Determining Physical Custody in Minnesota - by Eric C. Nelson,
Attorney  As in many areas of family law, the standard applied
by the Court in making an initial award of physical custody is
the so-called “best interest of the child” standard. This
standard requires findings by the Court with respect to all
relevant factors, including the following factors enumerated by
statute: [1] NO SINGLE FACTOR IS CONTROLLING.  1. the wishes of
the child's parent or parents as to custody;   In Minnesota,
there is no particular age at which a child gets to decide which
parent he wants to live with. Generally, the older the child,
the more weight the child’s preference carries, whether in the
initial custody determination or in the context of a motion to
modify custody. [2] For teenage children, this factor is very
compelling.  3. the child's primary caretaker (i.e., who
provided the day-to-day physical, emotional, and intellectual
care for the child, including such parental functions as the
following: preparing and planning