Minnesota Child Custody Agreement
When both parents ask for one, Minnesota law replaces the custody order with a parenting plan unless the court finds against it, and lets the parents replace the custody vocabulary too.
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Introduction
Minnesota is the state where agreeing changes the document itself. Under Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 3(a), on the request of both parents a parenting plan must be created in lieu of an order for child custody and parenting time, unless the court makes detailed findings that the proposed plan is not in the best interests of the child. Parents who agree can go further and substitute other terms for physical and legal custody under subd. 2(c), and where they do, subd. 4 requires the judgment and decree to carry a formal custody designation anyway while stripping it of substance. That designation exists solely for enforcement of the final judgment and decree where the designation is required for that enforcement, and has no effect under the laws of this state, any other state, or another country. None of this removes the court from the picture. Subd. 5 requires that a plan reviewed by the court pursuant to a stipulation still be based on the best interest factors in Minn. Stat. 518.17, and nothing the parents sign is an order until the court adopts it. What agreeing buys in Minnesota is the vehicle and the vocabulary, not the review.
Key Things to Know
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The joint request is what does the work. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 3(a) provides that upon the request of both parents a parenting plan must be created in lieu of an order for child custody and parenting time, unless the court makes detailed findings that the proposed plan is not in the best interests of the child. That is a findings requirement rather than a burden of proof, and it attaches to the parenting plan vehicle specifically. Nothing in the statute gives an ordinary stipulated sole or joint custody order the same treatment.
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Agreeing lets parents opt out of the custody words. Under Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 2(c), parents voluntarily agreeing to parenting plans may substitute other terms for physical and legal custody. Minn. Stat. 518.003, subd. 3 sets up the same idea by opening its definitions of legal and physical custody with the phrase unless otherwise agreed by the parties. The substitution runs through agreement only, because under subd. 3(b) a court creating a plan on its own motion must not use alternative terminology unless the parties agree to it.
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A custody label may still appear in the decree, and it is a shell. Where a plan uses substituted terms, Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 4 requires the judgment and decree to state a sole or joint legal and physical custody designation anyway, then provides that the designation is solely for enforcement of the final judgment and decree where that designation is required for that enforcement, and has no effect under the laws of this state, any other state, or another country. It is kept alive for other statutes and other jurisdictions, not to describe what the parents agreed.
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A parenting plan is not required in any Minnesota proceeding, but if you file one it has a floor. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 2(a) requires a plan to include a schedule of the time each parent spends with the child, a designation of decision-making responsibilities regarding the child, and a method of dispute resolution. Subd. 2(b) allows parents to add other issues and matters they agree to. If no plan is made, subd. 3(e) routes custody and parenting time to the ordinary provisions at Minn. Stat. 518.17 and 518.175.
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The best interest review does not switch off because the parents agree. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 5 provides that parenting plans, whether entered on the court's own motion, following a contested hearing, or reviewed by the court pursuant to a stipulation, must be based on the best interest factors in Minn. Stat. 518.17. Those factors are the twelve listed at subd. 1(a)(1) to (12), introduced by the phrase all relevant factors, including, so the list is a floor rather than a closed set. They are also the yardstick subd. 3(a) uses when a court declines a jointly requested plan.
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Two powers exist only inside an agreed plan. Under Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 7, parents may agree in the plan on the legal standard that will govern a later move of the child out of Minnesota. Under subd. 9(b), they may agree that a future motion to change the child's primary residence will be decided under the ordinary best interest standard instead of the standard Minn. Stat. 518.18, paragraph (d), would otherwise apply. Both require either that both parties were represented by counsel when the plan was approved, or a court finding that the parties were fully informed, that the agreement was voluntary, and that they were aware of its implications.
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Domestic abuse changes the analysis in several places. Minn. Stat. 518.17, subd. 1(b)(9) directs the court to use a rebuttable presumption that joint legal custody or joint physical custody is not in the best interests of the child if domestic abuse, as defined in Minn. Stat. 518B.01, has occurred between the parents, and that presumption overrides the presumption in favor of joint legal custody in the same clause. Domestic abuse is also a mandatory factor at subd. 1(a)(4), subd. 1(a)(11) exempts these cases from the factor about supporting the child's relationship with the other parent, and under Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 6 the court may not require joint legal custody or non-judicial dispute resolution on findings of domestic abuse, child abuse, or willful abandonment. Where there has been abuse or a protective order, this is a situation to raise with a lawyer rather than settle on a form.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Child Custody Agreement in Minnesota, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Child Custody Agreement guide walks through them.
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Minnesota Requirements for Child Custody Agreement
Upon the request of both parents, a parenting plan must be created in lieu of an order for child custody and parenting time, unless the court makes detailed findings that the proposed plan is not in the best interests of the child. The document should record that both parents are making that request.
A parenting plan must include a schedule of the time each parent spends with the child, a designation of decision-making responsibilities regarding the child, and a method of dispute resolution. Subd. 2(b) permits the parents to add other issues and matters they agree to.
Parents voluntarily agreeing to a parenting plan may substitute other terms for physical and legal custody. If the plan uses substituted terms, define them, and note that a court creating a plan on its own motion may not use alternative terminology unless the parties agree to it under subd. 3(b).
Where a plan uses substituted terms, the judgment and decree must also state a sole or joint legal and physical custody designation. That designation is solely for enforcement of the final judgment and decree where it is required for that enforcement, and has no effect under the laws of this state, any other state, or another country.
Twelve factors, numbered (1) through (12), govern issues of custody and parenting time, introduced by a direction to consider all relevant factors, including those listed. Paragraph (b) of the same subdivision states application rules rather than additional factors, among them that there is no presumption for or against joint physical custody.
Parenting plans, whether entered on the court's own motion, following a contested hearing, or reviewed by the court pursuant to a stipulation, must be based on the best interest factors in Minn. Stat. 518.17. Agreeing changes the vehicle and the vocabulary, not the substance of the court's review.
The court must use a rebuttable presumption that joint legal custody or joint physical custody is not in the best interests of the child if domestic abuse, as defined in Minn. Stat. 518B.01, has occurred between the parents, and that presumption overrides the presumption in favor of joint legal custody in the same clause. The same clause provides that disagreement alone over sole or joint custody does not show an inability to cooperate.
Non-judicial dispute resolution processes may not be required in preparing a plan where a parent is alleged to have committed domestic abuse, and the court may not require a plan providing for joint legal custody or non-judicial dispute resolution on findings of domestic abuse, child abuse, or willful abandonment. Choose the dispute resolution method with these limits in mind.
The parent with whom the child resides may not move the child's residence to another state except upon order of the court or with the consent of the other parent who has parenting time under the decree. There is no notice period and no mileage threshold, the burden is on the parent requesting the move unless that parent has been the victim of domestic abuse by the other parent, and the court shall not permit a move made to interfere with decreed parenting time.
Parents may agree to modify a plan's schedule or decision-making responsibilities, but to be enforceable, modifications must be confirmed by court order. The one part treated as a private contract is an agreed allocation of the child's expenses under subd. 8(b).
Frequently Asked Questions
The form of the order changes. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 3(a) provides that upon the request of both parents a parenting plan must be created in lieu of an order for child custody and parenting time, unless the court makes detailed findings that the proposed plan is not in the best interests of the child. Agreeing also unlocks options that do not otherwise exist, including substituting other terms for physical and legal custody under subd. 2(c). The deference attaches to the parenting plan itself, so a plan is the vehicle to use if you want the benefit of the rule.
Yes. A plan the parents sign is not an order until the court adopts it and enters it in the judgment and decree. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 5 provides that parenting plans, whether entered on the court's own motion, following a contested hearing, or reviewed by the court pursuant to a stipulation, must be based on the best interest factors in Minn. Stat. 518.17. Subd. 3(a) gives the court the ground for declining a jointly requested plan, which is detailed findings that the plan is not in the best interests of the child.
Not if you agree not to. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 2(c) allows parents voluntarily agreeing to a parenting plan to substitute other terms for physical and legal custody, and Minn. Stat. 518.003, subd. 3 opens its definitions of those terms with the phrase unless otherwise agreed by the parties. The substitution is available through agreement only, because under subd. 3(b) a court that creates a plan on its own motion must not use alternative terminology unless the parties agree to it.
Because Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 4 requires it and then empties it out. Where a plan uses substituted terms, the judgment and decree must also state a sole or joint legal and physical custody designation, and the statute provides that the designation is solely for enforcement of the final judgment and decree where the designation is required for that enforcement, and has no effect under the laws of this state, any other state, or another country. It is a label kept alive for other statutes and for other jurisdictions that expect to see one.
Three things. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 2(a) provides that a parenting plan must include a schedule of the time each parent spends with the child, a designation of decision-making responsibilities regarding the child, and a method of dispute resolution. Subd. 2(b) allows the parents to add other issues and matters they agree to. A plan is not required in any Minnesota proceeding, but a plan that is filed has to carry all three elements.
Minn. Stat. 518.17, subd. 1(a) lists twelve factors, numbered (1) through (12), which the court must consider and evaluate in determining issues of custody and parenting time. The introduction directs the court to consider all relevant factors, including those listed, so the list sets a floor rather than a closed set. Paragraph (b) of the same subdivision is a separate set of application rules governing how the court uses those factors, including a rule that there is no presumption for or against joint physical custody, so it should not be read as adding more factors.
No, and Minnesota is unusually explicit about it. Minn. Stat. 518.619, subd. 7 provides that an agreement reached as a result of mediation may not be presented to the court nor made enforceable unless the parties and their counsel, if any, consent to its presentation to the court, and the court adopts the agreement. There is no shortcut in Minnesota by which a signed mediated settlement becomes a judgment on its own. The route is the same as for any other agreed arrangement, which is court adoption.
Only with the other parent's consent or a court order. Minn. Stat. 518.175, subd. 3(a) provides that the parent with whom the child resides shall not move the residence of the child to another state except upon order of the court or with the consent of the other parent, where the other parent has been given parenting time by the decree. Minnesota sets no advance notice period, no notice contents, and no mileage threshold, and the section reaches moves to another state rather than moves within Minnesota. The burden of proof is on the parent requesting to move, except that it shifts to the parent opposing the move if the court finds the parent seeking to move has been the victim of domestic abuse by the other parent, and subd. 3(b) supplies a separate list of factors for the decision. The court shall not permit a move whose purpose is to interfere with parenting time given by the decree.
By court order. Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 9(a) allows parents to modify a plan's schedule or decision-making responsibilities by agreement, but provides that to be enforceable, modifications must be confirmed by court order. Only one piece of a plan is treated as a private contract: under subd. 8(b), an agreed allocation of the child's expenses is an enforceable contract between the parents. If the conditions in subd. 9(b) were met when the plan was approved, the parents may also have fixed in advance which standard applies to a later motion to change the child's primary residence.
No. Support is a separate calculation with its own rules and is not resolved by a parenting plan. What the plan can settle is the allocation of the child's expenses between the parents, which Minn. Stat. 518.1705, subd. 8(b) treats as an enforceable contract between them. Keep the two questions apart and do not assume that agreeing to a schedule answers the support question.