Every responsible parent only wants to keep his or her child safe from harm.

Ideally, parents in a DIYvorce will work together to prioritize the child’s well-being and safety. Minnesota statute provides for a presumption of joint legal custody, which means the parents will equally share in making major decisions for the children, such as education or religious upbringing.

Physical custody, however, has no such presumption.

Joint physical custody does not necessarily mean that the parents divide parenting time equally. Likewise, sole physical custody does not mean that only one parent has time with the children.  Sole physical custody means that the children spend a majority of time with one parent for their day-to-day schedule.
In a divorce trial, the court decides on the child’s day-to-day schedule and physical custody of the child based on the factors listed by the Minnesota statute. These factors all are focused on making sure that a child’s physical and emotional well-being are protected at all times.  Accordingly, if one parent is unable or unwilling to help protect a child, then sole custody to one parent might be appropriate. The most common such scenario is if one parent is unfit to provide care for the child. This could be due to substance abuse problems, or past domestic violence. Given your DIYvorce, this scenario is likely not applicable to you.
Another reason to have one parent have sole physical custody is if one parent lives too far away to reasonably have joint physical custody. If the non-custodial parent moves across the country, it’s just not practical nor possible to have a parenting schedule that allows for shared parenting time.
If you have questions or concerns related to legal

Deciding to get a divorce is hard.

And then it seems to just get harder. But it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

DIYvorce was created by Minnesota divorce attorneys who know that people need a path to their divorce that doesn’t require thousands of dollars and months of fighting. But they also need to know their divorce is done correctly, and that it resolves the couple’s disagreements.

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DIYvorce is an easy-to-use path for for couples who are ending their marriage:

You work through a secure online interview to gather information.

You get helpful information about issues to consider as you work out how to legally part.

You have the opportunity to consult with legal professionals along the way. Your questions will be answered and you can be confident about your final divorce and the documents.