In terms of your spouse’s parenting responsibilities, you are expected to be the foremost authority in the nation. In terms of parenting time, you are aware of your partner’s preferences and expectations. Creating a visitation schedule won’t be difficult if you communicate and work together. The other party is someone you are the closest to knowing. What does this indicate? To compromise with your spouse, you are in a better position.
Click here to watch the video on How To Establish A Visitation Schedule Hassle-free In Michigan?
Co-parenting entails this: collaborating to get the optimal compromise so that everyone receives the ideal timetable for themselves. You must recognize that the court has a different priority. The judge is more interested in how much time you spend with the children. If your personal priorities conflict with the child’s best interests, the court may not take that into account. The court will find a solution for you both if you can’t come to an agreement with your ex.
The Powerful Statutory Basis For Parenting Time
The time a child spends with each parent when they do not share a residence is referred to as parenting time. In Michigan, unless a judge finds that parenting time will damage the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health, a child has a right to parenting time with each parent.
It is generally in the best interests of a child to have parenting time that is consistent, long-lasting, and of a nature fostering a positive bond between a child and parent. This is embodied in a Michigan law MCL 722.27a(1).
The MCL 722.27a(1) clause states as follows:
“Parenting time shall be granted in accordance with the best interests of the child. It is presumed to be in the best interests of a child for the child to have a strong relationship with both of his or her parents. Except as otherwise provided in this section, parenting time shall be granted to a parent in a frequency, duration, and type reasonably calculated to promote a strong relationship between the child and the parent granted parenting time.”
The Friend of the Court is your ally in ensuring the proper implementation of parenting time. MCL 552.519 mandates the Friend of the Court Bureau of the Michigan Supreme Court, State Court Administrative Office, create publications to aid each friend of the court office in performing its duties.
The previous Michigan Parenting Time Guideline was released in 2000 with the goal of educating the general public and professionals, such as court personnel who assist parents in creating parenting time plans, on good parenting practices. The most recent edition of the Michigan Parenting Time Guideline was published just this March 2022.
Get The Parenting Time Guideline
Now a lot of work has been done on the “guideline” so don’t dismiss this very useful document just yet. It can save you a lot of trouble in the future if you just find time to have a few minutes of reading. You want to start on the right track, this is it.
Here’s a bit of history about the guideline.
The Friend of the Court Bureau worked with the Chance at Childhood Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law to study current best practices in other states and make adjustments to the Guideline recommendations. For information on their accomplishments and challenges, experts on parental time laws in other states were consulted. The Guideline was then examined by a Michigan domestic relations advisory committee.
With permission, sections of this guideline were adapted from the Arizona Supreme Court’s Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona’s Guide for Parents Living Apart parenting time guideline.
The Guideline has a dozen sections but noteworthy of these are the following sections:
[1] When to Use the Parenting Guideline
[2] Child Development and Parenting Time Considerations
[3] Special Considerations
[4] Safety Concerns
[5] Blank Calendar
[6] Sample Parenting Time Schedules
[7] Parenting Time Worksheets for Parents
[8] Parenting Time Assistance
These sections are a tremendous resource for parents who really want to get down to the details of parenting time and don’t have time to plan or to be creative with their parenting time schedules. There’s a lot of useful tips for the everyday hassles confronted by parents while they’re making the most of their parenting time.
You can download a copy of the March 2022 edition of the Michigan Parenting Time Guideline in portable digital format here.
You Want It Hassle Free: Follow The Rules
A parenting time schedule can be established or modified by parents working collaboratively. Using the Guideline can assist parents in identifying situations where they concur and in resolving disagreements when they disagree.
To establish or modify their parenting time schedule, parents may also use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures or submit an application to the court directly. ADR is a procedure used to attempt and resolve conflicts without having to go before a judge for a ruling.
Before the court or a Friend of the Court can put a parenting time order into effect, the judge must sign it.
A few weeks back, we posted our article “How Does A Co-Parenting Calendar Work For Parents Without Sole Custody In Michigan?” in our Legal Blog here.
In that article, we mentioned the first step to co-parenting is to manage parenting time. Parents who have no safety issues or concerns can use the recommendations in The Guideline for preparing their parenting schedule.
Here are some things to consider when doing your schedule:
[1] Contact with each parent at least once every couple of days, while also giving the parents “breaks”.
[2] Predictability and consistency.
[3] The child’s developmental needs are taken into account. With infants on a breastfeeding schedule, for instance, shorter, more frequent blocks of parental time may be most effective. The exchange of breast milk can be arranged by the parents.
[4] Nighttime parenting time with both parents when both parents previously took care of the child’s daily needs, either jointly or separately.
[5] Consider a “graduated schedule,” with minimal parenting time initially and increasing the frequency and duration of parenting time when parenting milestones are completed, when a parent has not regularly cared for the child or is not comfortable caring for the child.
[6] Parenting time should be scheduled as regularly as possible when parents live far away. For parenting time, parents might have to travel.
[7] The chance for both parents to attend events with the child, like birthdays, religious celebrations, and doctor’s appointments.
[8] An extended parenting time plan that could involve longer durations, including many consecutive overnights, as the child ages.
If you as parents are constantly talking to make parenting time work, it should be easy to come into an agreement in terms of your parenting schedule. You may not always agree but if you put the best interests of the child first, it should be easy to come to an understanding. In case of disagreement, the guideline provides suggestions as to how to resolve it.
ADR services are offered by Friend of the Court (FOC) offices to assist parents in resolving custody, parenting time, and child support disputes. Judges frequently request divorcing parents to meet with a mediator or another ADR practitioner to settle their differences. Parents can also use the Community Dispute Resolution Program or choose a private mediator to get ADR services.
The best approach to a hassle-free parenting time is to follow the parenting time order. If parents can’t agree, an investigation can be launched to find out more about what’s really happening in the parenting time.
A judge has the authority to direct the FOC to perform a custody and/or parenting time investigation also known as an evaluation and to compile a recommendation in the child’s best interests.
When the office receives a legitimate written complaint, the FOC is required to carry out court-ordered parenting time and custody arrangements in FOC matters. The enforcement of parental time may be used by these offices as a response.
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Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.