Initial custody and parenting time determinations, change-of-custody motions, relocation disputes, and enforcement under the Michigan Child Custody Act.
Custody and parenting time disputes in Michigan are decided under the Child Custody Act of 1970, MCL 722.21 et seq., in the family division of the circuit court. The firm handles these matters in Wayne, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Macomb Counties, both within a divorce and as separate actions between parents who were never married.
Custody and parenting time matters often require the most careful and sustained advocacy of any family law work. The firm represents parents in initial custody determinations, change-of-custody motions, and parenting time disputes, including cases involving domestic violence allegations, substance abuse, interstate relocation under MCL 722.31, and court-ordered evaluations. In matters where the best interests of a child are genuinely at stake, the firm has the capacity and willingness to try the case.
Every custody decision turns on the best interests of the child, measured by the twelve factors in MCL 722.23. Before reaching those factors, the court decides whether an established custodial environment exists with one or both parents. That finding sets the burden of proof: a change that would alter an established custodial environment requires clear and convincing evidence that the change is in the child’s best interests. Much of the work in a contested case goes into building the record on those questions, through testimony, school and medical records, and, where ordered, the Friend of the Court’s investigation and recommendation.
A parent seeking to modify an existing custody order must first show proper cause or a change of circumstances sufficient to justify revisiting it, and many motions are decided at that threshold. A lower threshold generally applies to changes in parenting time that do not alter the custodial environment. Moving a child’s residence more than 100 miles while a custody order is in place generally requires the other parent’s consent or the court’s approval under MCL 722.31, and the statute lists the factors the court weighs.
When a parent does not follow a parenting time order, the remedies include makeup parenting time, modification of the schedule, and contempt proceedings. The firm also represents parents responding to those motions.
The firm handles new matters on a consultative basis. Call the office, or send us a message through our contact form.