Child custody in Michigan

What the law tells the judge to look at

In the order the law lists them.

1. The love, affection, and other emotional ties between each party and the child.MCL 722.23(a)
2. Each party's ability and willingness to give the child love, affection, and guidance, and to continue the child's education and religion, if any.MCL 722.23(b)
3. Each party's ability and willingness to give the child food, clothing, medical care, and other material needs.MCL 722.23(c)
4. How long the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory home, and how important it is to keep that continuity.MCL 722.23(d)
5. How permanent the current or proposed custodial home or homes are as a family unit.MCL 722.23(e)
6. The moral fitness of each party.MCL 722.23(f)
7. The mental and physical health of each party.MCL 722.23(g)
8. The child's home, school, and community record.MCL 722.23(h)
9. The child's reasonable preference, if the judge thinks the child is old enough to express one.MCL 722.23(i)
10. Each party's willingness and ability to support a close, continuing relationship between the child and the other parent. The judge cannot count it against a parent for taking reasonable steps to protect the child or themselves from sexual assault or domestic violence by the other parent.MCL 722.23(j)
11. Domestic violence, whether or not it was aimed at the child or seen by the child.MCL 722.23(k)
12. Any other factor the judge finds relevant to the case.MCL 722.23(l)

Other things the judge considers

• If the dispute is between a parent and a third person or agency, the law presumes custody with the parent is best, unless the other side proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.MCL 722.25(1)
• For joint custody, the judge also considers whether the parents can cooperate and generally agree on important decisions for the child.MCL 722.26a(1)(b)
• For parenting time, the law presumes it is best for a child to have a strong relationship with both parents. The judge may consider:
  • The child's special needs
  • Whether the child is nursing (under 6 months, or under 1 year if nursing gives much of the child's food)
  • The likelihood of abuse or neglect of the child during parenting time
  • The likelihood of abuse of a parent during parenting time
  • The burden of travel on the child
  • Whether a parent is likely to follow the order
  • Whether a parent has often missed parenting time
  • Threats or actual keeping or hiding of the child (staying in a domestic violence shelter does not count)
  • Any other relevant factor.
  MCL 722.27a(1), (7)
• A parent convicted of criminal sexual conduct that led to the child's conception cannot get custody or parenting time, with limited exceptions.MCL 722.25(2), 722.27a(4)

What the judge may not consider

A judge may not hold it against a parent that the parent took reasonable steps to protect the child or the parent from sexual assault or domestic violence by the other parent. A parent's absence because of active military duty or deployment cannot be used in deciding the child's best interests.

Joint custody

There is no general presumption for joint custody, but the judge must tell parents about joint custody and must consider it if either parent asks, and explain the decision on the record. If both parents agree to joint custody, the judge must order it unless there is clear and convincing evidence that it is not in the child's best interests. For parenting time, the law presumes a strong relationship with both parents is best for the child.

The child's wishes

The judge considers your child's reasonable preference if the judge decides the child is old enough to express one. The law does not set an age.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence is one of the factors the judge must consider, even if the child was not the target and did not see it. There is no presumption against custody for a parent who committed domestic violence. The judge can order supervised parenting time, set conditions such as exchanges in a public place, or deny parenting time if there is clear and convincing evidence it would endanger the child's physical, mental, or emotional health. A parent who moves with the child to escape domestic violence can do so before the court rules on the move.

Who has custody before a court order

If the parents are not married and they sign an Affidavit of Parentage, the mother has initial custody of the child until a court decides otherwise or the parents agree in writing and the court approves it. This does not, by itself, affect either parent's rights in a later custody case. Before paternity is established, the father is not a legal parent and cannot file a custody case.

Establishing paternity

How

Both parents can sign an Affidavit of Parentage, at the hospital, at a local MDHHS office, at the county registrar's office, or by printing the form. Each signature must be notarized or witnessed by a qualified worker (for example, hospital, Friend of the Court, or MDHHS staff). It can be signed any time during the child's life. Once it is filed with the state registrar (State Vital Records), it has the same effect as a court finding of parentage. Signing it means you give up the right to genetic tests, a lawyer, and a trial on parentage. It cannot be used if the mother was married to someone else at conception or birth, unless a court first ruled that the husband is not the father. If you do not sign one, the mother, the father, or the prosecuting attorney can file a paternity case, and the court can order DNA tests.

Form

Affidavit of Parentage (DCH-0682 (Rev. 03/2025))

Cancellation form

No form. To undo an Affidavit of Parentage, a person must file a claim in court under the Revocation of Parentage Act (MCL 722.1437).

Agency

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Office of Child Support; State Vital Records
https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/adult-child-serv/child-sup/how-do-i/establish-paternity

Changing an order

You file a motion in your existing case. The judge can only reconsider custody if you first show 'proper cause' or a 'change of circumstances' that has had, or could have, a significant effect on the child. Normal life changes are not enough. If the child has an established custodial environment, the change must be shown by clear and convincing evidence to be in the child's best interests. Parenting time can be changed whenever it would serve the child's best interests. While a parent is deployed, the court generally cannot change custody except by a temporary order.

Law: MCL 722.27(1)(c), (3)-(4), 722.27a; Vodvarka v. Grasmeyer, 259 Mich App 499 (2003)

If the other parent does not follow the order

The Friend of the Court must help enforce custody and parenting time orders. You can file a written complaint with the Friend of the Court if you were denied parenting time or the other parent broke the order; they must help you write it if you ask. The Friend of the Court may decline to act if the complaint is made more than 56 days after the violation. It can use the county's makeup parenting time policy (makeup time of the same type, within 1 year), ask to change the schedule, or start a contempt case. If the judge finds a parent broke the order without good cause, the judge can add conditions, order makeup time, change parenting time, fine the parent up to $100, suspend a driver's or other license, order jail, or place the parent under supervision. You can also file your own motion to show cause.

Law: MCL 552.641, 552.642, 552.644

Grandparent visitation

Yes, if one of these applies:

• The parents' divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment case is pending or finished
• The grandparent's child (the parent) has died
• The parents never married, do not live together, and paternity has been legally established
• Legal custody was given to someone other than a parent, or the child lives outside the parents' home
• The grandparent gave the child an established custodial environment in the past year.

A father's parents can file only if his paternity was established. The grandparent files a motion (in an existing case) or a complaint with an affidavit. The law presumes a fit parent's decision to deny visits does not create a substantial risk of harm. The grandparent must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the denial creates a substantial risk of harm to the child's mental, physical, or emotional health. If two fit parents both sign an affidavit opposing visits, the case must be dismissed (with a stepparent-adoption exception). If the presumption is overcome, the judge decides best interests using 10 grandparent factors. A grandparent can file only once every 2 years unless there is good cause.

Custody by someone who is not a parent

A third person can file for custody only in limited cases: the child was placed with them for adoption and has lived with them at least 6 months, or the parents never married, the parent with custody has died or is missing, the other parent has no custody order, and the person is related to the child within the fifth degree. In any dispute between a parent and a third person, the law presumes custody with the parent is best unless the third person proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.

Custody and visitation in the order

A PPO does not decide custody. It can stop the other person from taking the children from the parent who has legal custody, unless a custody or parenting time order allows it. While a PPO is in effect, it takes priority over an existing custody or parenting time order. To change the custody or parenting time order itself, either parent can file a motion in the custody case, and the court must hold a hearing within 21 days. There is no filing fee for a PPO.

Military parents

If a motion to change custody or parenting time is filed while a parent is deployed, the court must allow a stay and cannot change the child's placement except by a temporary order based on clear and convincing evidence. The prior order comes back when deployment ends. Past or future deployments cannot be counted in the best-interest decision. A deploying parent who shares custody must tell the other parent within a reasonable time.

Law: MCL 722.27(1)(c), (3)-(5); MCL 722.27a(16)-(18)

Preventing abduction

Form: Motion to Permit Foreign Travel (FOC 113) and Order Regarding Foreign Travel (FOC 114) for travel abroad; Motion Regarding Change of Domicile/Legal Residence (FOC 115) to ask permission to move the child's legal residence.

Law: MCL 722.27a(10) (parenting time orders must bar parenting time in a country that has not joined the Hague Convention unless both parents consent in writing); MCL 722.31