Custody & Parenting Time

Child custody and parenting time evaluations, whether conducted by a private evaluator or court services, usually take anywhere from 3 to 6 months to complete. Once the evaluation is complete, your attorney will be given notice by receiving a copy of the evaluation. In some circumstances (which are rare), the evaluator will prefer to have a meeting with the parties and their attorneys to "review" his or her recommendations prior to the release of the written report. Most commonly, the report will be mailed to the parties' attorneys. [1]

In Minnesota, if you have children and you and the other parent cannot come to an agreement with respect to custody and parenting time, chances are your case will be subject to a custody and parenting time evaluation.

A custody and parenting time evaluation is usually conducted by the county's court services department or by a private evaluator. For example, cases in Hennepin County are usually referred to Hennepin County Family Court Services, where an evaluation is conducted by an employee of that department. In other counties, such as Dakota, Scott, and Carver, evaluations are usually conducted by private individuals who contract with the parties for their services.

If you have persistent and significant disputes over parenting time, the court may appoint a parenting time expeditor to your case. A "PTE", as it is also known, is unique in that he or she has the authority to make a binding decision concerning parenting time by which both parties must abide. Some important aspects of the statute are below: