Children of married couples are typically the focus of custody disputes. What about the minor children of unmarried parents? Who has legal custody of a child when the parents aren’t married? In Michigan, custody refers to both a child’s place of living and the parent’s decision-making authority. 

Click here to watch the video on Who Has Legal Custody Of A Child When The Parents Aren’t Married In Michigan?

If a parent has legal custody, they are responsible for making choices about the child’s upbringing, including their health care and educational opportunities. A child has a place to live with each parent, and each parent has bodily custody when the child is there, unless the court decides otherwise. Parents typically share custody when married parents are involved.

The Truth About Being a Parent in Michigan

If we are to dig deeper into child custody and the parent’s, shouldn’t we be asking first who is considered a parent in the context of child custody in Michigan?

Both biological and adoptive parents are seen as having legal parental responsibility and authority over their children. 

However, in most cases, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family members do not have parental rights. They might have parental rights, though, if they have been given legal guardianship of the minor child or if they have legally adopted the child. Despite not being parents, legal guardians frequently have obligations and rights that are similar to parental rights.

The significance of being defined as a parent lies in the capacity to invoke parental rights. Parents have a fundamental legal right to the upbringing and company of their children. The term “parental rights” often refers to a parent’s ability to make choices for their child’s upbringing, including significant issues like education and healthcare. 

In the US, remarriage or recoupling occurs in more than 50% of families. Therefore, 10 to 20 percent of kids in the US have at least one stepparent. For many stepparents, the validity of stepparent rights in shared custody arrangements is a difficult issue. It will be simpler for you to manage your connection with the child and the child’s biological parents if you are aware of your custodial rights as a stepparent.

Parental rights may also involve issues like visitation and custody when parents are living apart, such as in separation or divorce proceedings. Making judgments and acting in the child’s best interests are a part of parental rights.

Do step-parents have parental rights? Can they get custody of their step-child? The answer largely relies on your state of residence and the specifics of your family’s condition. If a stepparent legally adopted the child, they are probably entitled to parental rights.

Your state’s laws governing stepparents’ rights will determine how things work. In spite of the fact that they are not the child’s legal parents, some states may have laws that offer stepparents some privileges such as visitation. If you find yourself in this predicament, you might wish to see a local attorney who is knowledgeable with the laws governing step-parents’ parental rights in your state.

When a person marries a kid’s biological parent, they do not instantly acquire or share that parent’s parental rights in the child. Although divorce might end a marriage, it does not revoke the parents’ legal capacity to raise a child. The parents continue to share joint physical and legal custody. 

Stepparents may influence minor children and help the biological parent with their responsibilities, but they do not automatically acquire any rights or obligations as a result of a marriage. Stepparents are essentially “legal strangers” to the children of the biological parent.

According to Michigan law, a parent or guardian of a minor child may designate another person as the temporary beneficiary of a power of attorney that transfers parental responsibility.

The Truth About Child Custody in Michigan

Different custody plans can be imposed by judges. As long as judges agree that the agreement is in the child’s best interests, parents can agree on a custody arrangement, and judges will typically sign the court order authorizing the arrangement. The descriptions of several custody plans are provided below.

Sole Custody: The term “sole custody” is not defined by law. According to the Michigan Custody Guideline, one parent has sole custody when they are granted both primary physical custody and main legal custody.

A parent has physical custody when they take care of their child most of the time. Legal custody is when one parent is in charge of making all significant choices for the child’s upbringing (such as medical treatment, school enrollment, religious instruction, and participation in extracurricular activities).

Sole custody is typically granted to one parent if the judge feels the parents cannot cooperate for the sake of the kid. The court may decide to grant parenting time to the other parent. When parenting time is granted, the non-custodial parent is in charge of making daily and urgent decisions for the child.

Joint Custody: The court must think about granting joint custody when one parent asks for it. A court must provide joint custody if the parents agree to it unless it finds that joint custody is not in the child’s best interests. Judges must give explanations for their decisions, whether they approve or reject the request, in the official record.

Without a parent’s request, judges may take joint custody into consideration. When deciding on joint custody, judges must also take into account whether the parents will be able to work together and generally agree on significant issues affecting the welfare of the kid. The definition of “joint custody” in the law allows for either joint legal custody, joint physical custody, or a combination of both.

There are two varieties of joint custody:

Joint Legal Custody: Parents who share joint legal custody are able to make decisions that have a significant impact on the wellbeing of the kid. The quantity of time spent with each parent by the child does not affect joint custody.

Joint Physical Custody: Means that the child will spend set amounts of time with each parent; however, it does not imply they will necessarily share parental decision-making responsibility unless the court has also granted joint legal custody. For instance, in a joint physical custody arrangement, one parent may have custody during the school year, alternate weekends, and alternate holidays, while the other would have custody during the summer, alternate weekends, and alternate holidays.

The court order will often specify when the child will live with each parent if the judge grants shared physical custody. To ensure the kid has contact with both parents, the court order may stipulate physical custody be divided between the parents. When a child lives with one parent, that parent makes all regular and urgent decisions involving the child.

Married, Unmarried Does It Matter In Child Custody

So who has legal custody of a child when the parents aren’t married? In Michigan, unless the biological father proves paternity and obtains a court order of custody rights, unmarried mothers are believed to have primary custody of their children. By signing an Affidavit of Parentage, either at the hospital where the child is born or subsequently, unmarried fathers can voluntarily establish paternity with the mother’s consent. 

If paternity is disputed, a father can legally prove parentage, which usually entails genetic testing to demonstrate the existence of a biological connection.

A father will need to pursue a new parenting agreement through extra legal action after proving paternity. But keep in mind that if the mother of the kid is married to another man, that man will already be assumed to be the child’s legal father, making it exceedingly difficult for a biological father to prove paternity and obtain custody rights.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more advice on Family Law!

Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.

You cannot give a fixed price for the costs and legal fees associated with your family law case in Michigan. Even if your attorney wanted to estimate a fee, they couldn’t. Divorce cases involve too many variables to be able to forecast how they will turn out, and you are typically reacting to the other party’s actions. It gets even less foreseeable as a result.

Click here to watch the video on What You Can Expect In Legal Fees & Cost For Your Family Law Case In Michigan?

Time is always a factor, along with court procedures and internal law firm procedures. Your own client dynamics haven’t even been taken into account yet. What you may reasonably anticipate is a minimum expense that includes retainers and the cost of appearances. Consider any retainer or appearance costs your lawyer may have provided as a starting point.

Somethings You Need To Know About Before Taking The First Steps in the Divorce Process

Even before getting down to the initial process of divorce, there’s just some things you need to remember because you need to be aware if you should even be doing your divorce in Michigan.

Here’s some things to keep in mind when filing for divorce in Michigan:

[ a ]  Michigan is a no-fault state. No-fault divorce means you can obtain a divorce without demonstrating adultery, abandonment, cruelty, or any other wrongdoing. You can get a divorce even if your spouse doesn’t consent. Even if your actions caused your marriage to fail, you are still eligible for a divorce.

[ b ]  Before filing, you or your spouse had to have resided in Michigan for at least the previous 180 days. Circuit court in the county where you or your spouse have resided for at least 10 days prior to filing is where you must file for divorce. Although it is customary, you are not required to file in your county of residence. Wherever your spouse resides, you may file.

[ c ]  If you meet the aforementioned residency criteria and were married in another state or nation, you are still eligible to file for divorce in Michigan. In Michigan, a divorce can be granted to either spouse without regard to citizenship. However, if your marriage is a condition of your ability to live in the US, a divorce may damage that right.

[ d ]  If you have a legally recognized common law marriage, a Michigan court may award you a divorce. A common law marriage is an arrangement between two people to live as husband and wife even though they are not legally wed. Today, just a few states still accept common law marriage. Since 1957, Michigan has prohibited common law marriage. Now Michigan only recognizes common law marriage if such a marriage was entered in a jurisdiction or state accepting common law marriage.

It Does Matter If It’s Contested or Uncontested And If You Have Minor Children

Your divorce can split into distinct categories depending on whether you are both in agreement amicably about your divorce or if there is animosity between. It will also matter if you have minor children.

The Contested Divorce

The terms of the divorced are disputed by the parties in a contested divorce. The couples can dispute on how to divide the property or whether one spouse has to be paid spousal maintenance. Custody, visitation, and child support arrangements between parents are sometimes disputed.

It may take months or years to resolve a contentious divorce. Discovery and trial planning are conducted by both sides. The court schedules a trial if the parties are unable to resolve their disagreements through mediation or settlement talks. Both sides offer their proof and witnesses at the trial to back up their claims. The judge then renders a decision in accordance with the evidence offered in court and the relevant family court laws.

The Uncontested Divorce

In Michigan, a divorce is considered uncontested if both parties agree to all of the divorce’s terms and circumstances. Property, children, or spousal support are not the subject of their disagreement. The divorce process becomes contentious if there are any terms of the divorce the parties cannot agree upon. The couple saves time and money with an uncontested divorce.

One spouse serves the other spouse with a divorce petition before filing it with the court in an uncontested divorce. The spouse who receives the divorce papers has the option to reply, declaring they are in agreement with all of the terms set forth therein and jointly asking the court to grant the divorce in accordance with those terms.

Divorce With Minor Children and No Minor Children

When your divorce documents are actually filed, it will be designated as a DM designated divorce or a DO designated divorce.

DM is Designated Divorce, Minor Children. All applications for divorce, for separate maintenance, or for annulment involving minor children. Additionally utilized when there are young children involved in intrastate custody, maintenance, divorce, custody, and post-judgment transfers.

DO is Divorce, No Children. In the absence of minor children, any and all demands for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment. It is also used for intrastate transfers of post-judgment divorce complaints when there are no young children involved.

We just need to mention this here because having a contested divorce means a lot more to do with your divorce matters like property division and alimony. A divorce with minor children will mean you have to talk about custody and parenting time which will define a set of new cases aside from just divorce.

Each case entails a distinct set of attorney fees and per hour servicing costs not to mention court filing fees, mediation fee, petition fee, process server fees, and the more motions and petitions…I think you already get the idea how the calculations will work on your case.

Remember each of these sets of action means more servicing time from your  attorney.

Not only are there many forms for each of these filings, there’s a lot of processes to get these forms and documents filed, signed, stamp, and routed. Copies of these documents are usually provided to the other party which means added cost for copies. You will get a rundown of these filings as your attorney’s billing gets into your mail.

The Steps In Your Divorce Process, It Does Add Up Somehow

Before starting the process of divorce, you need to think through if you should or should not file for divorce.  Like what we mentioned earlier you must have lived in Michigan for at least 180 days and in the county where the case is filed for at least 10 days in order to petition for divorce in Michigan. The earliest date a divorce can be finalized has a waiting time as well. A couple without children must wait a minimum of 60 days, and a couple with small children must wait 180 days.

Once you have made the decision for the divorce, you can now start the process. Of course, you have to start with a divorce complaint.

The Filing of the Divorce Complaint

A complaint, which is a formal legal document, is the first step in a divorce. The divorce complaint is filed in the Family Division of the Circuit Court in the county where the parties reside and assigned to a family court judge at random. The individual who files is referred to as the “Plaintiff” and the other spouse is the “Defendant.”

Don’t worry about the terms “Plaintiff” and “Defendant”. It’s not good or bad those are just names the court assigns to someone filing and someone receiving the complaint. It does not signify any advantage or disadvantage in the filing process.

The defendant has 21 days (or 28 days if served by mail or outside of the state) from the time the complaint and summons are filed and served on him or her to file an answer admitting or denying each allegation in the complaint. 

There are a few different ways to serve divorce papers, but most often a process server delivers the documents to the other party personally. This is usually done with contentious divorce cases. The complainant has the right to petition the court to make specific orders, sometimes known as ex-parte orders, if necessary.

Ex-parte orders can deal with things like child support, parenting time, child custody, protection from abuse or harassment, and an order that forbids the other party from hiding, stealing, or destroying property after receiving divorce papers. At the same time the party receives the complaint, they are simultaneously served with these directives.

The Defendant’s Filing of the Answers to the Divorce Complaint

The defendant responds to the charges in the complaint, stating whether they are true or not. Any contested issues then typically start to surface in the answers. Additionally, a counter-suit for divorce will typically be filed by the person who responds to the complaint.

The case is in dispute after the answer is submitted. 

The Defendant’s Failure To Answer the Divorce Complaint

A default order may be entered if the defendant fails to submit an answer. After that, the case becomes an uncontested divorce. However, before the case is over, a defendant who has defaulted may choose to hire a lawyer and ask the court to overturn the default.

Uncontested or contested divorces must first go through a final court hearing to decide if the allegations mentioned in the complaint are true. The party who shows up for the last court hearing is often the plaintiff. The last hearing is not mandatory for the defendant to attend.

The Case Begins In Discovery

As soon as the case gets underway, the attorneys determine which issues are likely to be contested and gather the pertinent information through research and discovery. The several types of discovery include depositions (questioning a witness under oath), third-party subpoenas, interrogatories (asking a party questions that they must respond to under oath), requests to produce documents to the other party, and requests to admit (asking the other party to agree that certain facts are true).

The discovery process is not required if the parties are aware of the values of the assets and liabilities. Discovery is required if the values and amounts are unknown to either one or both parties. The goal of discovery is for the lawyers to ascertain all of the parties’ assets and debts. In the event that one party makes an effort to conceal or misrepresent facts regarding assets or obligations, this phase of the divorce may be quite challenging. The other party must provide several records upon request. Usually, one party will send the other party interrogatories to do this. Interrogatories are questions that must be answered under oath by the other party.

Discovery is often used to obtain data on assets and debts, but it can also be used for other things. Information collection is one of these additional goals in the event that one party is allegedly at blame for the divorce. Numerous behaviors, including alcoholism, drug misuse, adultery, gambling, and abandonment, are examples of fault. This error can be demonstrated by discovery.

When necessary, attorneys frequently consult with and hire experts like appraisers, accountants, or psychologists. A lot of these experts don’t come cheap. This can substantially drive your legal expenses.

Your Negotiation Begins Here

Following the conclusion of discovery, the attorneys will talk about the client’s objectives and start settlement negotiations. The exchange of written settlement proposals between attorneys is common. In an effort to address as many issues as feasible, the attorneys may also schedule a conference among the parties and the attorneys. The court is not involved in this process, which is also known as an informal settlement meeting. In the event that a settlement is achieved, the parties may sign a document outlining its terms.

Meeting the Friend of the Court

When there are minor children involved in the divorce, the parties may be obliged to attend an Early Intervention Conference with a Friend of the Court Referee, which is followed by a course meant to help parents lessen the impact of divorce on their kids. Depending on the county in which the divorce is being heard, a specific program may be necessary.

And then, The Waiting and Waiting

There is a 60-day waiting time before your divorce can be finalized if you and your spouse don’t share custody of any children. Even if you and your husband were already separated when you filed for divorce, the waiting period starts when you do. Your divorce may take far longer than 60 days if you and your husband cannot come to an agreement on everything.

Even before the case is filed or at any point during the waiting period, the parties may voluntarily decide to go through with mediation. Except in cases where there has been a history of domestic violence, the court would ordinarily mandate mediation in every case. The court will appoint a mediator if the parties are unable to reach an agreement.

Mediation is not advised if there has been domestic abuse in your marriage.

Depending on the situation, mediation may occur with or without the attorneys present. The mediation process is not legally binding. Making every attempt to settle every issue is the mediator’s responsibility. This minimizes court involvement and is less expensive than going to court. 

Typically, the parties split the mediator’s expenses.

If there are points in your case that you and your spouse cannot agree on, arbitration is another alternative. Arbitration is a purely optional process. This means that in order to enter into arbitration, all parties must concur on the question or issues that will be decided by the arbitrator.

The arbitrator is paid a fee by the parties to hear and decide their dispute. 

Because the arbitrator’s conclusions are enforceable in the same way that a judge’s decisions are, arbitration is distinct from mediation. The arbitrator is a skilled decision-maker who is an impartial third party. Their selections are incorporated into the verdict in a legal proceeding.

Court Appearances

The court will schedule a trial if the parties are unable to reach a settlement. Divorce trials are similar to other trials in most ways. To present testimony and evidence in support of each side’s case, the parties and their attorneys must appear. Depending on the circumstances, it could take a few hours or even days. The Family Court Judge will issue an Opinion on the contested matters following the trial (sometimes verbally from the bench and, sometimes, in writing). The Judge will then instruct one of the attorneys to draft a divorce judgment that includes all of the terms and clauses outlined in the Judge’s Opinion.

It goes without saying that the Judge will not sign this judgment unless all parties and their attorneys have studied it and agreed that it accurately reflects the judge’s opinion. The divorce is finalized when the Family Court Judge signs the Judgment of Divorce. The judge and court’s availability is the issue with going to trial. 

A trial will frequently be set alongside several other cases and continually postponed. Before the trial is held, the case may have been open for a year or more. When the trial is held, it may take a long time because the judge may need to handle other cases or crises that were on his or her docket longer.

Remember the per hour cost of attorney fees will accumulate as the trial progresses. This will make it difficult for your attorney to estimate the cost of servicing you. The length of the trial is not something they can approximate due to a lot of reasons. The judge’s time is one of these reasons.

Final Divorce Judgment

The Judgment of Divorce is an official court document declaring the end of your marriage and the terms of your divorce. The final, legally enforceable document approving the divorce is the Judgment of Divorce. It decides on a variety of matters, including child support, property division, spouse support, and custody and parenting time. Before the judgment is entered with the court, the parties will have a chance to read it, review it with their attorney, and sign it. There are separate orders for child support and spousal support payments if there are any.

Legal Fees and Costs For Your Family Law Case

You have to look at your legal fees and costs in the context of your desired outcome because the legal process always has costs. Whether you call it expensive or low cost is really dependent on the outcome you desire. This outcome is something you should discuss with your attorney at the beginning of the engagement. It is a matter most considered and decided even before you have your first meeting with your attorney.

If you have already asked about legal fees, you will likely get a quote for two fees: The retainer and the per hour fee.

Attorney Retainers and Per Hour Service Fees

Your retainer fee based on experience, expertise, and reputation of the family law firm may range from a low of $275 to $375. If you get closer to highly urbanized cities and business centers these per hour fees can go up considerably. The range will be wider if you look at the whole US with a range starting from a low $200 to a high of more than $400 per hour.

Retainer fees can range from $2000 to $6000. The bigger picture shows a range of a low of less than $5000 to a high of $7000. This could vary from city to city and state to state.

Now, a lot of factors can drive costs like we mentioned here. Each phase of divorce process and cases such as child custody, parenting time have their own unique costs.

Court Filing Fees

As of the time this article was written, court filing costs could be anywhere from $85 and $150. Fees cover custody and parenting fee, support fee, friends of the court fee, arbitration, mediation, contempt for parenting time violations, sanctions, etc.

Ancillary guardianship and conservatorship filing fees are $150, as are other civil filing fees for cases filed in the family division, according to the circuit court fee schedule. A petition for a subpoena to testify outside of the state is free to file. Do check with your local Circuit Court for an updated schedule of court filing fees.

For those who can’t afford lawyers, they have a choice of approaching the Friend of the Court for free services but usually these are reserved for child custody cases.

Client Driven Costs

There are actions driven by clients that are not really driven by fairness or the best interests of anyone. It is driven more by pride, anger, jealousy, fueling animosity between ex spouses. We refer to this as acrimonious battles. The representation of the child is so bad the court has to get someone else like an expert to represent the child. The cost of this expert will be charged to the parents.

Some costs are related to the valuation of assets in property division. Cost can escalate fast and enormously in these situations.

When a law firm or an attorney is quoting you an hourly rate, the attorney isn’t talking about the total cost. The attorney is merely giving you the hourly rate they will be applying when they put in the hours to work on your case. Your attorney doesn’t really know how much will be seen in your billings because they don’t know yet how many hours they have to put in until they actually work on the legal requirements of the divorce case.

So the best approach is to talk to an attorney and have  a vision of your outcome. Talk about how you are going to approach it, and then talk about fees.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more advice on Family Law!

Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.

Michigan is a no-fault divorce state. You are not required to provide justification for your divorce. In a custody case, it is not so much as you against the other party, but more of your capacity to care about the best interest of your child. Consequently, you actually don’t need to take any action to defend yourself against a divorce complaint. However, if you’re discussing child custody, it’s probably something you should give some thought to.

Click here to watch the video on What Evidence Can Be Used In A Custody Battle In Michigan?

We can have a long list of things that as evidence can be used against  in a custody battle. In Michigan, you can look at the variables considered by the courts to decide what is in the best interest of the child. There are a dozen things that could be utilized to call our capacity to gain custody of the child into question.

The Best Interest Factors Are Powerful But Against You

In a custody case in Michigan, the court will give you a chance to show you have the best interest of the child in your mind. There are a dozen factors the court considers in evaluating your position. If the other party is keen enough to observe you are providing the opposite of these factors, they will definitely use the observation against you in a custody battle. Why would they not?

If the opposing party’s attorney has a very good understanding of how these best interest factors are used, they will find enough things to use against you. Now what are these best interest factors?

The judge will decide custody and parenting time matters based on the best interests of the child if the parents cannot come to an agreement. The following 12 factors must be taken into account by the court when using this legal test:

Factor (a): The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parties involved and the child;

Factor (b): The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the education and raising of the child in his or her religion or creed, if any;

Factor (c): The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to provide the child with food, clothing, and medical care or other remedial care recognized under the laws of this state in place of medical care, and other material needs;

Factor (d): The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity;

Factor (e): The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes;

Factor (f): The moral fitness of the parties involved;

Factor (g): The mental and physical health of the parties involved;

Factor (h): The home, school, and community record of the child;

Factor (i): The reasonable preference of the child, if the judge considers the child to be old enough to express a preference;

Factor (j): The willingness and ability of each of the parties to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent or the child and the parents. A judge may not consider negatively for the purposes of this factor any reasonable action taken by a parent to protect a child or that parent from sexual assault or domestic violence by the child’s other parent;

Factor (k): Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was directed against or witnessed by the child;

Factor (l): Any other factor considered by the judge to be relevant to a particular child custody dispute.

Each parent will be given the chance to provide information pertaining to the best interest factors mentioned above at the hearing on custody and parenting time.

The law does not mandate the court to give each consideration equal weight when determining what is in the child’s best interests. The judge determines how much importance to assign to each factor.

You Need To Have Established Custodial Environment Or Else

According to the law, custody arrangements for children should not be altered. In order to avoid confusion, the judge will always ask if the child has an established custodial environment or ECE with either one or both parents. If so, additional evidence would be needed before a judge could change the current circumstances.

When deciding whether there is an ECE, the judge takes the child’s life into account. For example, does the child depend on one (or both) of the parents for support, affection, and other requirements like food and shelter? Is the child old enough to have experienced the current circumstance for an extended period of time?

In order to effectively prepare for any Michigan child custody case, it is crucial to comprehend how the established custodial environment interacts with the burden of proof. The parent seeking to create or modify the sort of custody awarded to each parent has the burden of proving that an established custodial environment exists. If you are not able to provide ECE, you can bet the opposing party is taking note of that. It can be used against you in a custody battle.

Judges consider the child’s life circumstances when determining if an ECE exists. Do the child’s needs, such as love and affection, food, shelter, and other necessities, come from one (or both) of the parents? Is the youngster old enough to have lived in the existing situation for a long time?

If the judge rules that there is an ECE, the party seeking to change it must demonstrate with clear and persuasive evidence that the change is for the child’s best interests.

Now if you are a parent that seems to demonstrate any of these behaviors, the other party may already have evidence you can not create an ECE for your child.

• Insufficient time spent with your child
• Leaving your house;
• Failure to fulfill other parental responsibilities or nonpayment of child support;
• Cutting off communication with your child’s other parent;
• Distracting your child from his or her regular activities;
• Removing your child from daycare or school without informing the other parent; and or,
• Engaging in verbal or physical altercations or failing to control your emotions;

If the judge rules that there is no ECE, the winning party will be the one that can demonstrate, through a majority of the evidence, the proposed custody arrangement will be in the child’s best interests.

Other Things Dumb and Shameless That Can Be Used Against You

The goal of your family law attorney may not always be to assist you win at all costs, despite the fact many parents have opposing views. Instead, it is their responsibility to uphold the interests of your child and persuade the judge your case is in the child’s best interests. 

Divorce is never simple to go through. Finding a suitable child custody agreement only serves to exacerbate the process’s emotional tensions, which frequently seep into and aggravate legal concerns.

Although the child custody procedure is challenging, this shouldn’t be a justification for acting in a way jeopardizing or completely sabotaging your case. Here’s some really dumb and shameless things you might be doing and seriously compromising your custody battle. Try not to make it dumber or more shameful.

Disobedience to Court Orders and Requests

If you disobey a court order, you could face penalties from the court and, worse still, it might discourage the court from listening to your case fairly. Being court-friendly is always preferable, and following the rules of the court is one method to do this.

Whether it pleases you or not, it is the court that mandates your custody arrangements, your parenting time. If they feel you cannot serve the best interest of the child by refusing court requests and orders, you are already on the bad side of the authority issuing parenting and custody orders.

Nothing will ruin your case more rapidly than failing to follow court orders, second only to acting badly in court and in your personal life. The court will typically view this as an indication of disdain for their authority, even if it won’t always result in you losing custody on its own.

Being dishonest.

Never take lying or being unfaithful to your spouse or partner lightly. These are typically grounds for dismissal by the court, and your dishonesty could unnecessarily undermine or complicate your child custody case.

By withholding information from their attorney, clients can sometimes make things worse and make it more likely that the attorney will be caught off guard in court. Giving your attorney the whole picture will enable them to fully appreciate the subtleties of your case and determine the best line of action.

Abusing alcohol and/or drugs and failing to confront substance abuse.

It’s understood concerns with substance misuse can have more serious, difficult-to-address consequences, you shouldn’t take this for granted. You can be sure when the child custody battle starts, your partner will make sure the judge is aware of these matters and that they will have an impact on your child custody case.

Alcohol and/or drug misuse, especially when your child is present, provides your ex extra reasons to be angry with you because you are harming your child. You must take care to avoid doing anything endangering your child.

In Michigan, child custody is decided based on what is best for the child. Although treating the disease of substance abuse is challenging, if you regularly abuse alcohol or drugs, you should get help.

There is no disputing that a parent who abuses drugs or alcohol can have a negative impact on a child’s development; the court will view this as a lifestyle choice. We advise against sharing pictures of you using drugs or alcohol on social media for the same reason.

Digitally generating evidence against oneself.

It’s critical to avoid posting any images, videos, or other content on social media that can make the court view you as unsuited for the job of being a parent. Nothing will help your case if people see images or recordings of you drinking or using illegal drugs.

You can find yourself at a disadvantage in Michigan family court if you post irate rants on Facebook or Instagram or text the other parent irately.

You could suffer irreparable harm in your child custody case if venomous, hostile, or violent messages were included as evidence. Whatever your partner or ex-partner puts online, refrain from commenting on it and engaging in a virtual tit-for-tat.

Unwillingness to accommodate what serves the child’s best interests.

If you and the other parent are able to consent to collaborative discussions, you may in many situations even reach a beneficial parenting agreement without the help of the court. However, refusing to make accommodations can prevent you from getting this result, and your actions might end up being used against you in the custody dispute trial.

Michigan courts favor joint custody arrangements, barring any concerns about abuse. It is assumed a child will do best with contact, affection, and support from both parents. The other parent may end up with more parenting time if you are disrespectful or reluctant to work with them.

Criticizing or disparaging your spouse in front of anyone.

Even though you feel the other parent hasn’t done anything to deserve your respect, it’s crucial to constantly be polite to them. By acting honorably, you will not only help to safeguard your child but also provide the court with an opportunity to see why you are a superior choice to represent the child’s best interests. You simply shouldn’t be criticizing your spouse or speak ill of them in front of others.

Your loved ones and friends are also subject to this constraint. The main issue is that anything you say to anyone can be used against you in a custody dispute and can give the court the impression you are unreliable.

Even if someone you confide in doesn’t consciously repeat what you said, they might still be called to testify in court or at a deposition. When they make the swearing to reveal the truth, they lose control of the situation. They could therefore have to violate your trust.

Introducing your new partner to your minor child.

It would be more appropriate if you don’t start a romantic relationship with anyone during this time, so resist the urge. It can be quite upsetting for kids to witness their parents having an intimate relationship with someone else during the arduous process of divorce.

Do not let someone you’ve been seeing around your child while your child custody arrangement is still being decided in court. Taking this step can prevent your child from becoming confused, unnecessary drama from occurring, and conflict with your ex-spouse. Legal difficulties may result from any of these consequences. Take effort to keep things calm.

Absence of a Family Law Attorney

Despite the fact that you are not obligated to have legal representation, your child custody dispute is too crucial to be left to chance. Only a certified family law attorney is able to offer the assistance you desire—an experienced, knowledgeable, and committed expert working on your side.

You probably are doing a lot of dumb and shameless things above because you either are not listening to good advice or you don’t have someone giving it. It probably means you don’t have a good attorney. A good one will never put up with all the dumb and shameless things you do.

Working with an expert lawyer is a necessity if you are sincere about securing your child’s best interests and safeguarding your own interests during the child custody procedure.

Your efforts to work on the best interests of your child is the most evidentiary behavior visible to the court.

Work with your attorney.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more advice on Family Law!

Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.

The best interests of the kid will always be considered by family court judges in Michigan. And, we have constantly made it a point to put this across when we talk about child custody and supervised visitation or parenting time.

Click here to watch the video on Are There Rules For Supervised Visitation In Michigan?

It’s generally accepted that a child’s greatest interests lie in maintaining a relationship with both parents. However, a judge may occasionally decide that the child’s time spent with one parent should only be monitored. Supervised visitation may be necessary if a parent has a problem with substance abuse, a violent past, a mental illness, or another condition that could make unsupervised visits dangerous for the child.

In this article we will be using visitation and parenting time interchangeably.

The court basically decides on the question of who is qualified to supervise the parenting time and where the parenting time will happen. The rules are different for each type of supervised parenting time.

What You Need to Know About Supervised Visitation with Friend or Relative

In the Michigan Parenting Time Guideline, this is called a Third Party Supervision. The court may first allow visits where a friend or relative is serving as the main supervisor. Only if the court finds that the parent does not immediately constitute a threat to the child will this option be considered. With this option, the court can rule that the supervisor must always be present or make eye contact with the patient throughout the whole visit.

Third-party supervised parenting time is defined as parenting time that is being looked over by a friend, relative, or other individual determined by the court. Third-party supervision may be advocated in circumstances where monitoring is necessary but agency intervention is not.

Third-party supervision should, in general, only be used in connection with a plan for the full restoration of an unsupervised plan within a certain time frame or under certain conditions. If the circumstances call for more extensive or prolonged supervision, agency supervision may be able to manage the case more successfully.

The third party must be chosen with the parents’ permission, be of legal parental age, and be capable of supervising the parenting time. Parenting time supervision must have the consent of the person who will be in charge of it.

The basic objective of third-party supervision is protection, not rehabilitation. Protecting the child from any harm that might be caused by the specific reasons for supervision is the aim in this type of supervision. 

Depending on the purpose of the order for supervision, the supervision may be minimal, such as stipulating that parenting time only occur at a particular location, such as one of the grandparents’ homes, or it may be more extensive, such as stipulating that parenting time occur in the immediate presence of a third-party supervisor or in the constant visual presence of a supervisor.

What You Need to Know About Supervised Visitation With Agency Oversight

Michigan Parenting Time Guideline, refers to this as Agency Parenting Time. Agency supervision, which only allows the parent to spend time with the child at a family services facility, is the most restrictive sort of monitoring. After careful inspection, the parent will only be permitted to make physical contact with the child when they approach on their own. Only in cases when the parent poses a serious risk to the child’s welfare can this decision be made.

Organizations offering supervised parenting time services ought to hire qualified people who can uphold the laws intended to protect the child.

Typically, parenting time oversight organizations view the following as the absolute minimum standards. The agency may create additional rules as necessary to achieve the objectives of the specific instance:

• [a] Unless otherwise authorized by the agency, any physical contact between the kid and the parent in specific circumstances, such as child sexual abuse, must be initiated by the child or with the child’s verbal consent.
• [b] All interactions between the kid and the parent using their parenting time must be visible to and audible to the supervisor.
• [c] The parent is not permitted to bring up allegations of abuse with the child or attempt to elicit information from the child that would jeopardize the child’s or other family members’ safety or wellbeing.
• [d] Only when authorized and assisted by the supervisor should a discussion of adult issues, such as legal processes or parental disagreements, take place with the kid.
• [e] The supervisor must be consulted in advance if the parent want to give the child a present.
• [f] In order for parenting time to take place in the child’s preferred language and the parent exercising parenting time, efforts should be made to cooperate with interpreters as needed.
• [g] The other parent, their relationships, or the other parent’s activities should not be discussed, disparaged, or questioned in front of the child.
• [h] Except as agreed upon in advance between the parent and the agency, future living arrangements or modifications to parenting time should not be discussed with the kid.
• [i] Use of the child to communicate with the other parent or member of the family is not permitted.
• [j] It is inappropriate to ask a child where they reside or where they attend school.
• [k] All staff instructions and requests must be complied with by parents.
• [l] Parenting time should only take place in spaces that have been set aside for it.
• [m] Other than the parent, no one else should be present at the center or at a location where they can see the center without prior arrangement and approval from the center.
• [n] Both bringing drugs or alcohol to the agency and having a parent show up while under the influence are prohibited.
• [o] Use of technology and phones should be planned out and closely supervised.

What You Need to Know About Supervised Visitation With Therapist Supervision

This is referred to as Therapeutic Parenting Time in the Michigan Parenting Time Guideline. The court may also order visits to take place at a therapist’s office. The therapist can assist the parent and child there in fortifying their relationship. Parents who have been allowed only supervised visitation may petition for a modification of the order after they can show that the problems that led to the court’s judgment have been resolved.

The following are examples of orders requiring clinically monitored parental time:

• [a] The goals of the service;
• [b] The specialist or specialists who will help the family;
• [c] Those in attendance at sessions;
• [d] The limitations on how each expert may communicate with the court and the parents in confidence;
• [e] The acceptable methods for contact between the parties;
• [f] Who is responsible for paying for the therapy’s costs;
• [g] An agreed-upon process for terminating therapy or switching to a new therapist or family counselor.

Selecting a specialist who is willing to work with the court is essential because this may require providing frequent updates and/or testifying in court throughout the course of therapy. The Friend of the Court (FOC) or family court in your area might be able to recommend regional authorities.

Are there rules for supervised visitation in Michigan? Apparently there are and they are specific to each of the different types of supervised visitation.

You may want to get over supervised visitation all together. Read our article, “How To Go From Supervised Visitation To Unsupervised Visitation In Michigan” for possibilities.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more advice on Family Law!

Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.