How Domestic Violence Affects Child Custody in Michigan

Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive and threatening behaviors, the goal of which is to establish and maintain power and control over another person. Domestic violence can affect every aspect of a victim's life. Domestic violence can also affect your children, even if they don't see the violence themselves. For these reasons, a court considers any occurrence of domestic violence when deciding child custody.

Determining Custody in Michigan

When two parents come to court to ask a judge to decide which one should get custody, neither parent has a superior right or claim to custody. Instead, the judge makes a custody determination based on "the best interest of the child." Michigan's child custody laws require judges to consider certain factors when they're deciding what custody arrangements would be in the child's best interest. One of these factors is whether there has been domestic violence in the family, regardless of whether it was witnessed by or directed against the child. (Mich. Comp. Laws § 722.23.)

The Complexities of Domestic Violence

However, domestic violence is a complicated issue that includes more than just hitting. To be considered domestic violence, two people having some family or intimate relationship must be involved. For example, domestic violence can occur between siblings, between a parent and a child, between two people who are dating but unmarried, between spouses, between people who have a child together or even between people who live together.

Furthermore, domestic violence includes many actions, including, but not limited to:

• physical abuse
• sexual assault
• emotional abuse
• isolation
• control of freedom or money
• threats of violence and harm
• stalking, and
• intimidation.

There are things that you (or an attorney on your behalf) can do to try and get you safe and punish the abuser. Committing certain acts of domestic violence are punishable as criminal offenses in Michigan. If found guilty, the abuser may have to pay a fine or serve jail time. The court will also usually give the victim a personal protection order ("PPO"). (Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2950.)

PPOs limit the interaction between the abuser and the victim by ordering the abuser to:

• stay away from the home, work, school, and person of the victim
• refrain from calling or engaging in any form of communication with the victim
• refrain from threatening, assaulting, injuring, or stalking the victim, and
• refrain from interfering with the care and custody of children shared in common with the victim.

You can also file a petition for a PPO in circuit court or family court, even if you don't have a pending case against the abuser.

The Impact of Domestic Violence on Custody Determinations

Domestic violence is only one factor that the court will consider in making a custody determination in Michigan. As a result, an abusive spouse may be granted some parenting time (also called "visitation") and even sometimes custody.

Michigan law assumes that it is in the best interests of your child to have a close relationship with both parents. Therefore, even if you are awarded custody of your child, your child's other parent will usually still be granted parenting time with the child. In extreme cases, when you can prove that your child's physical, mental, or emotional health would be in danger if parenting time were granted, the judge may refuse or limit the abuser's parenting time. (Mich. Comp. Laws § 722.27a).

Depending on the situation, a judge may order supervised visitation, which means that the abusive parent can see the child only when a third party (like a social worker, grandparent, or friend) is there to observe the visitation.

If you're not concerned about the other parent being violent towards the child, but you're concerned about your own safety while exchanging the child, the judge might order that exchanges take place at a police precinct or at a supervised exchange center, if one is available in your community. However, these options are usually only temporary and the other parent may eventually be granted unsupervised parenting with the child, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Resources

If you're a victim of domestic violence, there are many organizations available to help you. The Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence has an online directory of organizations throughout the state that provide survivor resources.

Michigan Legal Help provides detailed information and forms for getting a personal protection order.

If you're in a custody dispute that involves claims of domestic violence, you should speak with a lawyer if at all possible. Domestic violence survivors might be able to find free or low-cost legal help through the resources provided by the Crime Victims Legal Assistance Project.