Child custody decisions are often an integral part of divorce proceedings. In Minnesota, the deciding factor in these cases is ultimately what serves the child's best interests. Of course, parents often have opposing opinions on what is best for their children.

Sometimes, parents and their attorneys are able to agree on acceptable custody terms, but in other cases a judge makes the final decision. Currently, two women are battling in court in Minneapolis over the custody of a child that they used to co-parent.

The case stems from an uncommon family arrangement and a horrific tragedy that tore it apart.

A Twin Cities man and his second wife had been co-parenting five children from the man's first marriage, as well as his first wife's son from another marriage. It was an agreeable arrangement which allowed the five siblings to split time between both of their parents; and the youngest boy was able to be raised with his half-siblings and share a father figure.

The situation was amicable for all parties, until October 2010, when the father and three of his sons died in a tragic plane crash.

Now, the two women are fighting for full custody of the first wife's son. The other two surviving children are no longer minors. Both of the women cared for the boy after the crash, but two weeks ago the boy's mother tried to move him to Arizona--prompting the second wife to file for custody.

The second wife argues that the first wife is mentally unstable and that it is not in the boy's best interest to be uprooted. The boy's mother has said that after losing three of her children in the plane crash, she wants to have a fresh start in Arizona with her son, where they will be closer to her family.

The second-wife has recently been awarded court-ordered custody of the boy while a Hennepin County Family Court hearing is pending. A judge will likely have to decide whether the mother's alleged instability and the trauma of moving the boy to another state meets the tall legal threshold to remove a child from his biological mother.

Source: Star Tribune, "Mpls. Custody fight puts women who grieved over Wyo. plane crash," Abby Simons, Feb. 6, 2012