Child Custody and Visitation Attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota
What is your approach to custody and parenting time cases?
What is your approach to custody and parenting time cases?
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My approach to child custody and parenting time – it really varies on the type of case what the fact pattern is that I’m being engaged to help somebody with. Child custody, the basics in Minnesota is that a court makes its decision on child custody based on 11 best interest factors. I’m not going to go into the details of that, but that’s something that I’m constantly aware of because the court is looking at what’s in the best interest of the child. It’s not about what’s in the best interest of the parent. In fact, if a parent is too pushy for soul legal custody, or soul physical custody and they don’t appear to support the relationship of the children with the other party or the other parent that will reflect poorly on them – both in mediation or in a trial for child custody.
So, my approach is generally to educate the clients. I have a lot of discussion with the clients about how child custody works in Minnesota and then I put that in the context of what’s happening in their case. If one of the parents is not letting my client see the children, which happens quite a bit then I approach child custody in a more aggressive litigious manner that will use the court system to get an order for that parent to be able to see the child or children regularly. If there’s already more of a relaxed attitude and the parents seem to be able to exchange the children without any conflict, if they’ve already separated and they already have sort of an ad hoc or de facto parenting time arrangement in place then I take a different approach. I discuss what’s happening on the ground and then I will tailor my approach to more of a mediation solution where we’re sitting in a room talking together, with an experienced mediator who might be a social worker, might be another attorney.
In the case of children, you’ll often see a man and a woman team. One being a social worker, one being an attorney and we’ll sit around and the parents each get to talk about what they think parenting time is gonna look like in the future and why that’s best for the kids. And that always works out. If we’re at that stage generally we can get an agreement on custody and parenting time without having a trial.
Minneapolis, MN family law attorney Michael Fink shares his approach to handling custody and parenting time cases. He mentions that his approach to child custody and parenting time depends heavily on the facts of each case. In Minnesota, child custody decisions are guided by 11 best-interest factors. While he doesn’t delve into each factor with clients initially, he remains constantly aware that the court’s focus is on what is best for the child—not the parent. In fact, if a parent is overly aggressive in seeking sole legal or physical custody and does not support the child’s relationship with the other parent, that can reflect negatively on them, both in mediation and in court.
His strategy generally begins with educating clients. He discusses how child custody works in Minnesota and applies that framework to the specifics of their situation. For example, if one parent is preventing the other from seeing the children—a situation he encounters frequently—he pursues a more aggressive, litigation-focused approach to secure a court order ensuring regular visitation.
Conversely, if the parents are already exchanging the children without conflict and have a de facto parenting arrangement, he often recommends a more collaborative approach. He will guide clients through mediation, where the process typically involves a team of professionals, such as a social worker and an attorney, who help parents discuss and plan parenting time in the best interest of the children.
In these cases, he notes, parents often reach an agreement on custody and parenting time without the need for a trial. He tailors his approach to the circumstances on the ground, balancing assertive legal action with cooperative mediation to achieve the best outcome for the children.
