Parenting Time

A custody order, or that portion of your divorce judgment pertaining to custody, specifies with who the child shall live, and other conditions surrounding custody. Parents are encouraged to reach their own agreements regarding custody. When parents cannot agree, the Judge must decide by considering all of the factors enumerated under the Michigan Child Custody Act [MCL 722.21]. In a disputed custody case the Friend of the Court will be making recommendations in writing to the Court.

REASONABLE RIGHTS OF PARENTING TIME

Reasonable Rights of Parenting Time

It is presumed in each case that it is in the best interest of the child(ren) to have a strong relationship with both parents. If your court order or judgment does not set forth the parenting time rights and obligations of the parties, the parties are encouraged to reach agreement on parenting time, using the Reasonable Rights of Parenting Time as a guideline for agreement. If unable to reach an agreement, either party may file a motion to establish parenting time, which will be referred to the Ingham County Friend of the Court for resolution and recommendation to the Court. Assistance in preparing motions for, or objections to, parenting time may be obtained through private counsel or by attendance at the monthly FOC General Informational Meeting..

Parenting Time Enforcement

The Friend of the Court normally initiates enforcement proceedings when it receives a written complaint stating specific facts (including dates, times and reasons given), about an alleged denial or abuse of parenting time, and when the Friend of the Court determines that there is reason to believe the court's order has been violated. This includes the failure, without adequate notice, of a parent to exercise parenting time. A copy of your complaint should be sent to the other party.

Parenting Time Complaints

The parent who has been denied parenting time must submit a written parenting time complaint in the form of an affidavit to the Friend of the Court within 56 days of the date of denial. The Friend of the Court will review the complaint and court order prior to sending it to the alleged offending parent for a response. The other party has 21 days to respond to the allegations regarding denial. Parenting time affidavit forms are available at the Friend of the Court office or on the website.
If the Friend of the Court has reason to believe that the parenting time order has been violated, and if the parties do not resolve their differences with the assistance and direction of the Friend of the Court, the Friend of the Court may do one or more of the following:
(A) Hold a parenting time conference with the parties;.
(B) Apply the local make-up parenting time policy (contact the Friend of the Court for more information about its policy)
(C) Begin a civil contempt proceeding by filing a petition for an order to show cause.
(D) Recommend sanctions against a party for the violation.

Supervised Parenting Time

Supervised Parenting Time Guidelines

Sometimes when a parent has been physically or emotionally separated from a child, it is necessary for there to be a degree of supervision in helping to rebuild the closeness and trust that needs to exist in a parenting/child relationship. The Ingham County Family Division Judges have provided programs to assist in their endeavor. Please see the options contained in Attachment E, and/or discuss with your caseworker or Parenting Time Advocate.

PARENTING TIME GUIDELINES

* Children are to be packed and ready to go for parenting time at the appropriate time, and they are to be returned on time with clothing intact.
* Failure to pick up the children within one half hour of the scheduled time can be considered forfeiture of that parenting time, unless prior arrangements have been made for a later or earlier pick up time. Parenting time lost due to your own neglect can never be regained. Don=t disappoint your children or leave them waiting for you.
* Parenting time is to be between the parent exercising parenting time and the child(ren). It is the responsibility of the parent exercising parenting time to provide child care should the parent have to work or have other appointments, etc.
* During a person's parenting time, that parent is responsible for all routine decisions affecting the child(ren).
* Children have the inherent right to know and appreciate what is good in both parents without one parent degrading the other or being placed in a position to manipulate one parent against the other.
* If parenting time is wrongfully denied or abused the Friend of the Court must be notified in writing within fifty-six (56) days of the denial or abuse if make-up parenting time is requested.

Conciliation

The Ingham County Friend of the Court offers a procedure called Conciliation. It is a conference that is held with the parties and a trained conciliator from the Friend of the Court office. It is designed to help parties more quickly resolve disputes of child custody, parenting time and support issues. The trained conciliator first attempts to use medication techniques to help the parties resolve disputes. Unlike mediation, however, conciliation is not a voluntary process, but is required by the Court. If the parties reach an agreement, the conciliator will prepare an order reflecting that agreement. In the event the parties cannot reach agreement on the disputed issues, the conciliator will prepare a recommendation to the Court on the disputed issues. If this is a new case, the Court will immediately enter the conciliator=s recommendation as a temporary order. If either party objects to that recommended order, they may have a referee hearing by filing objections within 14 days after they receive the order. If there already is a court order in the case prior to the conciliation, the Court will not immediately enter the recommended order. The Court will wait at least 21 days before entering the order to give the parties an opportunity to file objections to the recommended order. If objections are filed within the 21 days, a referee hearing will be held. Even if an objection is filed, the Court=s most recent order remains in full effect until and unless the Court modifies it so that support, custody and parenting time orders continue as legally binding on all parties.

Custody

A custody order, or that portion of your divorce judgment pertaining to custody, specifies with who the child shall live, and other conditions surrounding custody. A number of custody arrangements are possible. The most common are:

Joint Legal Custody

Means that parents will communicate and cooperate with one another and attempt to reach mutual decisions regarding major issues affecting their children. This decision making process includes, but is not limited to major medical decisions, educational decisions and religious upbringing. Most Judges grant joint legal custody, unless there is some compelling reason not to do so such as child abuse or non-involvement in the life of the child.

Joint Physical Custody

Means that children live with one parent part of the time and the other parent part of the time. This time does not have to be equal. The parent who has care of the children at any given time is responsible for routine daily decisions regarding the children.

Primary Physical Custody

Means that the children live primarily with one parent.

Sole Custody

Means that the children live with one parent and that parent is responsible for making the major decisions regarding the children.

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Disclaimer

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages or documents should be taken as legal advice for any case or situation. The information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute an attorney-client relationship.