The financial well-being of a child is just as important as their emotional and physical care, and child support plays a key role in ensuring children’s needs are met. As Michigan’s top-rated family law attorneys, we recognize that child support issues can be a source of stress and conflict.

The paying parent may face concerns about affordability and whether the support amount is fair, while the receiving parent may worry that the support will not adequately cover the child’s needs. These are valid concerns that need to be addressed with care. Michigan’s child support guidelines use a formula based on both parents’ incomes and various other factors to determine the support amount, aiming for fairness and the child’s well-being.

What is Legal Child Custody?

Legal custody gives a parent the authority and responsibility to make major decisions about a child’s upbringing, including medical care, education, religious instruction, and extracurricular activities.

What is Joint Custody?

It is uncommon for one parent to be awarded sole legal custody. In most circumstances, parents can expect to be awarded joint legal custody of their child. With joint legal custody, both parents must agree on the important decisions affecting the life of their child. Where there is disagreement, help from the court may be necessary.

What is Physical Child Custody?

Physical custody refers to the child’s physical living arrangement or ‘home base’. A child can have one or two home bases. Primary physical custody means the child primarily resides with one parent but also spends scheduled time with the other parent. Joint physical custody refers to the child having a home base with each parent.

What is Parenting Time?

Parenting time is the schedule parents follow to spend time with their children. Parents are encouraged to create a schedule that works best for their child and both households. Each family is unique, and the parenting time schedule should reflect that, considering factors like distance between homes and the child’s individual needs.

Our firm played a role in the development of Michigan’s parenting time guidelines’ most recent edition, which provides alternative parenting time schedules based on the developmental age of the child.