How to File for Custody in Michigan

Where You File and Who Can File

Michigan custody cases are heard in the Family Division of the Circuit Court. The filing county and residency rules depend on whether custody is part of a divorce or a standalone case. For a divorce, the action requires at least 180 days of continuous residence in Michigan and at least 10 days in the county where you plan to file under MCL 552.9(1); the 10-day requirement has a narrow international child-abduction exception under MCL 552.9(2). Standalone custody cases are subject to different jurisdiction and venue rules, so confirm those requirements with the circuit court.

If you're married, custody is typically filed as part of a Complaint for Divorce. If you're unmarried, you file a separate custody petition — but the father must first establish legal paternity, either through an Acknowledgment of Parentage or through a court action. Without established paternity, an unmarried father has no legal custody rights to assert.

The Filing Paperwork

You'll need several SCAO-approved forms to get your case started:

• Complaint for Divorce (CC 415) or a Complaint for Custody if unmarried
• Summons — the court issues this to formally notify the other parent
• UCCJEA Affidavit (MC 416) — lists every address where your child has lived in the past five years, required in every custody case
• Verified Statement (FOC 23) — basic case information for the Friend of the Court
• Case Inventory (MC 21) — asset and debt snapshot used in a divorce case

All forms are free to download from the Michigan Courts website or through Michigan Legal Help's document assembly tool, which walks you through filling them out with a guided interview.

Filing Fees

The total cost to file a divorce with minor children runs about $255 in most counties: $150 for the base filing, $25 for the MiFILE electronic filing fee, and $80 for the Friend of the Court custody fee. If you can't afford the fees, SCAO Form MC 20 lets you request an indigent fee waiver — the court reviews your income and expenses before granting or denying it.

After You File: Service and the 180-Day Clock

Filing starts two important timers. First, the court-issued Summons gives you 91 days to serve the other parent with a copy of your Complaint and Summons. Service can happen through a process server, the county sheriff, or certified mail. In cooperative situations, the other parent can simply sign an Acknowledgment of Service.

Second — and this is the piece that catches most parents off guard — Michigan imposes a mandatory 180-day waiting period for divorces involving minor children. The clock starts on the day you file, not when the other parent is served. A judge may shorten the period after a proper showing of unusual hardship or compelling necessity, but not to fewer than 60 days.

What Happens During the 180-Day Wait

The waiting period is not dead time. During these six months, several things happen simultaneously:

Temporary orders get filed and decided, usually within the first few weeks. These set the interim custody arrangement, child support, and who stays in the family home. Temporary orders matter enormously because they often create an Established Custodial Environment — a legal concept that makes the status quo very hard to change later.

The Friend of the Court gets involved. The FOC is a court agency that investigates custody disputes, calculates child support, mediates disagreements, and enforces orders. Every county has one, and unless both parents formally opt out (using Form FOC 101), the FOC will play a role in your case.

SMILE class completion is required. Michigan requires parents with minor children who file a domestic-relations case to complete the SMILE program (Start Making It Livable for Everyone) before a judge will sign the final judgment. Format and registration vary by county — some offer free online videos, others require live sessions.

How Custody Gets Decided

Michigan judges evaluate custody using the 12 Best Interest of the Child factors listed in MCL 722.23. These cover everything from each parent's emotional bond with the child to the child's school and community ties, each parent's moral fitness, and any history of domestic violence.

If parents can negotiate a custody arrangement themselves (or through mediation), the judge typically approves it as long as it appears consistent with the child's best interests. If parents can't agree, the case goes to the FOC for a formal investigation and recommendation, and potentially to a bench trial where the judge makes the final call.

The entire process — from filing through a final Judgment of Divorce — typically takes 6 to 8 months for an uncontested divorce with children and often 1 to 2+ years when custody is contested.

One Filing Mistake That Creates Long-Term Problems

Parents often rush to file without thinking through the temporary custody arrangement they're requesting. The schedule you propose in your initial motion tends to become the baseline the court measures everything against. If you agree to limited parenting time early on just to "keep things peaceful," you may spend the rest of your case trying to claw back time that the court now considers the established norm.

Before filing, map out the schedule you actually want — including weekday overnights, weekend rotation, holidays, and summer breaks. The Michigan Child Custody & Parenting Plan Guide walks through every schedule option and shows how overnight splits affect child support calculations, so you can file with a plan that reflects what you're actually asking for.

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