From the Upper Peninsula to the inner city of Detroit, Michiganders going through divorce quickly understand the great challenge the completion of divorce becomes. It seems daunting at first. You're here and needing answers, right? Take a deep breath. If nothing else, we'll give you some answers and ease your anxiety. If you're having a tough time coping, perhaps you should view this page first.

Child Support

The state's child support plan is based on Michigan divorce laws and what is called the Income Shares Model.

• Michigan Family Mediation Council

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• Michigan Child Support Calculator
• Michigan Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• Michigan State Bar Association
• Michigan Low Income Self Help
• Michigan Bureau of Child Support Enforcement
• Michigan Divorce Laws
• State Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children

The court may at any time after the filing of a petition for divorce (or any other action involving minor children) issue an order for the care, custody, and support of the minor children of the parties. Courts also have the latitude to issue child support orders, in certain circumstances, for children who are not minors.

Trying to calculate how much one pays under the income shares format can get pretty dicey. In cases where a party is intentionally unemployed or under-employed, the courts will impute (calculate what that person is capable of earning), and assign that amount without regard to that person's lowered income. See this site's link to the Michigan statutes that are the basis for calculating child support.

Are you just starting out with divorce, and need a blueprint, or guidance, on what to do and NOT do? Things your attorney may not tell you? Allow a Killer Divorce Attorney and a top Marriage Psychologist show you exact steps how to become happily divorced.

Child Custody

This bases its child custody court decisions on the “best interests of the child” as set forth by Michigan divorce statutes. Considerations the court uses in its child custody rulings are:

»The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parents involved and the child.
»The capacity 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.
»The capacity of the parties involved to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care.

»How long the child has lived in a stable environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity.
»The permanence of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes.
»The moral fitness of the parties involved.
»The mental and physical health of the parties involved.
»The home, school, and community record of the child.
»The reasonable preference of the child, if the court considers the child to be of sufficient age to express a preference.
»The willingness and ability of each of the parties to encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent or the child and the parents.

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»Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was directed against or witnessed by the child.
»Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to a particular child custody dispute.

Co-parenting equally, where the child spends 1/2 the month with each parent (or alternates weeks) is becoming more common, but carries with it its own set of challenges. If you are considering this, it pays to consult with a child psychologist or another professional in this area. Children's preferences as to where they want to live are considered by the court (in many cases) once they reach their teenage years.

Visitation/Co-Parenting

Michigan has officially adopted the term parenting time and retired "visitation". The parents have the opportunity to fashion a child custody or parenting time arrangement, and submit the parenting plan to the court. If the plan complies with state law, the Court will generally enter the agreed upon order. In the event that you can find common ground with your spouse, consider: leave nothing to interpretation. Be as specific as you can including the right language in your agreement. How is the decreed custody defined? What are the rights and responsibilities?

Who has legal custody? Which holiday does the child spend with you? What time and where may the other parent pick the child up? What time should the child be returned home? What is the procedure to follow if either of you are running late and won't be there on time? How much notice should you be given if they are planning a vacation? How far away may the other spouse move? What about future partners? Should those partners stay overnight in front of the children? Should there be no agreement between the parties, the court will determine custody and visitation in the best interests of the children.

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In most cases the mother gets primary custody, the father joint custody with parenting time, or joint legal custody. The father typically is allowed alternating weekends, one non-overnight evening per week, alternating holidays, and several weeks in the summer.

Be aware that you have to guide your side of the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will think of everything. You set the course; your lawyer navigates. If you anticipate any problems with custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child Custody Strategies

Alimony/ Maintenance/ Spousal Support

Parties may request alimony or maintenance (sometimes referred to as spousal support) at any time after the initial filing, and are not required to produce evidence or explanation in the initial petition for alimony. The defendant may either admit the grounds for separate alimony or maintenance or deny them without further explanation. An admission by the defendant of the grounds for separate alimony or maintenance can be considered by the court but is not binding on the court's

determination. The defendant may also file a counterclaim for divorce.

If a counterclaim for divorce is entered, it need not be accompanied with proof, and is not binding on the court.

If evidence is presented in open court that there has been a breakdown in the marriage relationship to the

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extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved, the court shall enter:

»A judgment of separate maintenance if a counterclaim for divorce has not been filed.
»A judgment dissolving the bonds of matrimony if a counterclaim for divorce has been filed.

Alimony granted to a party by the court can be temporary, for a specific period, or permanent. Remarriage or co-habitation can cause the alimony to be voided.

Grounds For Divorce

Grounds for divorce can be filed based on the allegation that there has been a breakdown of the marriage, the relationship has been destroyed and no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved. Irreconcilable differences is the common phrase used in such a pleading.

The defendant may either admit the grounds for divorce or deny them without further explanation. Should the defendant admit to the grounds, the court is not bound to make that determination until the court is satisfied that the admission is true and correct.

The court shall enter a judgment dissolving the marriage if evidence is present to affirms the filing charges.

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Marriage Annulment
Marital Annulment

Michigan does provide for certain grounds for a marriage annulment (also called a marital annulment or a divorce annulment) such as a party having a current spouse, one of the parties not being of sufficient age, being mentally incompetent, having

venereal disease, or being sterile or impotent. The process is similar to a divorce, except that one must prove in some detail why there are grounds for annulment. Annulments are issued for marriages that never should have been. If there has been concealment, or the marriage was the result of a joke or dare, it can be annulled.

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Marriage Counseling/
Mediation

Michigan courts may at any time after the filing of a divorce petition, based on grounds or irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, order the parties to participate in family mediation or counseling.

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Legal Separation/ Marital Separation

In the State of Michigan there isn't a process that is specifically called a legal separation where you file a paper and you are immediately legally separated. There is Michigan Separate Maintenance action however, which is what most people think of when they

mean a legal separation in Michigan. The process is the same as for a divorce, and all issues except marital status get settled. Those that complete the separate maintenance action typically do so for religious or health care insurance coverage reasons.

If a marriage separation (sometimes referred to as a marital separation)

aka Separate Maintenance action has been decreed, the court may make such further orders for the support and maintenance of either spouse and for the support, maintenance, and education of minor children, by either spouse, or out of the property of either spouse, as the court deemed appropriate.

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Waiting Period

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Grandparents Rights

Grand parenting may petition the court for visitation by filing a motion before the court. Most agree that requesting visitation during the divorce of the children's parents is cheaper and less involved than if one waits until the divorce is finalized.

State Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children

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Divorce Settlement

In the course of a separation or divorce, the parties have an opportunity to reach a divorce settlement with respect to marital assets and debts. If there is no agreement between the parties, the courts will impose a settlement.

Michigan has interesting language in its provision for dividing marital assets, and seems to go beyond

the standard "fair and equitable"verbiage found in other states. The statement seems to encourage courts to strengthen the position of stay-at-home parents who jointly decided with the spouse that their stay-at-home status was an equal contribution to all assets accumulated. In a proceeding of divorce, a Michigan circuit court may "award to a party all or a portion of the property, either real or personal, owned by his or her spouse, as appears to the court to be equitable under all the circumstances of the

case, if it appears from the evidence in the case that the party contributed to the acquisition, improvement, or accumulation of the property. The decree, upon becoming final, shall have the same force and effect as a quitclaim deed of the real estate, if any, or a bill of sale of the personal property, if any, given by the party's spouse to the party."

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Residency Requirements

Michigan divorce laws dictate that either the person filing the petition for divorce, or the respondent must have resided in Michigan for 180 days immediately preceding that filing of the complaint. 19 days must have

elapsed for one or the other in a particular county to file an action in that county. Certain conditions allow petitioners to have the 10 day county residency waived.

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