Hiring a Child Custody Lawyer in Minnesota
How courts in Minnesota decide custody, emergency custody, parenting classes, how to check a lawyer's license, and free or low-cost family law help. We do not recommend or rank lawyers.
What a lawyer costs in Minnesota: fee rules
| Rules on contingency fees | Contingent fees are allowed except where Rule 1.5(d) or other law prohibits them. A contingent fee agreement must be in a writing signed by the client and state how the fee is figured, including the percentage(s) the lawyer gets on settlement, trial or appeal, the litigation and other expenses deducted from the recovery, and whether expenses are deducted before or after the fee is calculated. It must clearly tell the client about any expenses the client must pay whether or not the client wins. At the end, the lawyer must give the client a written statement of the outcome and, if there is a recovery, the client's share and how it was figured. Lawyers may not charge domestic relations fees contingent on securing a divorce or on the amount of alimony, support or property settlement, or a contingent fee to represent a criminal defendant. |
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| If you disagree with a lawyer's bill | OLPR says most routine fee disputes are best resolved outside the discipline system, and that fee arbitration is a relatively fast and simple way to resolve them; call the Minnesota State Bar Association at (612) 333-1183 for your local fee arbitration committee. A clearly illegal or grossly excessive fee can lead to discipline. |
| If a lawyer takes your money | The Minnesota Client Security Board's fund can reimburse losses of money or property caused by a Minnesota lawyer's dishonesty (such as theft) in an attorney-client or related fiduciary relationship for a Minnesota matter; negligence, malpractice and fee disputes are not covered. The maximum the Board may pay on a claim is $150,000. File within five years of when you knew or should have known of the dishonest conduct. There is no charge to make a claim. |
Minnesota rules to know first
| How custody is decided | Custody and parenting time are decided by the child's best interests, with detailed findings on factors including the child's needs; special medical, mental health or educational needs; the child's reasonable preference if the court finds the child of sufficient ability, age and maturity to express an independent, reliable preference; domestic abuse; parents' health issues affecting the child; each parent's history of caregiving and willingness to provide care; effects of changes in home, school and community; the child's relationships; the benefit of maximizing time with both parents; each parent's support of the child's relationship with the other; and the parents' ability to cooperate. There is a rebuttable presumption that joint legal custody is in the child's best interests if either parent asks, but a rebuttable presumption against joint legal or physical custody if domestic abuse has occurred between the parents. There is no presumption for or against joint physical custody, and the court may not prefer a parent based on gender. No specific age is set for the child's preference. Source: Minn. Stat. § 518.17 |
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| Emergency custody | In a custody, divorce or legal separation case, either party can file a motion for a temporary order on custody and parenting time while the case is pending. A party can also ask for an ex parte restraining order (issued before the other side is heard), but it cannot grant custody to either parent or deny parenting time unless the court finds an immediate danger of physical harm to the children. An ex parte restraining order must be personally served with notice of a hearing on a temporary order, which is held at the earliest practicable date, and the restraining order lasts only until that hearing unless extended for good cause. |
| Parenting classes | Yes, when parents have not agreed on custody or a parenting time schedule: the court must order both parents to attend, in person or online, at least 8 hours of a parent orientation and education program meeting Minnesota Supreme Court standards, generally starting within 30 days after the first filing. In other custody, support or parenting time cases, the court may order it. A party may be excused for good cause, and parents will not be required to attend the same sessions if domestic abuse is alleged. The court may also set contested custody or parenting time issues for mediation, but may not require mediation if there is probable cause of physical or sexual abuse. Mediation: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/518.619 Source: Minn. Stat. §§ 518.157, 518.619 |
| Grandparents' rights | Grandparents may be granted reasonable visitation if it is in the child's best interests and would not interfere with the parent-child relationship: when a parent of the child has died (for that parent's parents and grandparents); during or after a divorce, custody, legal separation, annulment or parentage case (for the parents or grandparents of a party); or when the child lived with the grandparents or great-grandparents for 12 months or more and was then removed by the parents. The court considers the amount of past contact. A denied motion cannot be refiled for six months, and these rights do not apply if the child is adopted by someone other than a stepparent or grandparent. Source: Minn. Stat. § 257C.08 |
Find and check a lawyer
| Lawyer referral service | The Minnesota State Bar Association offers MN Find a Lawyer, a free online directory of attorneys searchable by practice area and location, and points people to Minnesota Lawyer Referral, "a non-profit public service of the Hennepin and Ramsey County Bar Associations." Minnesota Lawyer Referral offers guided assistance from referral counselors by phone or online self-referral to vetted attorneys (mainly in the Twin Cities metro area) in more than 40 practice areas: "Get a 30-minute consultation for $30 or less." Phone 612-752-6699; hours Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. MN Unbundled connects people statewide with attorneys for brief tasks. MSBA public page: https://mnbars.org/?pg=Public |
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| Check that the lawyer is licensed | The Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (OLPR) Lawyer Search shows whether a Minnesota-licensed lawyer has received public discipline, has been placed on disability inactive status in lieu of discipline, or has a public discipline petition pending; court actions appear the next business day. Private discipline, dismissed and pending complaints are not public. For general licensing information (registration status), OLPR directs users to the Minnesota Lawyer Registration Database Search (MARS). |
| Check discipline history or file a complaint | Complaints about Minnesota lawyers go to the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility. File with the online form or mail a printed form to OLPR, Minnesota Judicial Center, Suite 105, 25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155. Describe events in order with dates and send photocopies, not originals (documents are scanned and shredded). The lawyer will receive your complaint, and if it becomes a public discipline case your complaint becomes part of the public record. Phone: 651-296-3952 or 1-800-657-3601. Disciplinary history request: https://olpr.mncourts.gov/lawyer-resources/disciplinary-history-request/ |
Free legal help
| Free legal aid | Minnesota's LSC-funded legal aid organizations give free civil legal help to eligible low-income people: Anishinabe Legal Services, Central Minnesota Legal Services, Justice North and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services. |
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Last verified against official sources: October 27, 2026.
How we source this page: each state-specific rule links to the statute, court rule or official government page it comes from. A rule taken from a public copy of a state code (used only where the official code is not freely readable online) is marked as a secondary source. Spot an error? Use the contact page to report it. About our sources
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.