Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

HOUSE BILL NO. 6261
     December 10, 2024, Introduced by Reps. Beeler and Thompson 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 2, 3, 6a, 7, and 7a (MCL 722.22, 722.23,
26a, 722.27, and 722.27a), section 2 as amended by 2015 PA 51,
    section 3 as amended by 2016 PA 95, section 6a as added by 1980 PA
    434, section 7 as amended by 2015 PA 52, and section 7a as amended
    by 2016 PA 96.
                     THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
       Sec. 2. As used in this act:
       (a) "Active duty" means that term as defined described in
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 section 101 3911(2)(A)(i) of the servicemembers civil relief act,
 50 USC 511, 3911, except that "active duty" includes full-time
 national guard duty.
       (b) "Agency" means a legally authorized public or private
 organization, or governmental unit or official, whether of this
 state or of another state or country, concerned in the welfare of
 minor children, including a licensed child placement agency.
       (c) "Attorney" means, if appointed to represent a child under
 this act, an attorney serving as the child's legal advocate in a
 traditional attorney-client relationship with the child, as
 governed by the Michigan rules of professional conduct. An attorney
 defined under this subdivision owes the same duties of undivided
 loyalty, confidentiality, and zealous representation of the child's
 expressed wishes as the attorney would to an adult client.
       (d) "Child" means minor child and children. Subject to section
 5b of the support and parenting time enforcement act, 1982 PA 295,
 MCL 552.605b, for purposes of providing support, child includes a
 child and children who have reached 18 years of age.
       (e) "Deployment" means the movement or mobilization of a
 servicemember to a location for a period of longer than 60 days and
 not longer than 540 days under temporary or permanent official
 orders as follows:
       (i) That are designated as unaccompanied.
       (ii) For which dependent travel is not authorized.
       (iii) That otherwise do not permit the movement of family
 members to that location.
       (iv) The servicemember is restricted from travel.
       (f) "Grandparent" means a natural or adoptive parent of a
 child's natural or adoptive parent.
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       (g) "Guardian ad litem" means an individual whom the court
 appoints to assist the court in determining the child's best
 interests. A guardian ad litem does not need to be an attorney.
       (h) "Joint legal custody" means both parents share legal
 decision making and neither parent's rights or responsibilities are
 superior except with respect to specified decisions as set forth by
 the court or the parents in the final judgment or order.
       (i) (h) "Lawyer-guardian ad litem" means an attorney appointed
 under section 4. A lawyer-guardian ad litem represents the child,
 and has the powers and duties, as set forth in section 4.
       (j) "Legal decision making" means the legal right and
 responsibility to make all nonemergency legal decisions for a
 child, including those regarding education, health care, religious
 training, and personal care decisions. For the purposes of
 interpreting or applying an international treaty, a federal law, a
 uniform code, or the statutes of other jurisdictions of the United
 States, legal decision making means legal custody.
       (k) "Maximized parenting time" means joint and equal physical
 custody.
       (l) (i) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive parent of a
 child.
       (m) "Sole legal decision making" means 1 parent has the legal
 right and responsibility of legal decision making regarding the
 child.
       (n) (j) "State disbursement unit" or "SDU" means the entity
 established in section 6 of the office of child support act, 1971
 PA 174, MCL 400.236.
       (o) (k) "Third person" means an individual other than a
 parent.
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       Sec. 3. (1) As used in this act, "best interests of the child"
 or "child's best interests" means the sum total of the following
 factors to be considered, evaluated, and determined by the court:
       (a) The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing
 between the parties involved and the child.
       (b) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to
 give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the
 education and raising of the child in his or her religion or creed,
 if any.
       (b) The past, present, and potential future relationship
 between the parent and the child.
       (c) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to
 provide the child with food, clothing, medical care or other
 remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state
 in place of medical care, and other material needs.
       (d) The length of time the child has lived in a stable,
 satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining
 continuity.
       (e) The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or
 proposed custodial home or homes.
       (f) The moral fitness of the parties involved.
       (d) The child's adjustment to home, school, and community.
       (e) (g) The mental and physical health of the parties
 involved.
       (h) The home, school, and community record of the child.
       (f) Which parent is more likely to allow the child frequent,
 meaningful, and continuing contact with the other parent. This
 subdivision does not apply if the court determines that a parent is
 acting in good faith to protect the child from witnessing an act of
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 domestic violence or being a victim of domestic violence, child
 abuse, or child neglect.
       (g) Whether 1 parent intentionally misled the court to cause
 an unnecessary delay, to increase the cost of litigation, or to
 persuade the court to give a legal decision making or a parenting
 time preference to that parent.
       (h) Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was
 directed against or witnessed by the child.
       (i) The nature and extent of coercion or duress used by a
 parent in obtaining an agreement regarding legal decision making or
 parenting time.
       (j) (i) The reasonable preference of the child, if the court
 considers the child to be of sufficient age to express preference.
       (j) The willingness and ability of each of the parties to
 facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child
 relationship between the child and the other parent or the child
 and the parents. A court may not consider negatively for the
 purposes of this factor any reasonable action taken by a parent to
 protect a child or that parent from sexual assault or domestic
 violence by the child's other parent.
       (k) Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was
 directed against or witnessed by the child.
       (k) Whether either parent was convicted of an act of false
 reporting of child abuse or child neglect.
       (l) Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to
 a particular child custody dispute, including, but not limited to,
 the following:
       (i) Moral fitness of the parties involved.
       (ii) Capacity of either party to raise the child in the party's
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 religion or creed.
       (2) In a contested child custody case, the court shall make
 specific findings on the record about all relevant factors and the
 reasons for which the decision is in the child's best interests.
       Sec. 6a. (1) In custody disputes between parents, the parents
 shall must be advised of that the court shall adopt a parenting
 plan with the presumption that joint custody is in the child's best
 interests. At the request of either parent, the The court shall
 consider an award of joint custody. , and shall If joint custody is
 not awarded, the court shall state on the record the reasons reason
 for granting or denying a request. joint custody. In other cases
 custody disputes that are not solely between parents, the court may
 consider joint custody may be considered by the court. The court
 and shall determine whether joint custody is in the child's best
 interest of the child interests by considering the following
 factors:
       (a) The factors enumerated in section 3.
       (b) Whether the parents will be able to cooperate and
 generally agree concerning important decisions affecting the
 welfare of the child.
       (2) If the parents agree on joint custody, the court shall
 award joint custody unless the court determines on the record,
 based upon clear and convincing evidence, that joint custody is not
 in the best interests of the child.Consistent with the child's best
 interests, the court shall adopt a parenting plan that provides for
 both parents to share joint legal custody of the child and that
 provides maximized parenting time. The court shall not show
 preference to a parent in a proposed parenting plan because of the
 parent's or child's gender.
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       (3) If the court awards joint custody, the court may include
 in its award a statement regarding when the child shall reside with
 each parent, or may provide that physical custody be shared by the
 parents in a manner to assure the child continuing contact with
 both parents.Unless the court determines that it is not in the
 child's best interests, the court shall award joint physical
 custody to the parents.
       (4) During the time a child resides with a parent, that parent
 shall decide all routine matters concerning the child.
       (5) If there is a dispute regarding residency, joint physical
 custody is not awarded, the court shall state the basis for a
 residency award not awarding joint physical custody on the record
 or in writing.
       (6) Joint custody shall does not eliminate the responsibility
 for child support. Each parent shall be is responsible for child
 support based on the needs of the child and the actual resources of
 each parent. If a parent would otherwise be unable to maintain
 adequate housing for the child and the other parent has sufficient
 resources, the court may order modified support payments for a
 portion of housing expenses even during a period when the child is
 not residing in the home of the parent receiving support. An order
 of joint custody, in and of itself, shall not constitute is not
 grounds for modifying a support order.
       (7) As used in this section, "joint physical custody" means an
 order of the court in which 1 or both of the following is
 specified:the court specifies
       (a) That that the child shall reside alternately for equal
 specific periods with each of the parents.
       (b) That the parents shall share decision-making authority as
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 to the important decisions affecting the welfare of the child.
         Sec. 7. (1) If a child custody dispute has been submitted to
 the circuit court as an original action under this act or has
 arisen incidentally from another action in the circuit court or an
 order or judgment of the circuit court, and the court finds that
 maximized parenting time is not in the child's best interests, then
 for the child's best interests, of the child the court may do 1 or
 more of the following:
         (a) Award the custody of the child to 1 or more of the parties
 involved or to others and provide for payment of support for the
 child, until the child reaches 18 years of age. Subject to section
 5b of the support and parenting time enforcement act, 1982 PA 295,
 MCL 552.605b, the court may also order support as provided in this
 section for a child after he or she the child reaches 18 years of
 age. The court may require that support payments shall must be made
 through the friend of the court, court clerk, or state disbursement
 unit.
         (b) Provide for reasonable parenting time of the child by the
 parties involved, by the maternal or paternal grandparents, or by
 others, by general or specific terms and conditions. Parenting time
 of the child by the parents is governed by section 7a.
         (c) Subject to subsection (3), modify or amend its previous
 judgments or orders for proper cause shown or because of change of
 circumstances until the child reaches 18 years of age and, subject
 to section 5b of the support and parenting time enforcement act,
 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.605b, until the child reaches 19 years and 6
 months of age. The court shall not modify or amend its previous
 judgments or orders or issue a new order so as to change the
 established custodial environment of a child unless there is
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 presented clear and convincing evidence that it is in the child's
 best interest of the child. interests. The custodial environment of
 a child is established if over an appreciable time the child
 naturally looks to the custodian in that environment for guidance,
 discipline, the necessities of life, and parental comfort. The
 child's age, of the child, the physical environment, and the
 inclination of the custodian and the child as to permanency of the
 relationship shall must also be considered. If a motion for change
 of custody is filed while a parent is active duty, the court shall
 not consider a parent's absence due to that active duty status in a
 child's best interest of the child interests determination.
       (d) Utilize a guardian ad litem or the community resources in
 behavioral sciences and other professions in the investigation and
 study of custody disputes and consider their recommendations for
 the resolution of the disputes.
       (e) Take any other action considered to be necessary in a
 particular child custody dispute.
       (f) Upon petition, consider the reasonable grandparenting time
 of maternal or paternal grandparents as provided in section 7b and,
 if denied, make a record of the denial.
       (2) A judgment or order entered under this act providing for
 the support of a child is governed by and is enforceable as
 provided in the support and parenting time enforcement act, 1982 PA
 295, MCL 552.601 to 552.650. If this act contains a specific
 provision regarding the contents or enforcement of a support order
 that conflicts with a provision in the support and parenting time
 enforcement act, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.601 to 552.650, this act
 controls in regard to that provision.
       (3) As provided in the servicemembers civil relief act, 50 USC
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 501 to 597b, 3901 to 4043, if a motion for change of custody is
 filed during the time a parent is on deployment, a parent may file
 and the court shall entertain an application for stay. The court
 shall not enter an order modifying or amending a previous judgment
 or order, or issue a new order, that changes the child's placement
 that existed on the date the parent was called to deployment,
 except that the court may enter a temporary custody order if there
 is clear and convincing evidence that it is in the child's best
 interests. of the child. When a temporary custody order is issued
 under this subsection, the court may include a limit on the period
 of time that the temporary custody order remains in effect. At any
 stage before final judgment in the proceeding, the parent may file
 an application for stay or otherwise request a stay of the
 proceedings or file an application for an extension of a stay. The
 parent and the custodial child are not required to be present to
 consider the application for stay or extension of a stay. The
 application for stay or extension of a stay is sufficient if it is
 a signed, written statement, certified to be true under penalty of
 perjury. The same conditions for the initial stay apply to an
 application for an extension of a stay. The parent's duration of
 deployment shall must not be considered in making a child's best
 interest of the child interests determination.
       (4) The parent shall must inform the court of the deployment
 end date before or within by not later than 30 days after that
 deployment end date. Upon notification of a parent's deployment end
 date, the court shall reinstate the custody order in effect
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