Grandparents Rights In Michigan (Updated) 2024

Whether you are going through a divorce with your spouse and are concerned about grandparents’ rights in child custody cases, or you are a grandparent concerned about how and when you will be able to see your grandchildren, understanding grandparents’ rights in Michigan child custody cases is critical. A grandparent may be able to petition for visitation (i.e., grandparenting time) under Michigan law under certain circumstances.

Still, anybody participating in a child custody case should be aware that grandparents do not have the same rights as parents. All paternal or maternal grandparents have possible visitation rights under Michigan law, which are referred to as “grandparenting time” by the legal community.

Grandparents Visitation Rights In Michigan

In child custody disputes, Michigan courts no longer use the phrase “visitation” to refer to parental rights and the opportunity to spend time with children; instead, they refer to “parenting time.” Similarly, grandparents rights in Michigan enables a child’s grandparent to request “grandparenting time” if one or more of the following statutory conditions apply:

• A divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment action is pending between the parents.
• Parents may have already divorced or had their marriage annulled, or they may be separated under a separate maintenance ruling.
• One of the child’s parents has passed away, and the grandmother is the child’s deceased parent’s parent.
• Although the parents were never married and do not now live together, paternity has been proven.
• The child has legal custody of someone other than the child’s parent(s), and the youngster does not live with one of the parents.
• In the year prior to seeking visitation or grandparenting time, the grandparent seeking visitation or grandparenting time “created an established custodial environment for the child.”

Grandparenting Time In Michigan

There are two alternatives available for granting grandparenting time.

The first alternative is to file a motion with the court, requesting that a judge allow your grandparenting time request. It’s critical that you file your motion in the proper location. The motion must be filed in circuit court in the county where the court has “continuing jurisdiction” over the case (i.e., the power to make decisions indefinitely).

The court that has continuous jurisdiction over your grandchild is not always in the same city as your grandson. If you have any questions about where to file, contact an experienced family law attorney.

If you decide on the second option, you can file a “complaint” (legal documentation that initiates a case) or a motion in the circuit court of the county where your grandchild resides. The complaint or motion must contain an “affidavit” (written declaration) that sets out all of the facts that support your request. Your complaint or motion must also be shared with everyone who has legal custody or parenting time.

Expect the other parties to file a rebuttal affidavit with the court explaining why they will never agree to your request. A hearing can be requested by anyone, but the judge will most likely hold one regardless if no one does. Before rendering a ruling, the court will want to hear from everyone.

Before a judge grants you grandparenting time, you must overcome two big obstacles.

There is a presumption (legal assumption) in Michigan that withholding a fit parent grandparenting time does not constitute a considerable danger of harm to the child’s mental, physical, or emotional health.

By a “preponderance of the evidence,” you must show that your grandkids would suffer mental, physiological, or emotional harm if they don’t spend time with you (showing that something is more likely than not). The judge will not go to the second step unless you can establish that the children will be harmed.

If the judge determines that you have overcome the presumption, the next consideration is whether spending time with you is in your grandchild’s best interests. All ten elements listed below must be considered by the court:

• Between the grandmother and the child’s love, affection, and other emotional links.
• The duration and quality of the child’s previous relationship with the grandmother, The grandparent’s position, and the child’s current emotional ties to the grandparent.
• The moral fitness of the grandparents.
• The mental and physical well-being of the grandparents.
• If the court believes the kid is old enough to voice a preference, the court will consider the child’s reasonable preference.
• The impact of enmity between the child’s grandfather and the child’s parent on the child.
• The grandparent’s readiness to support a close relationship between the child and the child’s parent or parents, except in cases of abuse or neglect.
• Any history of grandparental physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect of a kid.
• If the parent’s refusal or refusal to allow grandparenting time is related to the child’s well-being or for some other cause, and any other issue affecting the child’s physical and psychological well-being.

If the judge determines that spending time with you is in your grandchild’s best interests, the court will issue an order enabling you to spend a fair amount of time with him or her. The length of the visits and the circumstances of the visits will be determined by the facts of your case.

Grandparents Custody Rights In Michigan

In Michigan, there is a presumption that a mentally fit parent can make a logical decision not to allow visitation with grandparents for his or her kid and that such a decision is not deemed to be harmful to the child’s welfare. This is the first major stumbling block for grandparents who want to visit their grandchildren. To do so, the grandparents must show that restricting grandparent visitation is likely to affect the child’s physical, emotional, or mental well-being based on a preponderance of the evidence.

Similarly, grandparents seeking custody of their grandchildren against one or both parents’ desires must overcome the assumption that both parents are capable of raising the child under grandparents’ rights in Michigan. This is performed by demonstrating that the parents are unfit to care for the child in some way properly.

This entails more than merely demonstrating that the parents are poor or that the child is missing out on particular developmental milestones: there must be evidence that the parent’s actions are endangering the children’s bodily, mental, and/or emotional health. Keep in mind that if two healthy parents file an affidavit opposing a grandparenting time order, the court may dismiss the case.

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