IN PLAIN ENGLISH
How custody works in Michigan
Michigan splits custody into two parts. Legal custody is the right to make important decisions, like school, religion and major medical care. [MI-P8] Physical custody is where your child lives. [MI-P8] Either can be sole (one parent) or joint (shared). [MI-P8] Michigan calls the time a child spends with each parent "parenting time". [MI-P8]
The law presumes it is good for your child to have a strong relationship with both parents, and parenting time should be set up to support that. [MI-P3] Joint physical custody does not have to mean equal time, though it is often close to equal. [MI-P8] If either parent asks for joint custody, the judge must consider it and explain the decision on the record. [MI-P4] If both parents agree on joint custody or on parenting time terms, the judge must approve it unless there is clear and convincing evidence it is not in the child's best interests. [MI-P4, MI-P3]
There is no automatic statewide schedule. [MI-P3] The State Court Administrative Office publishes the Michigan Parenting Time Guideline, which explains children's needs by age and includes sample schedules, but it is a planning tool, not law. [MI-P5, MI-P8] Every county has a Friend of the Court (FOC) office that helps the judge with custody, parenting time and support, investigates and makes recommendations, helps parents settle disputes and enforces orders. [MI-P9]
If you were never married, the person who gave birth is automatically a legal parent, but a biological father is not the legal father until paternity is established, either by both parents signing an affidavit (acknowledgment) of parentage or by a court order. [MI-P8] Even after an acknowledgment is signed, the mother has initial custody until a court orders otherwise. [MI-P6, MI-P8]
Words you’ll see in your papers
- Legal custody
- The right to make important decisions for your child, such as school, religion and major medical decisions. [MI-P8]
- Physical custody
- Where your child lives. Joint physical custody means your child lives with each parent some of the time. [MI-P8]
- Parenting time
- Michigan's word for the time your child spends with each parent. It can be a specific schedule or "reasonable parenting time" that parents work out as they go. [MI-P8]
- Established custodial environment
- The home where, over a meaningful period of time, your child naturally looks to a parent for guidance, discipline, everyday needs and comfort. Changing it takes stronger proof. [MI-P7]
- Friend of the Court (FOC)
- The office in each county's family court that investigates and recommends on custody, parenting time and support, helps parents settle disputes, and enforces orders. [MI-P9]
COMMON QUESTIONS
What parents in Michigan ask first
Does Michigan start from 50/50?
No. There is no presumption of equal time. [MI-P3] The law does presume a strong relationship with both parents is in your child's best interests, so parenting time is set to promote that. [MI-P3] Joint physical custody is often equal or close to equal, but it does not have to be. [MI-P8]
What does the judge look at?
Twelve best interest factors, including: the love and emotional ties between each parent and the child; each parent's ability to give love, guidance and education and to provide food, clothing and medical care; how long your child has lived in a stable home and the value of keeping it; each parent's moral fitness and mental and physical health; your child's home, school and community record; your child's reasonable preference; each parent's willingness to support your child's relationship with the other parent; domestic violence, whether or not your child saw it; and anything else relevant. [MI-P1]
Is there a standard schedule?
No statewide schedule is automatic. [MI-P3] The Michigan Parenting Time Guideline offers sample schedules, from daytime-only plans to rotating schedules, plus advice for infants through teens, long distance and safety concerns. [MI-P5, MI-P8] Some counties also publish their own schedules that apply when an order refers to them, as Macomb County does (see below). [MI-P10] Either parent can ask for parenting time in specific terms (set days and times), and the judge must grant that request. [MI-P3]
Does my child get to choose?
Not on their own. There is no set age. The judge considers your child's reasonable preference if the judge decides your child is old enough to express one, and it is one factor out of twelve. [MI-P1]
Can I move away with my child?
If custody is governed by a court order, a parent generally cannot move the child's legal residence more than 100 miles from where the child lived when the case started, unless the other parent agrees or the judge allows it. [MI-P2] The rule does not apply if the parents already lived more than 100 miles apart when the case started, if the move brings the two homes closer together, or if the order gives one parent sole legal custody. [MI-P2] Your order may also contain its own rule for moves that you agreed to. [MI-P2] To allow a move, the judge looks at whether it can improve life for the child and the moving parent, how each parent has used their parenting time, whether a new schedule can keep both relationships strong, and domestic violence. [MI-P2]
Can the order be changed later?
Yes, but the bar is set on purpose. The parent asking must first show "proper cause" or a "change of circumstances", which means something more significant than normal life changes that has or could have a big impact on your child. [MI-P7, MI-P8] If your child has an established custodial environment, the judge can change it only with clear and convincing evidence that the change is in your child's best interests. [MI-P7]
We were never married. What happens first?
A biological father becomes a legal parent by signing an affidavit of parentage with the mother (often at the hospital) or by getting a court order. [MI-P8] After an acknowledgment of parentage is filed, the mother has initial custody until a court decides otherwise or the parents' written agreement is approved by the court. [MI-P6] To set custody and parenting time, either parent can then file a custody case. [MI-P8]
What if I am not safe?
A child has a right to parenting time unless there is clear and convincing evidence it would endanger the child's physical, mental or emotional health. [MI-P3] The judge can order supervised parenting time or no parenting time at all if a parent is dangerous to the child. [MI-P8] The judge also weighs the likelihood of abuse of the child or of a parent during parenting time, and domestic violence is a best interest factor. [MI-P3, MI-P1] The state Guideline notes that its sample schedules are not appropriate for every family where there has been domestic violence or child abuse. [MI-P5] If a parent covered by the 100-mile rule needs to get away from domestic violence, that parent may move with the child to a safe place until the judge decides. [MI-P2]
Free, official places to start
- Michigan Legal Help: Custody and Parenting Time
A plain-language guide to custody types, the best interest factors, unmarried parents and changing an order, with links to forms.
- Michigan Parenting Time Guideline (PDF)
The state's optional guide with age-by-age advice, sample schedules and a parenting time worksheet.
- MCL 722.23 — Best interests of the child
The full list of the 12 factors judges use.
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT · MACOMB COUNTY
Macomb County
16th Judicial Circuit Court, Family Division, and the Macomb County Friend of the Court
Macomb County publishes its own "General Parenting Time Schedule", which applies when a court order tells the parents to follow a 16th Circuit schedule; the version that counts is the one in effect when your order was entered. [MI-P10] The current schedule (revised April 10, 2019) gives the parent without primary custody every other weekend from 6 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Sunday (8 p.m. in summer) and one weekday evening, Thursday if parents cannot agree. [MI-P11] It alternates most holidays and school breaks by even and odd years, gives each parent 3 weeks of summer time (no more than 2 in a row) with dates exchanged by May 15, and says parenting time cannot be withheld over unpaid child support. [MI-P11] This is more detailed than anything in state law, which only requires a schedule in the child's best interests. [MI-P3]
- Macomb County: Parenting time general information
The Friend of the Court's page with the county's parenting time guidelines, infant, joint-custody and long-distance guides, older schedules, and the form to ask for a change.
- 16th Circuit General Parenting Time Schedule (PDF)
The county's current two-page schedule for weekends, weekdays, holidays, summer, birthdays and transportation, used when your order refers to it.
Other counties in Michigan can have different local rules and forms. Check the court where your case is filed.
THE DETAILED GUIDE · WHAT KIND OF SCHEDULE THE LAW PROVIDES
Optional statewide model
Research overview
SCAO publishes an optional statewide Parenting Time Guideline with 14 sample schedules; the guide expressly says it is a tool, not law, and its options are not Michigan Supreme Court recommendations. Counties also have local Friend of the Court policies. [MI1–MI3]
Legal force and applicability
Optional planning model; not an automatic enforceable calendar. Specific agreement/order and scope control.
Authority and geographic scope
MCL 722.27a governs statewide; SCAO sample schedules are educational starting points. Allegan County’s separate policy applies to orders signed on or after March 1, 2026 when the order refers to that policy and the parents cannot agree; the county links an older policy separately for earlier orders. The individual court order controls. [MI1,MI2,MI3,MI4]
Custody and parenting-time presumptions
Best interests control. Strong relationships with both parents are presumed beneficial; frequency, duration and type should promote that relationship. Agreed terms must be ordered unless clear-and-convincing evidence on the record establishes they are not in the child’s best interests. This does not establish equal time or any fixed calendar. [MI1]
Schedule & conditions
Read these topics together with your actual order. A model, form, or presumption does not automatically supply an enforceable calendar.
Regular school-year schedule
Educational guide offers optional examples, including daytime contact and shared-time patterns; no statewide mandatory rotation is identified in the reviewed sources. [MI2 pp.44-57]
Holidays and school breaks
Holiday allocation and priority require the actual order. No statewide assigned parity identified in the reviewed sources. [MI1, MI3]
Summer and vacation time
Summer duration and notice require the actual order. No statewide summer entitlement identified in the reviewed sources. [MI1, MI3]
Safety & exceptions
Parenting time may be denied on clear-and-convincing evidence of endangerment; sexual-assault conception and specified criminal circumstances have additional statutory restrictions. Abuse/neglect risk, parent abuse and concealment are factors. The guide’s general cooperative samples may not suit domestic violence/child abuse; orders and protection conditions prevail. [MI1,MI2]