Not long ago it was presumed, if not guaranteed, that mothers got the children in a divorce and fathers paid child support and alimony. Over the last 50 years, however, the make up of the modern American family has changed dramatically. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics about 71 percent of mothers are members of the workforce and approximately 30 percent out earn their husbands.
While this may seem like a trivial fact at first blush, factors such as who works and who cares for the kids can actually have a significant effect on important family law issues like child custody. In Minnesota, the court considers child custody issues according to the "best interest of the child" standard. This standard takes into consideration a variety of factors including which parent is the primary caregiver of the child.
For the uninitiated, there are two primary types of child custody in the state of Minnesota. The two types of custody include legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody is generally used in reference to a parent's right to make important child-rearing decisions, such as those involving the child's education, health care and religious training. The term "physical custody" refers to the parent with whom the child will live on a day-to-day basis.
The parent who is granted physical custody is often referred to as the custodial parent. This is the person who has the child more than 50 percent of the time. The non-custodial parent is then granted parenting time, or visitation rights, which means the time that the non-custodial parent is legally guaranteed to spend with the child. Regardless of the original intent, family law agreements can usually be modified later on.
Source: Huffington Post, "Child Custody and the Working mom," Lisa Helfend Meyer, June 01, 2013
