During a marriage, spouses lean on each other.

The way a household is run varies from family to family, as each finds its own way to make day to day activities and responsibilities go smoothly. Or as smoothly as real life allows.

One of the most important choices is how parenting duties are split up and handled between the spouses. For some families, the result of this is one parent stays home with the children while the other works outside the home. If the parents divorce, custody is likely to be an important issue. When one parent has worked outside the home and one has stayed home with the children, it can lead parents to wonder who would be a more appropriate primary custodian for the children.

Custody choices should be based on what is in the children’s best interest. For the court, the factors for determining the best interest are in Minnesota statute 518.17. One of those factors is the extent to which each parent has been involved in the day-to-day care of the children. If one parent was a stay-at-home parent, that will typically weigh in favor of the stay-at-home parent, because that parent is usually the one doing everyday tasks such as feeding, bathing, and getting the children to and from school or activities.

This does not mean that the contributions of the employed parent are ignored, however. It also does not mean that the stay-at-home parent is automatically be named the primary custodian of the children. The court’s focus, and it should be yours as well, is to safeguard the children’s health and welfare. If the parent who has worked outside of the home is better equipped to fill that role, then he or she might be a better choice as primary custodian. Moreover, it is important to understand that following the divorce, the stay-at-home parent will likely have to get a job outside the home, too.

If you are facing this or similar problems, contact your DIYvorce representative for help.

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.