What is the difference between sole physical custody and joint physical custody?
The answer to this question is complicated by the new child support guidelines and other family law changes which went into effect on the 1st of January, 2007. The primary differences between sole physical custody and joint physical custody under the old statutory scheme occurred in the areas of child support; removal of the child from the state for purposes of changing the child’s residence; and the intangible factor of being treated more as an equal with regard to parenting by the other parent and other people involved in the child’s life. The new child support statute, however, appears to overrule the case law (Valento v. Valento, 385 N.W.2d 860 (Minn.App. 1986) and Hortis v. Hortis, 367 N.W.2d 633 (Minn.App. 1985)) which mandated reduced child support for those who had the legal label “joint physical custody”. Under the old regime “joint physical custody” did not require an absolutely equal division of time, and the child support reduction was based upon the amount of time the chil
