To file a motion for custody in Michigan, complete form FOC 87 (Motion Regarding Custody), attach the UCCJEA affidavit (MC 416), and submit both to the circuit court clerk in the county handling your family case along with the filing fee. The fee runs $20 for a motion in an existing case and $80 or more for a brand-new custody filing.1Michigan Courts. Circuit Court Fee and Assessments Table After filing, you must have the other parent formally served, and the case is referred to the Friend of the Court before any hearing.
First-Time Order or Changing an Existing One
Which situation you’re in changes what your motion has to prove.
If no custody order exists yet, your motion simply asks the court to establish one. You explain what arrangement serves the child’s best interests, and the judge decides.
If an order already exists, Michigan law requires you to clear a threshold before a judge will reconsider it. You must show either “proper cause” or a “change of circumstances” since the last order was entered.2Michigan Legislature. MCL 722-27 A change of circumstances must be something that happened after the last order, and it has to go beyond ordinary shifts in a child’s life. A child getting older, or wanting to switch households, is not enough on its own. Courts take seriously things like a parent developing a substance abuse problem, becoming absent from the home, or evidence of abuse or neglect. Financial trouble usually does not qualify when child support could address it.
Proper cause works similarly but ties directly to one or more of the 12 best-interest factors, and the issue must have a significant effect on the child. If you can’t meet either standard, the judge denies the motion without reaching the merits and the current order stands.
The Forms You Need
The main document is the Motion Regarding Custody (FOC 87), an SCAO-approved form available from the Michigan One Court of Justice website or your county clerk.3Michigan Courts. FOC 87, Motion Regarding Custody Three sections of the form deserve real care:
- Proper cause or changed circumstances. If you’re modifying an existing order, detail what has changed since the last order. The form directs you to attach a separate sheet.
- Best interests of the child. Identify the specific factors from the Child Custody Act that support your request and explain the facts behind each one on an attached sheet.
- Requested order. Spell out exactly what custody, parenting time, and support arrangement you want.
Attached to the FOC 87, you must file the UCCJEA Affidavit (MC 416). It records where the child has lived for the past five years and whether any other custody proceedings are pending anywhere else. Michigan requires it in every custody case to confirm the right state is handling the matter.4Michigan Legislature. MCL 722-1209 – Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act Leave it out and the court can freeze your case until you supply it.
Have on hand each parent’s full legal name and current address, the children’s full names and birthdates, and the existing case number if you’re modifying a prior order. Make at least four copies of the complete packet: one for the court, one for the other parent, one for the Friend of the Court, and one for your own records.
Where to File and What It Costs
File with the circuit court clerk in the county where your original family case was heard. For a brand-new case with no prior family court file, you generally file in the county where the child lives.
According to the Michigan circuit court fee schedule, the custody and parenting time filing fee is $80, and a general motion fee is $20.1Michigan Courts. Circuit Court Fee and Assessments Table A new case may carry additional civil filing fees on top of the custody-specific charge, so ask the clerk for the full total before you go in.
If you can’t afford the fees, file a Fee Waiver Request (MC 20) with your motion.5Michigan Courts. Form MC 20 – Fee Waiver Request The court grants the waiver if your gross household income is below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines, or if payment would cause financial hardship above that line. You qualify automatically if you receive means-tested benefits like Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, or TANF.
Many Michigan circuit courts accept filings through the statewide electronic system, MiFILE. Attorneys must e-file; self-represented parents can use it voluntarily.6Michigan Courts. MiFILE Brief No. 7 You upload your forms, pay online, and expect a small credit card surcharge. Not every county is live on the system, so confirm with your clerk before relying on it.7Michigan Courts. MiFILE
Serving the Other Parent
After filing, you must formally deliver copies of the motion and all attachments to the other parent. This is called service, and getting it wrong can derail your case before it starts. You cannot serve the papers yourself. Michigan court rules require a legally competent adult who is not a party to the case to do it.8Michigan Courts. Michigan Civil Procedure – Service of Process Two methods are standard:
- Personal service. A friend, family member, or professional process server hands the documents to the other parent. This is the most reliable option.
- Certified or registered mail with return receipt requested. Service only counts if the other parent actually signs the receipt.
Whoever serves the papers completes a Proof of Service documenting when, where, and how, and that form is filed with the clerk.
Once served, the other parent can file a written response. The FOC 87 itself tells the receiving parent to contact the Friend of the Court for form FOC 88, the Response to Motion Regarding Custody. That response must be filed before the hearing date, with a copy sent to you.
What Happens After You File
Your case is referred to the Friend of the Court (FOC), the branch of the circuit court that handles the investigative and administrative side of custody, parenting time, and support disputes. Two FOC stages are possible before a hearing.
Mediation
The FOC offers domestic relations mediation to help parents reach a voluntary agreement. Participation is not mandatory, and neither parent can be forced into it.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552-513 An agreement reached in mediation becomes a consent order submitted to the judge for approval. Anything said in mediation is confidential and cannot be used later as evidence.
Investigation and Recommendation
When the judge directs it, the FOC conducts a custody investigation. An investigator interviews both parents, may visit each home, talks to the children if they’re old enough, and gathers information tied to the best-interest factors. The result is a written report with a recommendation on custody and parenting time, and both parents get a copy.10Michigan Courts. Custody and Parenting Time Investigation Manual
The recommendation carries weight but is not the final word. If you disagree, the case proceeds to a hearing where the judge decides independently based on all the evidence. If a referee hears the matter instead of a judge, either parent can object to the referee’s recommended order within 21 days of being served with it.11Michigan Courts. FOC 68 – Objection to Referees Recommended Order
The 12 Best Interest Factors to Address in Your Motion
Michigan judges decide custody by weighing 12 factors from the Child Custody Act, and your motion should speak directly to the ones that support your position.12Michigan Legislature. MCL 722-23 – Child Custody Act of 1970
- The love, affection, and emotional ties between each parent and the child.
- Each parent’s capacity and disposition to give love, guidance, education, and religious upbringing.
- Each parent’s capacity to provide food, clothing, medical care, and other material needs.
- The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the value of continuity.
- The permanence of the existing or proposed custodial home as a family unit.
- The moral fitness of each parent.
- The mental and physical health of each parent.
- The child’s home, school, and community record.
- The child’s reasonable preference, if the court considers the child old enough to express one.
- Each parent’s willingness to encourage a close relationship between the child and the other parent. Reasonable steps a parent takes to protect a child from domestic violence or sexual assault cannot be held against them here.
- Domestic violence, whether directed at or witnessed by the child.
- Any other factor the court finds relevant to the dispute.
Judges don’t tally wins. They weigh the factors against the facts of your case, and some matter far more than others depending on circumstances. On your attached sheet, name the specific factors that favor you and explain the concrete facts behind each one. Vague claims about being a good parent don’t help.
Established Custodial Environment and the Burden You’ll Carry
Before weighing the best-interest factors, the judge first decides whether an “established custodial environment” exists with one or both parents. A child has one when, over a meaningful period, the child naturally looks to a parent for guidance, discipline, daily needs, and comfort.2Michigan Legislature. MCL 722-27
The finding sets your burden of proof. If what you’re requesting would change the established custodial environment, you must show by clear and convincing evidence that the change serves the child’s best interests. That’s a high bar. If the arrangement you want would not disrupt it, the standard drops to a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not. Think carefully about whether your proposal actually changes where and with whom the child primarily lives, because that single question can decide your case.
Emergency Situations: Ex Parte Orders
If your child faces immediate danger from abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, the ordinary motion timeline may be too slow. Michigan allows a parent to request an ex parte custody order, meaning the judge can act without the other parent being present or notified first. These orders are reserved for genuine emergencies.
An ex parte motion must include an affidavit stating whether the child has an established custodial environment and either that the requested order would not change it, or that clear and convincing evidence supports the change. If the judge grants the order, you must serve a copy on the other parent and the Friend of the Court within three days. The other parent then has 14 days after service to file an objection, which triggers a hearing. If the judge denies your ex parte request, you have 21 days to object.
An ex parte order holds only until the court replaces it with a final custody order after a full hearing. It is a temporary bridge, not a resolution.