You’re thinking about divorcing. What are the prerequisites in Michigan to file for divorce? You won’t just be filling out forms while going through the motions of the divorce process.
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To file for divorce in Michigan, you must be a resident of the state and the county. You must have spent a certain amount of time in Michigan as well as in the county where you are applying for divorce.
The Residency Requirement
People who want to dissolve their marriage must meet specific residency requirements in the state of Michigan. Before submitting a divorce petition to the Michigan courts, you must comply with some state-specific procedures. The following are the Michigan residency requirements:
[1] The complainant or defendant in a divorce case must have lived in this state for 180 days before filing the complaint, and they must also have lived in the county where the complaint is filed for 10 days prior to filing the complaint before the court in this state will give a divorce judgment.
[2] Usually, the filing spouse files for divorce in the county where they reside.
It is irrelevant where the marriage was consummated or where the other spouse currently resides as long as one spouse satisfies these two requirements.
A variety of issues, including property, debt, child custody, alimony, and others, must be immediately resolved between you and your spouse.
You have the following choices if you do not meet at least one of the aforementioned Michigan residency requirements:
[a] Establish Michigan residency for the time frame mentioned above. You are not required to wait before starting the process of obtaining your documents.
[b] If your partner meets the residency requirements let your partner do the filing.
[c] Select a different state where you or your spouse are eligible. Because every state is different, be sure to look at the alternative for the state where you got married.
You should speak with an attorney if your previous divorce from your current spouse may still be pending. All previous divorce cases must be dismissed before you can start a new divorce case.
The judge’s decisions may be more constrained if your spouse has never resided in Michigan. More particular, even if the residency criteria are completed, a court in Michigan may not be able to make decisions on other issues including child custody, child support, and parenting time.
The Waiting Period Requirement
If there are no children involved in the divorce in Michigan, the waiting period is 60 days.
If the judgment is issued in fewer than sixty days, the divorce is most certainly void. Under Michigan law, a judge may waive the six-month waiting period, but not the sixty-day one. The six-month waiting period may be extended in circumstances of “extreme hardship or such compelling necessity as shall appeal to the conscience of the court,” but never to less than sixty days.
The other party has a certain amount of time to reply after the complaint is filed.
There is frequently a six-month waiting period if there are young children involved in the divorce. The Michigan court system is under a lot of pressure to decide divorce cases within a year of the filing date. The “typical” waiting period once the complaint is filed, or when the lawsuit officially starts, is six months for a divorce including children. The majority of child custody trials last longer than six months, however they are sometimes concluded in less time than a year.
There are certain exceptions to the prescribed six-month waiting period.
According to Michigan law, a court may waive the six-month waiting period but not the sixty-day one. In instances of “exceptional hardship or such compelling necessity as shall appeal to the conscience of the court,” the six-month waiting period may be extended, but never to fewer than sixty days. The majority of judges will really waive the six-month waiting time if there is a good reason and they are informed that the case is a collaborative divorce.
Collaborative divorce is an alternative to the drawn-out legal battles that characterize normal divorce litigation. In a collaborative divorce, both parties consent to ending their marriage outside of court by working with qualified professionals.
You and your spouse would appear in court as part of the collaborative law process and ask the judge to approve the agreement you created together. This can protect your privacy while helping you avoid the inconvenience, expense, and unpredictability of a divorce litigation.
The Common-law Marriages
Even before we consider being a resident of Michigan, you have to be married of course to be divorced.
So what do we do with common-law marriages in Michigan?
Some couples can’t wait to exchange vows and begin living as a legally recognized pair. However, other couples don’t share the same sentiments. They may be in love and want to live together, but these couples don’t want to get married. These relationships are referred to as common law marriages, and in many places, common law partners enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as married partners. Common-law marriage is one of the fundamental rights that has been in this country since the first settlers.
The first statute to disallow common-law marriage in Michigan was passed in 1838, which declared that “marriages may be solemnized by any justice of the peace in the county in which he is chosen, and they may be solemnized throughout the state by any minister of the gospel who has been ordained.” The law was formalized in an effort to make it such that a marriage must be “solemnized” by either a minister or a justice of the peace.
But the law was not enforced. The Meister v. Moore case was heard by the US Supreme Court in 1877. This dispute concerned the legality of William Mowry’s common-law union with Mary, his wife who was Pero’s Native American daughter.
Mary and William Mowry lived together for seven years before William Mowry passed away. They had a daughter together, and if they were legally married, all of William’s assets would eventually pass to his daughter under Michigan law. According to Michigan law, William would have to give his mother whatever property he held if he hadn’t been married.
The common-law union between William and Mary was recognized by the United States Supreme Court because Michigan’s law of 1838 did not stipulate that marriages must be authorized by a justice of the peace or a minister, but rather that such solemnization (authorization) was optional: “marriages may be solemnized.” As a result, their daughter would eventually inherit any land that William owned.
It seems that Michigan didn’t revisit this matter until January 1, 1957, when it amended its statute to stipulate that marriages could only take place as the consequence of a marriage license. After that date, cohabitation or simple agreement to get married would not be sufficient.
A couple would need to apply for and be granted a marriage license in order to get married and have their union recognized by Michigan law. The marriage would next need to be approved by a judge, a mayor, a court clerk, or a clergyman after the marriage license had been granted.
In the present, Michigan will not recognize your common-law marriage unless you have cohabited with someone with the understanding that you are married since December 31, 1956. You must first apply for a marriage license before having your union formally recognized by one of the individuals listed by Michigan law.
This also implies that merely cohabitating is insufficient in Michigan to qualify for all the advantages that a spouse enjoys like health insurance, marital property, and inheritance.
People who entered into a common law marriage in another state will be considered as a married pair in Michigan even though Michigan does not recognize common law marriages. The following states presently acknowledge common law marriage:
[1] Kansas
[2] Utah
[3] Carolina, South
[4] Montana
[5] Colorado
[6] Providence, RI
[7] Texas
[8] Iowa
Washington D.C. recognizes common-law unions as well. Couples from these states may be recognized as common law partners in Michigan, although there are some conditions. These consist of:
[a] The common law marriage must be recognized in the state from which the couple relocated.
[b] The pair must adhere to their native state’s legal standards for common law marriage.
[c] In their home state, the couple shared a residence.
If common law partners fulfill these conditions, Michigan will treat them as a married couple and grant them all of the same rights and obligations. The couple still needs to take a few actions, though. These comprise as follows:
[a] The pair must create a durable power of attorney that enables them to represent one another in court cases in the event that one person is incompetent or passes away.
[b] A medical power of attorney must be created by the couple, giving each individual the authority to make medical decisions on the other’s behalf.
Michigan will recognize a common law union when a couple can satisfy all of these conditions.
Even though common law marriages are not recognized in Michigan, there is a means for unmarried couples to safeguard their rights. This is done through a cohabitation agreement, which is the state’s equivalent of a prenuptial contract.
A cohabitation agreement can specify how the couple will divide their possessions in the event of a separation.
Cohabitation agreements are not permitted to include stipulations for child support and custody. Even without a cohabitation agreement in place, child support is normally paid by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent in Michigan.
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