Minnesota Supreme Court held that district courts need not make detailed findings on every best-interest factor when deciding requests for additional parenting time for child care.
Outcome: Affirmed for respondent.
Hansen v. Todnem
What happened
The facts of the case, in plain language.
Hansen and Todnem established a joint custody parenting plan on July 24, 2015, after four months of mediation with multiple mediators.
On August 3, 2015, just ten days after the parenting plan was approved, Hansen moved for additional parenting time to provide before- and after-school child care for his son on Todnem's parenting days.
The district court found that Hansen had not requested this additional parenting time during the four months of mediation and negotiation, indicating he was trying to end run the parenting time agreement.
The district court found that Hansen's proposed arrangement would continue ongoing conflict between Hansen and Todnem, increase the number of transitions for K.T., and deprive K.T. of a predictable schedule.
Todnem opposed Hansen's request for additional parenting time, preferring to use the Discovery Club program for before- and after-school care.
What the court decided
Parents Hansen and Todnem shared custody of their son and had an agreed parenting schedule. Hansen asked the court to change the schedule so he could provide before- and after-school care on his ex-partner's parenting days, instead of using the Discovery Club program. The district court denied this request, finding it would not be in the child's best interest because it could increase conflict between the parents and disrupt the child's predictable schedule. Hansen appealed, arguing that the court failed to thoroughly analyze all the legal factors that must be considered when making custody decisions. The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the denial but on different grounds, ruling that courts do not need to thoroughly analyze every single best-interest factor—only the ones relevant to the specific type of request—when deciding whether to change existing parenting arrangements.
- Minnesota Statutes § 518.17 governs the creation and initial approval of custody and parenting plans; Minn. Stat. § 518.175 governs parenting time modifications. The detailed-findings requirement of § 518.17, subd. 1(b)(1) does not apply to parenting time modification proceedings under § 518.175. (*596–*599)
- The court of appeals' common-law distinction between 'substantial' and 'insubstantial' parenting time modifications—under which only substantial modifications required specific findings—is unsupported by the text of Minn. Stat. §§ 518.17 and 518.175 and is therefore rejected. (*596–*597)
- When adjudicating a request for child-care parenting time under Minn. Stat. § 518.175, subd. 8, a district court must consider the three factors enumerated in that subdivision but is not required to make detailed, specific findings on each best-interest factor listed in § 518.17, subd. 1(a). (*597–*599)
- A statutory cross-reference that incorporates only a definitional provision does not import the procedural requirements—such as a detailed-findings mandate—attached to the statute in which that definition appears. (*598)
How the court reached its decision
The court's reasoning, step by step.
Whether Minn. Stat. § 518.17's detailed-findings requirement applies to a district court's adjudication of a child-care parenting time request under § 518.175, subd. 8. When the Legislature added the detailed-findings requirement to § 518.17, subd. 1(b)(1) in 2015, it simultaneously amended two subdivisions of § 518.175 but added no parallel findings requirement to § 518.175. Subdivision 8's permissive 'may' language and its cross-reference to § 518.17, subd. 1 for the best-interests definition incorporate only the definition, not the procedural mandate of § 518.17, subd. 1(b). The Legislature's failure to add such language to § 518.175 in either the 2015 or 2016 amendments signals it did not intend to impose a detailed-findings requirement for parenting time modifications. Additionally, subdivision 8 specifically governs child-care parenting time requests and controls over the more general subdivision 5. Parenting time modifications under § 518.175, subd. 8 do not require the same detailed, specific findings required by § 518.17, subd. 1(b)(1) for orders establishing custody or parenting time.
Whether the court of appeals' common-law distinction between substantial and insubstantial parenting time modifications is supported by the parenting-time statutes. Nothing in the language of Minn. Stat. §§ 518.17 or 518.175 refers to the degree or magnitude of a parenting time modification or conditions findings requirements on whether a modification is substantial or insubstantial. The court of appeals first created this distinction in Chapman v. Chapman in 1984, and the Minnesota Supreme Court had never endorsed it. The court of appeals' substantiality distinction lacks any textual basis in the parenting-time statutes and cannot be read into §§ 518.17 or 518.175.
Whether the district court abused its discretion in denying Hansen's request for child-care parenting time under Minn. Stat. § 518.175, subd. 8. The district court found that Hansen's proposed arrangement would increase the likelihood of continued conflict between Hansen and Todnem, directly bearing on the parents' ability to cooperate and willingness to use dispute-resolution methods. The finding that the parties required four months and multiple mediators to finalize the parenting plan further reflected on their cooperative capacity. The district court's finding that Hansen moved to modify the plan only ten days after its approval—suggesting an attempt to 'end run' the agreement—bore on the parties' willingness to use dispute-resolution methods. Although the district court made no explicit domestic-abuse finding in its order, the record showed it had previously considered that factor. The district court fulfilled its statutory duty under § 518.175, subd. 8 to consider the three enumerated factors and did not abuse its broad discretion in denying Hansen's request for additional parenting time.
Key quotes from the opinion
Notable passages from the opinion, in the court's own words.
Cases the court relied on
Earlier decisions the court cited as authority for its ruling.
Separate opinions from other justices
Views from justices who wrote separately from the majority.
Anderson: Justice Anderson (joined by Justice Hudson) agreed with the majority's statutory interpretation but dissented on the ground that the district court abused its discretion by making an unsupported finding suggesting that quality third-party child care is superior to parental care—a finding contrary to the legislative preference for parental care expressed in § 518.175, subd. 8 and in tension with the constitutional recognition of parents' fundamental right to raise their children under Troxel v. Granville. Justice Anderson would have reversed and remanded, without prejudice to any record-supported findings, for further proceedings under § 518.175, subd. 8.
Full opinion
The complete text of the court's opinion as published.
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Birch Hansen ("Hansen") and respondent Suzanne Todnem ("Todnem") established a parenting plan for their son, K.T., on July 24, 2015. On August 3, 2015, Hansen moved in the Ramsey County District Court for additional parenting time to provide before- and after-school child care for K.T. while Todnem was working. The district court denied Hansen's request on the ground that it was not in K.T.'s best interests. Hansen appealed, arguing that the district court failed to make detailed and specific findings on each of the factors listed in
*595modification and thus did not require detailed and specific findings on every best-interest factor. We affirm the court of appeals, though on different grounds.
FACTS
The parties in this case were in a romantic relationship for roughly 5 years, but never married. On September 1, 2010, the parties had their son, K.T. Shortly after K.T.'s birth, Todnem ended the relationship.
Through mediation with a parenting consultant, the parties established a parenting time schedule that gave Hansen parenting time on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, as well as three overnights at his home and four co-parenting overnights at Todnem's home every 2 weeks. On February 2, 2014, however, Todnem informed Hansen that he was no longer welcome in her home for co-parenting overnights. Instead, Todnem offered Hansen a fourth overnight at his home with K.T. every 2 weeks. Hansen petitioned the Ramsey County Family Court for joint custody and equal parenting time on February 5, 2014.
The parties stipulated to joint legal and physical custody with equal parenting time on March 18, 2015. After 4 months of negotiation with multiple mediators, the parties submitted a written parenting plan for the court's approval. The district court approved the parenting plan on July 24, 2015. Only 10 days later, Hansen moved for additional parenting time to provide child care for K.T. before and after school on Todnem's parenting days. Todnem opposed this motion, preferring to use K.T.'s school's child-care program, the Discovery Club, for before- and after-school care.
The district court denied Hansen's request. Finding that Hansen had not explained why he did not seek child-care parenting time during 4 months of mediation, the district court expressed concern that Hansen was trying to "end run" the parenting time agreement. Moreover, the district court concluded that Hansen's proposal was not in K.T.'s best interests, finding that the proposed arrangement would continue ongoing conflict between Hansen and Todnem, increase the number of transitions for K.T., and deprive K.T. of a predictable schedule if Hansen was ever unavailable to provide before- or after-school care.
On appeal, Hansen argued that the district court's decision was based on irrelevant or repealed factors, and that the district court erred by failing to make detailed findings on the newly amended best-interest factors listed in
*596ANALYSIS
I.
District courts have broad discretion on matters of custody and parenting time. See Goldman v. Greenwood ,
A.
Minnesota Statutes § 518.17 lists 12 factors bearing on the best interests of the child that the court must consider "for purposes of determining issues of custody and parenting time."
Before the 2015 amendment,
We have previously recognized, however, that establishing custody is controlled by a different statute than modifying custody. See State ex rel. Gunderson v. Preuss ,
B.
The court of appeals relied on its own common-law distinction that "significant changes" to parenting plans must be supported by specific findings, whereas "insignificant changes and clarifications"
*597do not require such findings. Hansen ,
The court of appeals also noted that
C.
Although we disagree with the court of appeals' analysis, we nevertheless reach the same conclusion: that the district court was required to consider only the relevant best-interest factors, and was not required to make specific findings on every factor listed in
Requests to modify an existing parenting plan for child-care parenting time are governed by
Here, the district court's factual findings show that it did not abuse its broad discretion when it declined to award Hansen additional parenting time under subdivision 8. Critically, the district court found that Hansen's proposed arrangement would increase the likelihood of continued conflict between him and Todnem.
*598This finding relates to the parents' ability to cooperate and to their willingness to use dispute-resolution methods. See
Minnesota Statutes § 518.175, subd. 8, does reference
Hansen argues that subdivision 8's reference to
Moreover, when the Legislature added a detailed-findings requirement to
II.
Hansen next argues that the district court relied on factors that were either repealed or irrelevant. Again, we hold that the district court was required to consider only the relevant best-interest factors in section 518.17, subdivision 1, and was not required to make specific and detailed findings on those factors when considering Hansen's modification request. Any findings of fact that a district court does make regarding the best-interest factors are reviewed for clear error. See Rasmussen v. Two Harbors Fish Co. ,
First, Hansen claims that the district court improperly focused on "stability." Among the best-interest factors is "the willingness and ability of each parent ... to maintain consistency and follow through with parenting time."
Second, Hansen argues that
Third, Hansen claims that the district court's findings about potential conflict between him and Todnem were irrelevant and should not have been considered. But potential conflict between the parents may be highly relevant to the parents' ability to cooperate, which is one of the three factors that the district court is required *600to consider. See
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals, though on other grounds.
Affirmed.
In addition to parenting time, Hansen raised disputes regarding child-support calculations, K.T.'s medical coverage, and the allocation of the federal tax dependency exemption before the court of appeals. Hansen ,
The district court must make sufficient findings to enable appellate review. Woodrich Constr. Co. v. State ,
Specifically, the district court initially determined that Todnem had raised a prima facie case of domestic abuse and was entitled to sole custody. Subsequently, however, the district court approved a joint custody agreement between the parties. It did not conclude that domestic abuse had occurred.
As the dissent notes, the district court also made a finding regarding the relative merits of parental care and out-of-home child care. The court of appeals declined to consider this finding in its analysis. Hansen ,
Hansen expressly concedes, however, that the statutory text of
Dissenting Opinion
DISSENT
I agree with the court's statutory interpretation analysis and therefore limit my concern, and this dissent, to a specific finding by the district court.
A district court has broad discretion in determining parenting-time issues and will not be reversed absent an abuse of that discretion. See Olson v. Olson ,
The Legislature enacted
The district court made thoughtful and detailed findings in this matter. Unfortunately, in one of the five findings that formed the basis of the decision, the district court suggested-with no support in the record for this claim-that parenting time is not necessarily superior to out-of-home daycare. Specifically, the district court said:
Father's proposal is based upon the assumption that care by a parent is always preferable to a child care setting. Quality child care offers more than babysitting. It offers the child opportunities to play with and interact with peers in a structured setting as well as enrichment activities designed by professional staff.
In juxtaposing parental care and third-party child care in this finding, the district court implied that "quality child care" was superior to parental care, in this case, care provided by the father. None of these statements are supported by the record and, as discussed elsewhere in this dissent, are at odds with the legislative intent. This finding reflects an abuse of discretion by the district court and requires a reversal of the court of appeals and a remand to the district court.
If this were purely a matter of sufficiency of the evidence, affirming the district court might well be in order. But, in addition to the complete absence of any support in the record for the suggestion that third-party child care is superior to parental care, the finding also collides with both the statutory framework and constitutional *601analysis. The Legislature has expressed a clear preference for parental care and child-rearing in adopting a statute to "allow additional parenting time to a parent to provide child care while the other parent is working."
There is also a constitutional component to this discussion. Although I do not argue here that the record supports a claim of constitutional error, it is worth noting that the Supreme Court has held that parents have a fundamental right to raise their children. See Troxel v. Granville ,
Given these statutory and constitutional principles, I cannot simply dismiss the district court's finding as surplusage or harmless error. Nor am I persuaded that, because there are other findings that support the district court order, somehow this finding can be safely ignored. Further, nothing in the order explicitly lays out which findings the district court considered most persuasive or important. In the end, I conclude that the district court abused its discretion by not properly considering father's request to "allow additional parenting time to a parent to provide child care while the other parent is working."
I respectfully dissent.
Dissenting Opinion
I join in the dissent of Justice Anderson.
Continue your research
- Minnesota cases applying the three-factor test of Minn. Stat. § 518.175, subd. 8 after Hansen v. Todnem
- Cases addressing the scope of findings required for parenting time modification orders under § 518.175
- Secondary sources on parental rights and legislative preferences for parental care in Minnesota family law
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.