After the divorce or separation, the court decides where the child will stay or who will be the primary caregiver. However, considering the adverse effect of parental separation on the child, the court allows joint custody. Joint custody is a legal agreement between parents that the child will stay with them in their different residences. There is an agreement on when each parent takes their turn in giving physical caregiving. Joint custody also entails that parents share in the decision-making regarding the child. The question for most parents residing in Metro Detroit, Michigan is how does the court decide in having joint child custody?
Getting A Joint Custody in Michigan
Given the solution of joint custody, this means that a child needs constant transportation from one parent’s residence to another. This may seem positive for the reason that there is a different effect if both parents are involved in the development of their child. However, the fact that this could be disruptive and may be unstable makes the court reluctant to grant this set-up. For this reason, the Michigan court must thoroughly assess the conditions present and think about the possibilities that may occur.
Factors that Michigan Court Evaluates in Allowing Joint Custody:
The factors below are relevant in determining the stability of possible joint custody. Without these factors to be evaluated, this may put the best interest of the child at stake, which is non-negotiable in any custody case.
- The fitness, more than physical, of both parents in terms of their well-being.
- The parents agree to have joint custody.
- The ability of the ex-spouses to set aside their marital problems and work together and communicate for the sake of the child’s wellbeing.
- The child’s reasonable preference during an appropriate age.
- The involvement of both parents with the child’s life on an individual basis.
- The distance between the respective residences of parents.
- The likenesses and dissimilarities between the two homes where the child simultaneously stays.
- The possible outcome of any decision toward the child’s psychological development.
- The physical ability of the parents to maintain or push through with the joint custody arrangement.
Switching or Bird’s Nesting Type of Joint Custody in Metro Detroit, Michigan
The court considers two home arrangements depending on the needs of the child. On the one hand, the child will stay in two places in the given period is called the switching type. On the other hand, there is the bird’s nesting type where it is not the child who will transport from one house to another. Instead, the parents will simultaneously live in that one house where the child permanently lives. The parents take a turn living in that place with their child. The latter type is highly advantageous towards the factors mentioned and more likely to move the Michigan court to allow having joint child custody. Yet, the court only favors this arrangement if both parents agree to have this kind.
Who Makes the Daily Decisions in Having Joint Child Custody?
There are degrees of decisions that parents can independently decide or must ask the consultation of the other. The parent living with the child in that period can decide on everyday decisions, like what to wear, eat, et cetera. However, parents must agree on major decisions as part of the legal joint custody agreement. Decisions like healthcare and education are some big choices needing joint consensus.
Metro Detroit, Michigan Lawyers Recommendation in Having Joint Child Custody
Family lawyers will advise you that the answer to having joint custody will not be sure, given the factors mentioned above. The court will have various arrangements for different families wanting this kind of custody. Goldman and Associates Law Firm is one of the leading family laws professionals who can aid you in matters like child custody. For more inquiries regarding this matter, contact us on this number, (248) 590-6600, or book an appointment with us online.