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Michigan Family Law Lawyers
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Child Support & Child Custody
CUSTODY TRIALS, A RISKY BUSINESS
Taking a case to trial is always risky. Before you go to court, be certain you understand
both the risk and the cost of going to court. A custody trial is the most wrenching trial a
parent can sit through. You will hear and will say things about the abilities of you and
your spouse to parent your children. Errors and imperfections will be magnified, isolated
incidents will turn into habits and future fears, true problems will be trivialized and
explained away. The judge will listen, attentively or not, to hours, days or weeks of
testimony and will make a decision that will certainly not please everyone, and probably not please anyone. And the financial and emotional cost will be enormous, both to you and your children.
Your lawyer should discuss all these matters with you, review the evidence, and take her or his role as counselor at law as seriously as the role of advocate; only then are you ready to form your trial plan. You and your attorney should plan and craft your matter into a logical progression of testimony. You are building a case, first with a firm foundation, then with attention to detail and craft until you have a structure that the court will want to buy.
When evaluating child custody, Michigan courts are required to evaluate the "best interest" factors, a series of considerations which are meant to help the court determine the most appropriate custodial environment for a child. Those factors include:
(a) The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parties involved and the child.
(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.
(c) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care or other remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state in place of medical care, and other material needs.
(d) The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity.
(e) The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes.
(f) The moral fitness of the parties involved.
(g) The mental and physical health of the parties involved.
(h) The home, school, and community record of the child.
(i) The reasonable preference of the child, if the court considers the child to be of sufficient age to express preference.
(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.
(k) Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was directed against or witnessed by the child.
(l) Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to a particular child custody dispute.
We advocate for our client's rights in mediation, arbitration or fight for their interests in trial to determine parental rights and resolve all issues involving child custody:
Legal custody: Child custody is divided into legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody governs which parent has the right to make important decisions involving the child, such as religious upbringing, schooling, decisions regarding health and other decisions. Typically, it is in the child's best interest for the parents to have joint legal custody.
Physical custody: Physical custody involves the actual residence of the child. It is common for parents to agree on joint legal custody, but to disagree on physical custody. We assist clients in negotiating parenting agreements which are in the child's best interests and are satisfactory to both parents.
Visitation/parenting time: Because it is usually in the child's best interest to have a strong, meaningful relationship with each parent, the non-custodial parent will usually have visitation rights for parenting time. We are experienced in negotiating nontraditional visitation schedules to work most effectively with our clients.
To learn more about custody issues in Michigan, Contact our office and schedule FREE consultation with our lawyers today.
If you are contemplating a divorce or have been served with a complaint for divorce and have concerns about how it will impact your time and relationship with your children, then schedule a confidential consultation with our experienced Michigan child custody attorney. Call us at (313) 982-0010 , e-mail us, or fill out our intake form on our home page.
Child Support
In Michigan child support is set by state wide guidelines which are reviewed every few years to adjust the support in line with economic conditions. The guidelines are based on a shared income model. That means that the income of each parent is included in the calculation. The combined income is then assigned a certain support obligation which is then assigned to each party in percentage to which that person's income bears to the total income of the parties. After the basic support obligation is determined, additional support needed for health insurance, child care, and extraordinary needs is added to the support obligation and the same percentage is assigned to that additional amount.
The Michigan Child Support Formula Manual can be downloaded from the Michigan State Court Administrative Office’s web site at
Factors Considered In Awarding Child Support
Factors in the Michigan Child Support Formula Manual that are used to determine the amount of child support, medical support and child care obligations are:
Mother’s net income
Father’s net income
Number of children of the parties
Custodial arrangements
Spousal support between the parties
Other child support obligations, or custody of other children
Health care costs for the minor children
Child care costs for the minor children
For more information about our services and our firm, please call 1 313 982-0010
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