Molly K. Olson is the President of Leading Women For Shared Parenting. LW4SP is an International organization headquartered in Washington DC which advocates in support of equal shared parenting for fit parents as a presumption in custody cases across the United States and internationally.
She founded the Center for Parental Responsibility in 2000, in suburban St. Paul, MN. Since then, Molly has been leading efforts to enact shared parenting in Minnesota. Well known throughout the Minnesota Capitol for her tireless efforts on behalf of children, Molly led the 2012 effort around HF322. With her leadership and teamwork, the MN House passed the most comprehensive joint custody/equal shared parenting bill anywhere in the nation at that time. This equal shared parenting bill recognized exceptions to satisfy opponents, and passed with a 60% majority. A modified bill was finally passed by the MN Senate. This watered-down compromise version increased the baseline to 35% time sharing for children with each parent in the event of divorce. This final version passed with overwhelming bi-partisan margins in both the House (67%) and Senate (71%). Unfortunately, Minnesota’s Governor, Mark Dayton, vetoed this very popular legislation after the end of session, preventing a legislative override.
The Governor appealed to all sides to reach a collaborative solution to the shared parenting debate which had cycled through the legislature for over a decade. This lead to a 3 year task force called the Minnesota Child Custody Dialogue Group which Molly established with a sitting judge to draw in opponents to shared parenting. The task force included stakeholders from both sides of the issue. The result was another statutory change of the Minnesota Best Interest Criteria in 2015. Minnesota law and policy now recognizes, and stakeholders from both sides in the Dialogue group unanimously agreed, that unless there is something substantial (like: abuse, harm, neglect, abandonment, criminal issues, untreated mental health, untreated substance abuse, domestic violence, or special/logistical circumstances like child’s health issues, school/work/daycare schedules, and geographic distance) the majority of children will benefit when they maximize time with each fit healthy parent to the highest degree possible that each parent is ready, willing, and able to accept. In addition to national advocacy, Molly is participating in further changes to the MN Parenting Time Guideline that will reflect this policy, which is consistent with current research and societal change.
