Divorce Proceedings : Considering the Best Interests of the Child
12 Factors to Decide
The court’s aim is to support a child’s emotional and physical well-being.
Best Interests of the Child
Understanding the factors that guide custody decisions can help you prepare for custody discussions or disputes. To understand how these factors affect your case, contact our West Michigan attorney, Anne Tuinstra, at the Holland law offices of Buckman MacDonald & Brown to schedule a consultation and discuss your legal options.
What Are the Factors Considered to be the “Best Interests of the Child” in Michigan Family Court?
If you are going through a divorce in Michigan and you have children who are minors, you will probably hear the phrase “best interests of the child” from your attorney, the friend of the court, or the judge.
Michigan courts consider 12 factors when assessing a child’s best interests in custody matters. The Michigan Child Custody Act defines the “best interests of the child” as the sum of these 12 factors. The court will look at all 12 factors together without giving excessive weight to any particular one.
The 12 Factors for Child Custody in Michigan
According to the Michigan Child Custody Act, the court should consider the following 12 factors when evaluating the best interests of the child in a child custody dispute.
These 12 factors are:
The love and affection between the parents and the child
The capacity of each parent to provide the child with love, affection, and guidance, and to raise the child in the religion they’ve been raised with, if any
Each parent’s ability to provide the child with food, clothing, and medical care
How long the child has lived in the same home, and the desirability of maintaining continuity in a stable environment
The permanence of each parent’s home as a proposed home for the child
The moral fitness of each parent
The mental and physical health of both parents
The child’s record at school, at home, and in the community
The child’s reasonable preferences (if the child is of sufficient age to express them)
Each parent’s willingness to facilitate an ongoing parental relationship between the child and the other parent
Domestic Violence, regardless of whether the child witnessed the violence, and regardless of whether the child was the target of the violence
Any other factor the court considers relevant
These 12 factors provide the Michigan family court with a way to assess both parents, the child’s relationship with each parent, and what kind of home each parent can provide. If you can give your child a stable, satisfactory environment while meeting their needs for food, clothing, medical care, love, affection, and parental guidance, then the court will consider that as favorable and compare your abilities to the other parent’s abilities.
What Determines the Best Interest of the Child?
According to the Michigan Custody Guideline, even when the court awards sole custody to one parent, it may grant scheduled parenting time to the other based on the 12 Michigan custody factors stated above, holistically, with no one factor is weighted more heavily than the other. The exception being if a specific issue, such as accusations of abuse, clearly dominates.
The court’s aim is to support a child’s emotional and physical well-being. Michigan law provides that a judge will only change a child’s established custodial environment if there are clear and convincing reasons to think it would be in the child’s best interest.
It is possible for a child to have more than one established custodial environment. Just because a child lives with one of the two parents does not mean that only the custodial parent can provide a home for that child. If both parents have provided the child with discipline, guidance, and comfort, then a judge may decide that both parents offer an established custodial environment and should share custody.
On the other hand, if the parent who is asking for more custody has no history of offering guidance and affection to the child and shows no evidence of co-parenting ability, then the judge may decide that it would not be in the best interest of the child to change the custody arrangements. Similarly, if changing the custody arrangement would require relocation or a change in the child’s school, the judge may decide that it would not be in the child’s best interests to order such a significant change.
It is important not to do anything to harm your child’s relationship with the other parent, such as:
Disparaging the other parent to or in front of the child
Telling the child that the other parent doesn’t want to spend time with them (when it isn’t true)
Intentionally disrupting or interfering with the other parent’s parenting time
That sort of behavior can be viewed as parental alienation, and it can lead a court to conclude that granting you custody would not be in the child’s best interest. However, if you have been keeping your child away from the other parent to protect the child from sexual abuse or domestic violence, the court will not consider that a negative factor in determining custody.
What Is Not Considered in the Best Interest of a Child?
It would be wise for you to avoid doing anything the court might consider to be against the child’s best interests, such as:
Substance abuse
Domestic violence
Unstable housing situation
Doing anything to interfere with the child’s relationship with the other parent
Frequent job or residence changes
Poor co-parenting
Poor communication with the other parent
Even a subtle action, such as badmouthing the other parent in front of the child, could reflect poorly on you in a custody case. However, even if you have made some mistakes without realizing the adverse effects they would have, you can still take steps to correct or mitigate your past behaviors.
Not knowing what is going to happen with your children when you are going through a divorce is stressful and upsetting, but you can take control of the situation by preparing for custody proceedings with experienced legal support.
As a parent, you want only what is best for your child. Having the help of a skilled family law attorney can make it much easier for you to work out a custody solution that is in your child’s best interests.
Our Holland, Michigan, law office at Buckman MacDonald & Brown has extensive experience with Michigan divorce and child custody cases. We are committed to helping parents advocate for what is best for their children. Reach out to us with any questions you have about custody. We will set you up with a consultation with Anne Tuinstra to answer all your questions and let you know what we can do to help.