A Guideline to Parenting Time in Michigan

father spending time with son in the park - guideline to parenting time concept

After a divorce or custody case, parents and children alike can find their lives dictated by the custody and parenting time orders entered in their case. This guideline to parenting time in Michigan can help you negotiate a parenting time schedule that you and your children can live with. It will also explain what to do if you need to make changes later on.

Parenting Time Guideline Sources for Michigan Parents

When you have been with your children every day of their lives, it can be hard to imagine a way to divide up visitation that doesn’t feel like a loss. Even in cases where one parent is awarded “sole” or “primary physical custody,” the non-custodial parent will almost always receive some parenting time with the children. Here are some tools you can use to define a parenting time schedule that makes sure your children can maintain a strong bond with both their parents in a way that is safe and in their best interests.

Michigan Parenting Time Guidelines

The Michigan State Court Administrator’s Office has provided a Michigan Parenting Time Guideline to help parents, attorneys, and the local courts create parenting time schedules that put the children’s needs first. Last updated in March 2022, the Guidelines provide sample parenting time schedules, advice for how the developmental needs of children can affect the ideal schedule, and special considerations that parents should work through before settling on a schedule. This post discusses the Michigan Parenting Time Guidelines in detail (while the post addresses the version issued in 2021, the March 2022 version of the guidelines are very similar).

Local Parenting Time Plans

In addition to the state Guidelines, many local Friend of the Court offices offer handbooks with sample parenting time schedules and a standardized holiday parenting time schedule that investigators and referees will use unless a party raises specific holiday concerns. These handbooks can provide specific dates and times for parenting time exchanges during:

  • School breaks
  • Summer vacation
  • Holidays
  • Birthdays

However, it is important to remember that you don’t have to be locked into that schedule. Instead, you can use it as a starting point to make specific requests of your co-parent, referee, or Judge, to ensure your parenting time plan reflects your family’s needs and traditions.

Prior Parenting Time Orders

If you already have a custody order or Judgment of Divorce that sets out your custody and parenting time schedule, you can use that as a template for what the future could hold. Use the language of your existing order to identify problem points (i.e. parenting time exchanges happening too close to an extracurricular activity), or as an example of your judge’s preferences (some judges prefer fewer exchanges per week while others favor more frequent contacts between parents and children). But don’t feel like you need to be locked into the existing schedule.

Parents can always agree to modify custody and parenting time. In addition, you can file a motion to modify an existing custody and parenting time order based on “proper cause” or a change in circumstances since the order was entered. How much things need to have changed depends on how big a change you want to make to the existing schedule. Talk to your family lawyer to see if you can meet the threshold to modify the existing order.

Your Family Lawyer’s Experience

Parenting time is an issue in every divorce with children and custody case. That means your family lawyer will have seen many different parenting time plans. They will know what does and does not work, and may be able to provide you valuable advice about your Judge’s preferences and challenges with enforcing your ideas.

For example, it used to be common practice in low-conflict cases to award the non-custodial parent “reasonable parenting time as agreed to by the parties.” However, that language is virtually impossible to enforce. Now, most family lawyers recommend agreeing on a specific parenting time schedule, while also allowing the parties to agree to changes in writing. This gives parents a baseline to work from to define “reasonable” and also makes it easier to enforce if the co-parenting relationship ever breaks down.

Customizing Your Michigan Parenting Time Schedule

The Michigan Parenting Time Guidelines and local Friend of the Court Parenting Time Plans are great places to start in crafting a parenting time schedule for your children. However, choosing and customizing the right schedule means more than just following a chart. You should take the time to consider your children’s specific interests, needs, and wants, along with the practicalities affecting both parents. Here is a checklist of things to consider when customizing the Michigan Parenting Time Guidelines to suit your children’s best interests:

  • The appropriate amount of parenting time with both children. Remember that zero is almost never the right answer!
  • Whether there are risks of domestic violence, or abuse during parenting time (this can be the exception to the last rule).
  • The age of your child. Younger children benefit from shorter, more frequent visits with both parents.
  • You children’s existing relationship with both parents such as if one parent is the child’s coach or takes them to religious services.
  • Your children’s school and extracurricular schedules. Older children often require more flexible schedules to adjust for clubs, sports, studying, and work demands.
  • Both parents’ work schedules and other obligations.
  • The distance and travel times between parents’ houses and schools, parenting time exchange locations, or other key locations.
  • Who will transport the children and how (this is especially important in long-distance co-parenting arrangements)
  • Any special needs that affect your children’s ability to understand what is happening. For example some children on the autism spectrum benefit from predictable schedules that do not change day to day.
  • Whether babies or toddlers are still nursing, and whether formula or pumping is an option for feeding times.
  • How both parents will facilitate contact between the children and their friends from school or the community.
  • What tools or technology you can use to promote contact between visits. In some cases, a child will enjoy playing video games with a parent, which can be a form of electronic parenting time.
  • Whether there are important or sentimental items that will need to travel with the child, and a plan for how to make sure they come back.
  • Opportunities for the child to visit with grandparents and other extended family members such as reunions, holidays, weddings, or special events.
  • Processes for requesting or exercising vacation days or special events outside of the normal parenting time schedule.
  • Tools and strategies to share child-related information such as event schedules, school days off, or games.
  • Holidays and traditions that are important to either parent or extended families. This is especially important for families in religious or cultural minorities.

Clearly, there is a lot to think about in preparing your ideal parenting time plan. That is why it is so important not to just assume a “standard” or “default” schedule will do. If you and your co-parent take time to really consider the practical aspects of both of your time with the children, you may find that you are not as far apart on the correct schedule as you think. Even if settlement isn’t an option, working through these questions with your family lawyer can help them build a stronger case to show the judge what your children need to succeed, so that he or she can enter an order that is truly in their best interest.

Helping Families Navigate the Michigan Parenting Time Guidelines

The Michigan Parenting Time Guidelines, local Friend of the Court handbooks, and prior orders are all useful tools to use in finding the right parenting time schedule for you and your family. But nothing is as good as a customized parenting time schedule created with your family’s needs in mind. Our Ann Arbor family law attorneys can help apply those guidelines to your family’s priorities and schedules and create a parenting time plan that is in your child’s best interests. Call 724-994-3000 or click here to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced attorneys.

Categories: Child Custody, Parenting