Third-Party Custody

Legal custody means you have the right to make major decisions for the child. These are decisions like medical care, religion, and where they go to school.  

Physical custody means living with the child and taking care of the child’s daily needs.   

In Minnesota, if parents are not married when the child is conceived or born, the mother has sole legal and sole physical custody until a court decides otherwise. An unmarried father has to establish paternity before he has the legal right to ask for legal or physical custody of a child. For more information see our fact sheet Paternity and Child Custody. 

Married couples share joint legal and joint physical custody of a child born to them without needing a court order.  

Third-party custody is when a court gives legal and physical custody of a child to someone who is not a biological parent. This person is sometimes called the custodian.  

A DOPA is created by a parent when they want someone else to care for their child temporarily. A DOPA is not filed with the court. A parent can stop a DOPA at any time. See our fact sheet Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA). 

Third-party Custody is started by someone other than a parent when that person wants to care for the child permanently. Only a court can grant someone third-party custody. 

You are a de facto custodian if you can show by clear and convincing evidence that: 

You are an interested third-party if you can show by clear and convincing evidence that you have a significant relationship with the child and that 1 of these things is true: 

Along with showing that you are an interested third-party, you also have to show the court that it is in the “best interests of the child” for you to have custody. You also have to show that you haven’t been convicted of certain crimes. Some examples of these crimes are murder, kidnapping, assault, malicious punishment of a child, and neglect of a child.   

If you can show you are either a de facto custodian or an interested third-party, you can bring a court action. First, you have to file a Petition for Third-Party Custody in family court in the county where the child lives or where there is a past custody or divorce case involving the child. If a custody case is already pending, you can ask the court’s permission to intervene in (be a part of)  that case. 

You can get the forms you need at www.mncourts.gov 

  You can also get the forms at a court Self-Help Center or a law library near you. There may be a cost to get these forms.  

The petition, along with a summons, must be served personally on the child's parents, guardian or legal custodian. But you can’t be the one to personally hand the documents to the parents. If you don’t know where the parents are, the court may let you serve the papers in a different way. You have to ask the court for permission to do that.    

Once the parents are served, they can either ignore the case, fight the case, or support your petition. 

If the parents want to fight the case, they have 21 days to file an Answer from the date they got the summons and petition. An Answer is a formal written response filed with the court. The parents must also serve the Answer on the Petitioner(s). 

If the parents choose to ignore your petition, and don’t file an Answer, a default order could be issued. A default order is a final decision that is made by a court when someone does not appear in court.   

Even though the other party has not responded, you still have to go to court. You need to show your evidence that you are either a de facto custodian or an interested third-party. And you need to show that it is in the child’s best interest that the court award you custody.   

If the parents want to fight your custody petition, several hearings may be held to decide if you are a de facto custodian or an interested third-party. The court also decides if it is in the child's best interests to be with you. Every county has its own process for deciding custody matters.   

First Hearing: Generally, at the first hearing, the court decides if there is enough information in your petition for the case to move forward. In order to move forward, the court needs to make a “prima facie finding.” That means the court reviews your petition and any documents you filed with your petition. They are looking to make sure you have enough to meet the requirements set by law about third-party custody.   

For example: Your petition has general statements saying it is dangerous for the child to live with their parents, but you don’t give any specific examples. The court will probably dismiss your petition.   

If the court decides that your petition has enough information to go forward with a case, they may issue temporary orders for custody, parenting time, or child support. The court may also order the parties to take part in some form of mediation.  

Mediation: Mediation is always a good way to try and solve a custody dispute. A mediator is professionally trained and does not take sides in a case. The mediator helps the parties come together and work on a solution. It can be a hard process, but it’s in a child's best interests if everyone can work together to create a safe and stable home for the child. 

After mediation, the court usually schedules a review hearing to see if any agreement has been or can be reached. If the parties can’t agree, the court schedules the case for an evidentiary hearing, also known as a trial.  

Trial: At the trial, you now have to prove that you are either a de facto custodian or an interested third-party. You have to prove that it is in the child’s best interest for you to have custody. You showed you had standing before, now you have to have good evidence to prove it.  At trial, parties need to present evidence to support their case for custody.  Examples of evidence can be school records, medical records, pictures, or text messages. They need to show that the information you put in your petition is true.

If the parents agree to give you third-party custody you still need to go to court. File and serve the petition as explained above and wait for a court date. At the hearing, you and the parents tell the court about your custody agreement. The court decides if your agreement is in the best interests of the child. If the court decides everything is ok, it approves the custody arrangement. This is sometimes called a custody consent decree.   

The court order gives you legal and physical custody of the child. The order must state that you can decide things like medical care, religious upbringing, where the child lives and goes to school. It also states that you can get information and public services for the child as if you are the parent.  

The court order must also say if the third-party custody is temporary or permanent and give information about child support and parenting time.  

If you are afraid the parents may come to get the child, and that it could be dangerous, ask about getting an emergency temporary order of custody at the same time you file the petition for third-party custody. This is also called an “ex parte” action. The process to get one can be different in different counties so talk to your Self-Help Center or Court Administration for information.  

If you have legal and physical custody of the child, that child is seen as your dependent. You can claim them as a dependent for public assistance applications. If you are getting benefits already, report the custody of the child and your benefits could go up.  

There may be other benefits you can get. Check with your worker.

An order granting a third-party custody is permanent. However, parties can ask the court to change the custody order after it has been in effect for a year, and they meet certain requirements. It’s called a custody modification. But getting the court to change custody is not easy. The process for doing a third-party custody modification is the same as custody modifications between biological parents.   

See our fact sheet Paternity and Child Custody. (see Can custody be changed?)