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Michigan Family Court: Custody and Parenting-Time Guide

Plain-language Michigan information for a custody or parenting-time route, including filing, official forms, free help, fee waivers, and legal-cost context.

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This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. State law, court rules, forms, and local procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the court handling the case.

State laws, court rules, and forms can change. Automated link checks will run every week once the monitoring job is deployed. Please check each cited source before relying on it. Report a broken link or changed law.

Find the right family court

The custody or parenting-time route described in this guide is handled through the Michigan Circuit Courts, Family Division. Other family-law matters can follow a different court or procedure.

Find the court for your area.

How Michigan courts decide custody

Michigan law defines a child's best interests through statutory factors that the court considers, evaluates, and determines.Sources:Michigan Compiled Laws 722.23, Best interests of the child defined

Key legal sources

Parenting time

Michigan law provides that parenting time is granted according to the child's best interests and presumes it is in a child's best interests to have a strong relationship with both parents. A child has a right to parenting time unless clear and convincing evidence on the record shows it would endanger the child's physical, mental, or emotional health.Sources:Michigan Compiled Laws 722.27a, Parenting time

  • A parenting-time order is to be reasonably calculated to promote a strong parent-child relationship, while the court may consider statutory factors about the child's needs and safety.Sources:Michigan Compiled Laws 722.27a, Parenting time

Key legal sources

How to file

This draft covers an original Circuit Court domestic-relations action requesting custody, parenting time, and child support, with no pending or prior Michigan action concerning the same child and with ordinary service available.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 3 Special Proceedings and Actions, Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 2 Civil Procedure

  1. Confirm the limited route fits

    The domestic-relations rules require a new request concerning the same child to be filed as a motion in an earlier action when that relief was available there. This draft excludes divorce, modification, enforcement, emergency, protective-order, interstate, tribal, nonparent, unknown-address, and alternate-service matters.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 3 Special Proceedings and Actions

  2. Prepare the current initial documents

    A civil action begins by filing a complaint. For a custody or parenting-time determination, the filing party must also file the SCAO-approved Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act affidavit. If a known pending or resolved family-division or tribal-court case involves the family members named in the initiating document, file the confidential SCAO case inventory. In an action involving a minor, the party seeking relief must provide the SCAO-approved verified statement to the Friend of the Court and serve a copy on the other party. The current official materials reviewed do not provide one statewide route-specific checklist; confirm the current court and Friend of the Court requirements before filing.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 2 Civil Procedure, Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 3 Special Proceedings and Actions, FOC 23, Verified Statement

  3. Have the other parent served through an authorized adult

    After a complaint is filed, the clerk issues a summons. Michigan's civil rules allow process by a legally competent adult who is not a party; for an individual, the rules describe personal delivery or the stated restricted-delivery mail method. The summons generally expires 91 days after issue, subject to the rule's extension process.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 2 Civil Procedure

  4. Complete required Friend of the Court materials and follow local case management

    The plaintiff must serve the Friend of the Court informational pamphlet with the complaint. Unless an exception in the rule applies, each party must serve the SCAO Verified Financial Information Form within 28 days after service of the defendant's initial responsive pleading. Local court and Friend of the Court practice can add case-management steps; this draft does not infer a final-order packet.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 3 Special Proceedings and Actions, Friend of the Court Model Handbook

Official forms

Open the official forms portal.

Free court self-help

Find court self-help near you.

  • Lakeshore Legal Aid

    Area served: Michigan communities served by the provider; confirm current county coverage and intake with Lakeshore Legal Aid.

    Lakeshore Legal Aid says it provides free civil legal services and lists family law among its service areas.Sources:Free Civil Legal Services For Low Income & Seniors

    Eligibility: The provider describes services for people with low income, older adults, and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault; contact the provider to determine availability.

  • Legal Services of South Central Michigan

    Area served: The provider lists specific south-central counties and services for older adults in St. Joseph County.

    The provider says it offers free legal advice and representation to low-income individuals, families, and older adults.Sources:Welcome to Legal Services of South Central Michigan

    Eligibility: The provider describes service for low-income people and directs people to ask how to get help; an application does not assure representation.

Fee waivers

An individual seeking a fee waiver must file the SCAO Fee Waiver Request with the documents being filed. The court rule requires waiver for stated indigence circumstances and preserves court review under the rule.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 2 Civil Procedure, MC 20, Fee Waiver Request

Who may qualify

  • The rule identifies means-tested public assistance, qualifying legal-services representation, and inability to pay because of indigence as waiver paths, subject to the rule's requirements.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 2 Civil Procedure

What to do

  1. File the Fee Waiver Request with the initial documents when applicable

    Michigan Court Rule 2.002 requires a request for waiver to accompany the documents being filed and requires the SCAO-approved form titled Fee Waiver Request. The current form is MC 20; confirm any local submission procedure with the filing court.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 2 Civil Procedure, MC 20, Fee Waiver Request

Official fee-waiver forms

Key statute or rule

Attorney cost benchmark

Lawyer fees vary by county, experience, services, and the facts of a case. This state benchmark is context for planning, not a quote.

State and local details to confirm

  • Michigan's domestic-relations rules require the filing party to provide an SCAO Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act affidavit in a case where custody or parenting time of a minor is determined or modified, and require service of the Friend of the Court pamphlet with the complaint when a child is under 18.Sources:Michigan Court Rules, Chapter 3 Special Proceedings and Actions

Part of Family Law in Your State.