Under current Minnesota law, child custody in a marriage dissolution is awarded based on the “best interests of the child.” The first criteria listed under the law to determine what is in the “best interests” of the child is the wishes of the child(ren)’s parents regarding child custody.
When the parents cannot agree, it can tie up the Court’s time and be costly for the parties involved. A new law would require parties in a marriage dissolution in which child custody will be determined to attend two hours of mediation to develop a parenting plan. This law has the potential to make the child custody process much easier and less costly for the parties involved as mediation is often less costly than going through the Court.
The law allows for exceptions when mediation is not affordable or in cases of domestic or child abuse. If the Court does not relieve the parties from the requirement, parties must complete the mediation and provide verification no later than 30 days from the date of filing the dissolution petition.
Several Websites offer worksheets to help parents in the creation of a workable parenting plan. Once a parenting plan agreement has been reached, an online parenting plan time manager, such as Our Family Wizard, can help reduce some of the shared parenting time disputes that often arise.
Court Pamphlet on Parenting Time revised in 2001
