HOUSE BILL NO. 6006
September 26, 2024, Introduced by Reps. MacDonell, Neeley, Young, Byrnes, Brenda Carter,
O'Neal and Aiyash and referred to the Committee on Families, Children and Seniors.
A bill to amend 1970 PA 91, entitled
"Child custody act of 1970,"
by amending sections 3, 5, 6a, 7, and 7a (MCL 722.23, 722.25,
722.26a, 722.27, and 722.27a), section 3 as amended by 2016 PA 95,
sections 5 and 7a as amended by 2016 PA 96, section 6a as added by
1980 PA 434, and section 7 as amended by 2015 PA 52, and by adding
section 4b.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 3. As used in this act, "best interests of the child"
2 means the sum total of the following factors to be considered,
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1 evaluated, and determined by the court in a way that safeguards and
2 enhances the welfare of the child:
3 (a) The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing
4 between the parties involved and the child.
5 (b) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to
6 give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the
7 education and raising of the child in his or her religion or creed,
8 if any.
9 (c) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to
10 provide the child with food, clothing, medical care or other
11 remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state
12 in place of medical care, and other material needs.
13 (d) The length of time the child has lived in a stable,
14 satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining
15 continuity.
16 (e) The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or
17 proposed custodial home or homes.
18 (f) The moral fitness of the parties involved.
19 (g) The mental and physical health of the parties involved.
20 (h) The home, school, and community record of the child.
21 (i) The reasonable preference of the child, if the court
22 considers the child to be of sufficient age to express preference.
23 (j) The willingness and ability of each of the parties to
24 facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child
25 relationship between the child and the other parent or the child
26 and the parents. A court may not consider negatively for the
27 purposes of this factor any reasonable action taken by a parent to
28 protect a child or that parent from sexual assault or domestic
29 violence by the child's other parent.
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1 (k) Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was
2 directed against or witnessed by the child.
3 (l) Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to
4 a particular child custody dispute.
5 Sec. 4b. (1) In a qualified child custody proceeding in which
6 a parent has been alleged to have committed a qualified act, all of
7 the following apply:
8 (a) Before the court makes a finding with respect to the
9 allegation, the court must consider any admissible and relevant
10 qualified evidence. As used in this subdivision, "qualified
11 evidence" means evidence that is probative of whether the parent
12 has committed a qualified act and includes, but is not limited to,
13 all of the following:
14 (i) Each qualified protection order or restraining order
15 against the parent.
16 (ii) Each arrest of the parent for a qualified act.
17 (iii) Each conviction of the parent for a qualified act.
18 (iv) Each medical record that relates to the allegation.
19 (v) Each letter that is from a victim advocate or victim
20 service provider and relates to the allegation.
21 (vi) Either of the following:
22 (A) Each evidence-based risk, lethality, or danger assessment
23 tool completed by a victim service provider, victim advocate, or
24 health professional.
25 (B) A risk factors or lethality assessment completed by law
26 enforcement as part of a standard domestic relationship incident
27 report.
28 (b) If the court finds that a parent who has been alleged to
29 have committed a qualified act did not commit the qualified act,
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1 the finding does not preclude the court from considering
2 information described in subdivision (a), or finding that the
3 parent committed a qualified act, at a later time.
4 (c) Evidence that is from an expert and relates to the alleged
5 qualified act may be admitted only if the expert demonstrates
6 expertise and at least 5 years of experience, 2 of which are with
7 direct services to victims of a qualified act, and the expertise
8 and experience are not solely of a forensic nature.
9 (2) In a qualified child custody proceeding, all of the
10 following apply:
11 (a) A court shall not remove a child from a parent or third
12 person who is both of the following, if the only intention for the
13 removal is to improve a deficient relationship with a parent of the
14 child:
15 (i) Competent, protective, and not physically, emotionally, or
16 sexually abusive.
17 (ii) An individual with whom the child is bonded or to whom the
18 child is attached.
19 (b) A court shall not restrict contact between a child and a
20 parent or third person who is both of the following, if the only
21 intention for the restriction is to improve a deficient
22 relationship with a parent of the child:
23 (i) Competent, protective, and not physically, emotionally, or
24 sexually abusive.
25 (ii) An individual with whom the child is bonded or to whom the
26 child is attached.
27 (c) A court shall not order a reunification treatment unless
28 there is generally accepted and scientifically valid proof of the
29 safety, effectiveness, and therapeutic value of the reunification
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1 treatment.
2 (d) A court shall not order a reunification treatment that is
3 predicated on cutting off a child from a parent with whom the child
4 is bonded or to whom the child is attached.
5 (e) If a child resists contact with the abusive parent, the
6 court, in any order to remediate the child's resistance, must
7 primarily address the behavior of the abusive parent or the
8 contributions of the abusive parent before ordering the other
9 parent of the child to take steps to improve the relationship of
10 the child with the abusive parent.
11 (3) As used in this section:
12 (a) "Domestic violence" means that term as defined in section
13 1 of 1978 PA 389, MCL 400.1501.
14 (b) "Forensic" means professional work that a court orders for
15 assistance in a child custody dispute, including, but not limited
16 to, the evaluation or treatment of a party to the dispute or a
17 child of a party to the dispute.
18 (c) "Qualified act" means any of the following:
19 (i) Child abuse, including, but not limited to, child sexual
20 abuse.
21 (ii) Domestic violence.
22 (iii) Physical abuse.
23 (iv) Sexual abuse or sexual violence.
24 (v) A pattern of any other coercive behavior committed to gain
25 or maintain power and control over a victim, including, but not
26 limited to, any of the following behavior:
27 (A) Verbal abuse.
28 (B) Psychological abuse.
29 (C) Economic abuse.
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1 (D) Technological abuse.
2 (d) "Qualified child custody proceeding" means a private
3 family court proceeding in state or local court that, with respect
4 to a child, involves the care or custody of the child in a private
5 divorce, separation, visitation, paternity, child support, legal or
6 physical custody, or civil protection order proceeding between the
7 parents of the child. Qualified child custody proceeding does not
8 include any of the following:
9 (i) A child protective, abuse, or neglect proceeding.
10 (ii) A juvenile justice proceeding.
11 (iii) A child placement proceeding in which a state, local, or
12 tribal government, a designee of such a government, or any
13 contracted child welfare agency or child protective services agency
14 of such a government is a party to the proceeding.
15 (e) "Qualified protection order or restraining order" means
16 protection order or restraining order as that term is described in
17 34 USC 12291.
18 (f) "Reunification treatment" means a treatment or therapy
19 aimed at reuniting or reestablishing a relationship between a child
20 and an estranged or rejected parent or other family member of the
21 child.
22 (g) "Technological abuse" means an act or pattern of behavior
23 that occurs within domestic violence, sexual assault, dating
24 violence, or stalking and that is intended to harm, threaten,
25 intimidate, control, stalk, harass, impersonate, exploit, extort,
26 or monitor, except as otherwise permitted by law, another person,
27 using any form of technology, including, but not limited to,
28 internet-enabled devices, online spaces and platforms, computers,
29 mobile devices, cameras and imaging programs, apps, location
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1 tracking devices, or communication technologies, or any other
2 emerging technologies.
3 (h) "Victim advocate" means a person, whether paid or serving
4 as a volunteer, who provides services to victims of domestic
5 violence, sexual assault, stalking, or dating violence under the
6 auspices or supervision of a victim service provider.
7 (i) "Victim service provider" means a nonprofit,
8 nongovernmental, or tribal organization or rape crisis center,
9 including a state or tribal coalition, that assists victims of or
10 advocates for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
11 assault, or stalking. A provider described in this subdivision
12 includes, but is not limited to, a domestic violence shelter, a
13 faith-based organization, and other organization, with a documented
14 history of effective work concerning domestic violence, dating
15 violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
16 Sec. 5. (1) If a child custody dispute is between the parents,
17 between agencies, or between third persons, the best interests of
18 the child control. If the child custody dispute is between the
19 parent or parents and an agency or a third person, the court shall
20 presume that the best interests of the child are served by awarding
21 custody to the parent or parents, unless the contrary is
22 established by clear and convincing evidence.
23 (2) Notwithstanding any other provisions provision of this
24 act, if a child custody dispute involves a child who is conceived
25 as the result of acts for which 1 of the child's biological parents
26 is convicted of criminal sexual conduct as provided in sections
27 520a to 520e and 520g of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL
28 750.520a to 750.520e and 750.520g, or a substantially similar
29 statute of another state or the federal government, or is found by
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1 clear and convincing evidence in a fact-finding hearing to have
2 committed acts of nonconsensual sexual penetration, the court shall
3 not award custody to that biological parent. This subsection does
4 not apply to a conviction under section 520d(1)(a) of the Michigan
5 penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.520d. This subsection does not
6 apply if, after the date of the conviction, or the date of the
7 finding in a fact-finding hearing described in this subsection, the
8 biological parents cohabit and establish a mutual custodial
9 environment for the child.
10 (3) An offending parent is not entitled to custody of a child
11 described in subsection (2) without the consent of that child's
12 other parent or guardian.
13 (4) Notwithstanding any other provisions provision of this
14 act, subsection (2) does not relieve an offending parent of any
15 support or maintenance obligation to the child. The other parent or
16 the guardian of the child may decline support or maintenance from
17 the offending parent.
18 (5) A parent may assert an affirmative defense of the
19 provisions of subsection (2) in a proceeding brought by the
20 offending parent regarding a child described in subsection (2).
21 (6) Notwithstanding any other provisions provision of this
22 act, if an individual is convicted of criminal sexual conduct as
23 provided in sections 520a to 520e and 520g of the Michigan penal
24 code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.520a to 750.520e and 750.520g, and the
25 victim is the individual's child, the court shall not award custody
26 of that child or a sibling of that child to that individual, unless
27 both the child's other parent and, if the court considers the child
28 or sibling to be of sufficient age to express his or her the
29 child's or sibling's desires, the child or sibling consent to the
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1 custody.
2 (7) If a child custody dispute involves an abusive parent
3 described in section 7, the court shall not award custody to the
4 abusive parent.
5 (8) (7) As used in this section, "offending parent" means a
6 parent who has been convicted of criminal sexual conduct as
7 described in subsection (2) or who has been found by clear and
8 convincing evidence in a fact-finding hearing to have committed
9 acts of nonconsensual sexual penetration as described in subsection
10 (2).
11 Sec. 6a. (1) In a child custody disputes dispute between
12 parents, the parents shall must be advised of joint custody. At the
13 request of either parent, the court shall consider an award of
14 joint custody , and shall state, on the record, the reasons for
15 granting or denying a the request. An abusive parent described in
16 section 7 is not eligible for joint custody. In other cases, joint
17 custody may be considered by the court. The court shall determine
18 whether joint custody is in the best interest interests of the
19 child by considering the following factors:
20 (a) The factors enumerated in section 3.
21 (b) Whether the parents will be able to cooperate and
22 generally agree concerning on important decisions affecting that
23 affect the welfare of the child.
24 (2) If the parents agree on joint custody, the court shall
25 award joint custody unless the court determines, on the record ,
26 and based upon on clear and convincing evidence, that joint custody
27 is not in the best interests of the child.
28 (3) If the court awards joint custody, in the court's award,
29 the court may include in its award a statement regarding when the
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1 child shall will reside with each parent , or may provide that
2 physical custody must be shared by the parents in a manner to
3 assure that ensures that the child continuing continues contact
4 with both parents.
5 (4) During the time a child resides with a parent, that the
6 parent shall decide all routine matters concerning that concern the
7 child.
8 (5) If there is a dispute regarding residency, the court shall
9 state the basis for a residency award on the record or in writing.
10 (6) Joint custody shall does not eliminate the responsibility
11 for child support. Each parent shall be is responsible for child
12 support based on the needs of the child and the actual resources of
13 each parent. If a parent would otherwise be unable to maintain
14 adequate housing for the child and the other parent has sufficient
15 resources, the court may order modified support payments for a
16 portion of housing expenses, even during a period when the child is
17 not residing in the home of the parent receiving support. An order
18 of joint custody, in and of itself, shall does not constitute
19 grounds for modifying a support order.
20 (7) As used in this section, "joint custody" means an order of
21 the court in which 1 or both of the following is specified:
22 (a) That the child shall will reside alternately, and for
23 specific periods, with each of the parents.
24 (b) That the parents shall will share decision-making
25 authority as to on the important decisions affecting that affect
26 the welfare of the child.
27 Sec. 7. (1) If a child custody dispute has been submitted to
28 the circuit court as an original action under this act or has
29 arisen incidentally from another action in the circuit court or an
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1 order or judgment of the circuit court, for the best interests of
2 the child, the court may do 1 or more of the following:
3 (a) Award the custody of the child to 1 or more of the parties
4 involved or to others and pro