What Are the ‘Best Interests of the Child’ Factors in Michigan Family Court?

If you’re going through a divorce in Michigan, you may wonder about the phrase “best interests of the child.” What does the phrase mean, and how can it affect your child custody dispute with your former spouse or partner?

Michigan courts consider 12 factors when assessing a child’s best interests in custody matters. The Michigan Child Custody Act defines the “best interests of the child” as the sum of these 12 factors. The court will look at all 12 factors together without giving excessive weight to any particular one.

Understanding the factors that guide custody decisions can help you prepare for custody discussions or disputes. To learn more about how these factors affect your case, contact Kraayeveld Family Law or call (616) 383-2679 to schedule a consultation with an experienced Michigan child custody attorney at our law firm. Our office is conveniently located at 990 Monroe Ave. NW Grand Rapids, MI 49503. Feel free to visit us for a case evaluation!

The 12 Factors for Child Custody in Michigan

According to the Michigan Child Custody Act, the court should consider the following 12 factors when evaluating the best interests of the child in a child custody dispute.

These 12 factors are:

• The love and affection between the parents and the child
• The capacity of each parent to provide the child with love, affection, and guidance, and to raise the child in the religion they’ve been raised with, if any
• Each parent’s ability to provide the child with food, clothing, and medical care
• How long the child has lived in the same home, and the desirability of maintaining continuity in a stable environment
• The permanence of each parent’s home as a proposed home for the child
• The moral fitness of each parent
• The mental and physical health of both parents
• The child’s record at school, at home, and in the community
• The child’s reasonable preferences, if the child is of sufficient age to express them
• Each parent’s willingness to facilitate an ongoing parental relationship between the child and the other parent
• Domestic violence, regardless of whether the child witnessed the violence, and regardless of whether the child was the target of the violence
• Any other factor the court considers relevant

The 12 factors provide the Michigan family court with a big-picture way to assess both parents, the child’s relationship with each parent, and what kind of home each parent can provide. If you can give your child a stable, satisfactory environment while meeting their needs for food, clothing, medical care, love, affection, and parental guidance, then the court will consider that as favorable and compare your abilities to the other parent’s abilities.

What Determines the Best Interest of the Child?

According to the Michigan Custody Guideline, even when the court awards sole custody to one parent, it may grant scheduled parenting time to the other. The court’s decision will be based on the 12 Michigan custody factors.

A court will evaluate the 12 Michigan custody factors holistically. No one factor is weighted more heavily than the others unless a specific issue, such as accusations of abuse, clearly dominates.

The court will aim to support a child’s emotional and physical well-being. Michigan law provides that a judge will only change a child’s established custodial environment if there are clear and convincing reasons to think it would be in the child’s best interest.

Just because a child lives with one of the two parents does not mean that only the custodial parent can provide a home for that child. If both parents have provided the child with discipline, guidance, and comfort, then a judge may decide that both parents offer an established custodial environment and should share custody.

On the other hand, if the parent who is asking for more custody has no history of offering guidance and affection to the child and shows no evidence of co-parenting ability, then the judge may decide that it would not be in the best interest of the child to change the custody arrangements. If changing the custody arrangement would require relocation, the judge may decide that it would not be in the child’s best interests to order such a significant change.

It is important not to do anything to harm your child’s relationship with the other parent, such as:

• Saying bad things about the other parent in front of your child
• Telling your child that their other parent does not want to spend time with them when it is not true
• Interfering with the other parent’s scheduled parenting time

That sort of behavior is known as parental alienation, and it can lead a court to conclude that granting you custody would not be in the child’s best interest. However, if you have been keeping your child away from the other parent to protect the child from sexual abuse or domestic violence, the court will not consider that a negative factor in determining custody.

What Is Considered Not in the Best Interest of a Child?

When going through a custody battle, you can consider the 12 best-interest factors in Michigan to guide your actions. Avoid doing anything the court might consider to be against the child’s best interests.

Situations and behaviors that could negatively impact a custody case include:

• Substance abuse
• Domestic violence
• An unstable housing situation
• Doing anything to interfere with the child’s relationship with the other parent
• Frequent job or residence changes
• Poor co-parenting
• Poor communication with the other parent

Even a subtle action, such as badmouthing the other parent in front of the child, could reflect poorly on you in a custody case. However, even if you have made some mistakes without realizing the adverse effects they would have, you can still take steps to correct or mitigate your past behaviors.

How Kraayeveld Family Law Can Help You Protect Your Child’s Best Interests

Not knowing what is going to happen with your children in a divorce is stressful and upsetting, but you can take control of the situation by preparing for custody proceedings with experienced legal support.

As a parent, you want only what is best for your child. Having the help of a skilled family law firm can make it much easier for you to work out a custody solution that is in your child’s best interests.

Kraayeveld Family Law has extensive experience with Michigan divorce and child custody cases. Our firm is committed to helping parents advocate for what is best for their children. Reach out to us with any questions you have about custody. We will schedule a consultation to answer all your questions and let you know what we can do to help.

If you are going through a custody dispute in Michigan, contact us today or call (616) 383-2679 to schedule a consultation to discuss your legal options.