Here’s a dilemma. Two parents share equal custody and equal time with their child. But they live in different cities. The child is 5 and will soon be starting school. The parents can’t agree on where she will go to school, as both realize that attending school in either parent’s city means the parenting time schedule will change; equal parenting time will no longer work. Someone will end up spending less time with the child.
Where a child attends school is decided by the child’s legal custodian. Minnesota Statutes Section 518.003 subd. 3(a) defines legal custody as the right to make decisions about a child’s education, among other things. When parents who share legal custody can’t agree about where the child attends school, the court resolves the dispute based on the child’s best interests.
To help courts figure out what’s in a child’s best interests, Minnesota lawmakers established 12 factors, called the ‘best interest factors’, which can be found at Minnesota Statutes Section 518.17 subd. 1.
When deciding questions of school placement, a judge is not required to consider all 12 factors when deciding what’s in a child’s best interests. The Minnesota Supreme Court made this clear in its 2018 decision, Hansen v. Todnem, 908 N.W.2d 592 (Minn. 2018). In that decision our Supreme Court determined that when making changes to a parenting time schedule, as the court would be doing here, only relevant factors need to be considered.
So, where this child goes to school is decided by a judge, without trial, after a brief hearing where written statements are submitted from each parent. The relative brevity of the legal process involved in a decision as impactful as school enrollment, can be unsettling.
Parents of pre school-age children, entering into agreements for shared legal and physical custody, and equal parenting time, may want to consider the question of school enrollment before it becomes an issue for the court to decide. Some ways of avoiding this outcome, can be to:
- list shared goals for education (i.e. type of school, school size, curriculum, distance from home) in their agreement;
- Specify a method of resolving the school question (i.e. hiring a third party consultant; going to arbitration); or
- Designating a parent’s home as the ‘primary residence’ for school placement.
In my experience as a Family Law Attorney, parents seldom want courts to decide how their children should be raised. It’s wonderful when parents can agree on how to share parental rights and responsibilities. And, with some careful planning, parents can stay true to that goal.
Meet Tim Simonson
Tim has been practicing for more than twenty (20) years now, He's handled divorce, child support, child custody, third party and grandparent rights, domestic abuse, parenting time, and many other areas of family law. He always enjoys the chance to meet people and see whether he can help find solutions to their legal problems.
Contact Beyer & Simonson
If you are facing divorce and any of the divorce-related issues such as spousal maintenance, child support, child custody, property division, or domestic abuse matters, you need our experienced Minneapolis divorce attorneys to help you. Contact Beyer & Simonson in Edina, Minnesota today at (952) 303-6007.
