Michigan grandparent visitation rights do exist, but they are narrow. State law lets a grandparent ask a court for scheduled time with a grandchild, called “grandparenting time,” only when the family fits one of six specific situations and only when the grandparent can prove that the parent’s refusal to allow visits creates a real risk of harm to the child. The statute is built around the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Troxel v. Granville, which recognized that fit parents have a constitutional right to decide who spends time with their children.1Legal Information Institute. Troxel v. Granville Loving a grandchild is not enough. You have to show the court that cutting off contact actively hurts the child.
Who Can File in Michigan
Michigan Compiled Laws 722.27b lists the only circumstances that give a grandparent legal standing to ask for visitation. If none applies, the court will not hear the case at all.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970 You have standing if:
- A divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment action involving the child’s parents is pending or has been decided.
- Your own child, who is the grandchild’s parent, has died.
- The child’s parents were never married, do not live together, and paternity has been legally established through an acknowledgment of parentage, an order of filiation, or a court ruling.3Michigan Legislature. The Paternity Act
- Legal custody of the child has been given to someone other than a parent, or the child lives outside a parent’s home.
- You provided an established custodial environment for the child during the year before filing, whether or not you had a formal custody order.
One situation blocks standing entirely: when the child’s parents are married, living together, and raising the child as an intact family, you cannot file. Michigan law does not open its courts to visitation claims against a functioning two-parent household.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970
What You Have to Prove
Standing gets you in the door. Winning an order requires clearing two separate hurdles, and the first is the hard one.
Rebutting the Fit-Parent Presumption
Michigan law presumes that when a fit parent decides to deny grandparenting time, that decision does not create a substantial risk of harm to the child. The grandparent has to rebut that presumption by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning you must show it is more likely than not that the parent’s refusal does create a substantial risk of harm to the child’s mental, physical, or emotional health.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970 If you cannot clear this step, the case ends and the court dismisses it.
Most grandparenting time cases fail here. Preponderance sounds like a modest standard, but proving that a parent’s decision actively harms a child takes more than testimony that the child enjoys your visits. Courts look for evidence of an existing, deep bond whose loss would cause genuine emotional damage, often supported by professionals who know the child.
The Best-Interest Factors
Only after you rebut the presumption does the court weigh whether grandparenting time actually serves the child’s best interests. The statute lists factors the court must consider, including the emotional ties between you and the child, the length and nature of your prior relationship, your moral fitness and physical and mental health, the child’s reasonable preference if the child is old enough, any hostility between you and the parent and whether it would harm the child, your willingness to encourage a close relationship between the child and both parents, any history of abuse or neglect by you, and the parent’s motivation for denying visitation.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970
The parent’s motivation matters. A refusal rooted in genuine concern about the child’s well-being carries different weight than one rooted in a personal grudge, and courts notice the difference.
When Both Parents Agree to Say No
If two fit, married parents both sign an affidavit stating that they oppose grandparenting time, the court must dismiss the case. No hearing, no weighing of evidence.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970 A grandparent facing unified opposition from two fit parents has no legal path forward in Michigan.
How Adoption Changes Things
Adoption generally ends any right to grandparenting time. When a grandchild is adopted or even placed for adoption, existing orders terminate and you lose standing to file a new case.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970
One exception matters. If your adult child has died and the surviving parent’s new spouse adopts the grandchild, you keep your standing to seek grandparenting time. The law preserves that path for grandparents of a deceased parent in a stepparent adoption.
Filing the Petition
Where to File and What to File
Where you file depends on whether a case involving the child is already open. If there is an existing family court case, such as the parents’ divorce, you file a motion inside that case. If no case exists, you file a complaint in the circuit court for the county where the child lives.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970
Your main document is a Complaint for Grandparenting Time or, in an existing case, a motion. You must attach a sworn affidavit describing your relationship with the child, identifying which standing category you fall under, and explaining why the parent’s refusal to allow visits harms the child. Court forms are available from the Michigan Courts website or the circuit court clerk’s office. Before you fill them out, gather full names and current addresses for the child, both parents, and yourself, plus dates for the key events that establish standing, such as a divorce, a parent’s death, or the establishment of paternity.
Filing Fees
The civil complaint filing fee in Michigan circuit court is $150, plus a $25 electronic filing system fee, for a base of $175.4Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 600.2529 An additional $80 fee applies to actions that determine custody or parenting time of a minor child.5Michigan Courts. Circuit Court Fee and Assessments Table Whether the $80 applies to a grandparenting time filing can depend on how the clerk categorizes it, so ask when you submit. If you cannot afford the fees, request a fee waiver from the court.
Serving the Parents
Each parent must receive formal notice of the lawsuit. You cannot deliver the papers yourself. Someone at least 18 years old who is not a party to the case has to serve a copy of the summons and complaint on each parent, either by personal delivery or by certified mail with return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee.6Michigan Courts. Service of Process After service is complete, file proof of service with the court.
What Happens After You File
The judge may send the case to mediation, though it is not automatic. The court generally has that discretion once the grandparent has successfully rebutted the fit-parent presumption. If mediation fails to produce an agreement within a reasonable time, the case returns to court for a hearing.
At the hearing, you carry the burden of proof at every stage. Evidence on the presumption comes first, and only if you clear it does the court move to the best-interest factors. Come prepared with documentation: photographs showing regular involvement, records of past caregiving, and testimony from counselors or teachers who know your relationship with the child. The court will issue written findings explaining its decision.
Changing or Enforcing an Existing Order
Modifying the Order
Either a grandparent or a parent can ask the court to change or end an existing grandparenting time order, but the bar is high. The person asking must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that circumstances have changed since the order was entered or that previously unknown facts have come to light, and that modifying or ending the order is necessary to prevent a substantial risk of harm to the child. The court must issue specific factual findings.2Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.27b – Child Custody Act of 1970 A grandparenting time order does not create parental rights and does not block other courts from acting on custody, parental rights, or adoption.
When a Parent Will Not Comply
If a parent refuses to follow the schedule, Michigan’s Friend of the Court office can step in. Depending on the situation, the office may apply makeup time, start civil contempt proceedings, schedule mediation, hold a joint meeting, or file a motion to modify the order.7Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 552.641 A complaint has to be filed within 56 days of the violation, so do not sit on the problem for months.
If the Child Lives in Another State
When the grandchild lives in Michigan, Michigan courts generally have jurisdiction. If a parent moves the child out of state, things get complicated. Michigan follows the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which uses a “home state” test: the state where the child lived for the six consecutive months before the case was filed has first priority.8Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 722.1201 If the child has recently moved out of Michigan but a parent still lives here, Michigan may keep jurisdiction for six months after the child leaves. After that window closes with no parent remaining in Michigan, jurisdiction can shift. Timing matters, and filing in the wrong state can sink the case, so consult a Michigan family law attorney before you file across state lines.