by: No notice period, but you need the other parent's consent or the court's permission to move

Law: Minn. Stat. § 518.175, subd. 3

Move-away notice tool

Grandparents and other relatives in Minnesota

Grandparent visitation

Yes, in several situations.

If a parent has died, that parent's parents and grandparents can ask for reasonable visitation.
In a divorce, custody, separation, annulment, or parentage case, or after it ends, a parent or grandparent of a party can ask for visitation. If a motion is denied, you must wait 6 months to file again unless the parties agree.
If the child lived with grandparents or great-grandparents for 12 months or more and a parent then removed the child, they can petition.
Any other person (not a foster parent) the child lived with for 2 years or more can petition if they had a parent-child type bond.
In some stepparent adoptions, a grandparent can ask.

In every case the court must find visits are in the child's best interests and would not interfere with the parent-child relationship, and it considers how much contact there was before.

Custody by someone who is not a parent

A person who is not a parent can ask for custody as a 'de facto custodian' (the child's primary caretaker who lived with the child without a parent present, while the parent did not consistently take part, for 6 months if the child is under 3, or 1 year if 3 or older, within the last 24 months) or as an 'interested third party.' An interested third party must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the parent abandoned or neglected the child so the child would be harmed living with the parent, that there is physical or emotional danger, or other extraordinary circumstances. Both must also show custody with them is in the child's best interests.

Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 257C.01, 257C.03, 257C.08

Protective orders in Minnesota

What Minnesota calls it: Order for Protection (OFP)

Custody and visitation in the order

Yes. An Order for Protection can award temporary custody or set temporary parenting time for the parties' children, with the safety of the victim and the children as the main concern. In a later custody case, the court must consider a finding that domestic abuse occurred. A visitation request by a grandparent or other person cannot be combined with an OFP case.

Law: Minn. Stat. § 518B.01, subds. 6(a)(4), 17; § 257C.08, subd. 8

Safety, hotline and protective orders in every state →

If you are in danger

If you are in danger, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free, confidential and open 24/7, in English and Spanish: call 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline.org.

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Military parents and abduction prevention in Minnesota

Military parents

In a case about a service member's child, the judge cannot decide best interests based only on a parent's past or possible future deployment.

Law: Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(c)

Free help in Minnesota

Court self-help

Minnesota Judicial Branch Self-Help Center (court forms and help topics)

https://mncourts.gov/selfhelp

Legal aid directory

Find free legal aid: LawHelpMN and the LSC finder

https://www.lawhelpmn.org/

Domestic violence help

Violence Free Minnesota (coalition; directory of local domestic violence programs)

https://www.vfmn.org/get-help

Links you to local programs

Domestic violence help

Minnesota Day One Crisis Hotline (listed by Violence Free Minnesota)

1-866-223-1111

https://www.vfmn.org/get-help

Provides services directly

More free help across the country →

Good to know in Minnesota

If either parent asks, the law presumes joint legal custody is best, but if there has been domestic abuse between the parents the law presumes joint custody is not best (Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(b)(9)).
Unless there is other evidence, the law presumes each parent should have at least 25 percent of parenting time (Minn. Stat. § 518.175, subd. 1(g)).
If parents do not agree on custody or a schedule, each must take at least 8 hours of parent education (Minn. Stat. § 518.157, subd. 3).

Recent changes

In effect August 1, 2024New public policy statement: ensure frequent and substantial contact with both parents when they act in the child's best interests, safe and nurturing care, and shared parenting.Laws 2024, ch. 101, art. 1 · Minn. Stat. § 518.0011 (new)
In effect August 1, 2024Temporary orders must consider each parent's time with the child before the case began. A parent denied parenting time for 14 or more days in a row can get a priority temporary hearing within 30 days. Credible claims of abuse, substance abuse, maltreatment, or neglect can justify denying time.Laws 2024, ch. 101, art. 1 · Minn. Stat. § 518.131, subds. 1, 11
In effect August 1, 2024Parenting time remedies were rewritten: parties must follow orders unless they agree otherwise in writing; compensatory time and fee awards for repeated, intentional interference; sanctions up to $500 or custody change; required notice in orders.Laws 2024, ch. 101, art. 1 · Minn. Stat. § 518.175, subd. 6
In effect August 1, 2024The rule against preferring a parent based on gender moved into the best-interest section and now refers to gender instead of sex.Laws 2024, ch. 101, art. 1 · Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subds. 1, 3
In effect August 1, 2024A court cannot deny or restrict custody or parenting time because of a parent's disability. The party raising disability must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the parent's specific behaviors would endanger the child; the parent can show how supportive services address the concern.Laws 2024, ch. 115, art. 18, sec. 47 · Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 2a (new)
In effect 2025Court filing fee amounts were amended; the first-paper fee is now $310 ($340 in a divorce).Laws 2025, ch. 35, art. 1, sec. 20 · Minn. Stat. § 357.021, subd. 2

More RobinClaim guides for Minnesota → · All states

Sources

Last checked: November 2026