An uncontested divorce in Michigan is one where you and your spouse agree, in writing, on every issue the court would otherwise decide: how to divide property and debts, whether anyone pays spousal support, and (if you have minor children) custody, parenting time, and child support. Once that agreement is on paper in the court’s required forms, you file in your county circuit court, pay $175 without minor children or $255 with them, wait out a mandatory 60-day or six-month period, and finalize the divorce at a short hearing.
Who Can File
At least one spouse must have lived in Michigan for 180 consecutive days immediately before filing, and that spouse must also have lived in the filing county for at least 10 days.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9 – Judgment of Divorce; Residency Requirement; Exception If the events behind the divorce happened outside Michigan, the residency requirement stretches to a full year.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9e – Divorce; Cause Occurring Out of State, Residence
There is one narrow exception to the 10-day county rule: you may file in any Michigan county if your spouse was born in or is a citizen of a foreign country, you have minor children together, and there is reason to believe the children could be taken out of the United States.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9 – Judgment of Divorce; Residency Requirement; Exception
Michigan is a no-fault state. The complaint only needs to allege that the marriage has broken down and there is no reasonable chance of saving it. You don’t prove anyone did anything wrong.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.6 – Complaint for Divorce; Filing; Grounds; Answer; Judgment
Settle Every Issue First
The case stays uncontested only as long as you and your spouse agree on everything. Leave one issue open, and the judge has to decide it, which turns the case into something slower and more expensive. Before you file, work through:
- Division of all marital property and debts, including the house, vehicles, bank and investment accounts, and anything each of you brought into the marriage that may have become marital.
- Retirement accounts, which often need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (more on this below).
- Whether either spouse will pay spousal support, how much, and for how long. Michigan has no formula; the court looks at ability to pay, each spouse’s circumstances, and the facts of the case before approving your agreement.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.23 – Judgment of Divorce or Separate Maintenance
- If you have minor children: legal and physical custody, a parenting-time schedule, and child support.
Gather financial records before you negotiate: account statements, retirement balances, real estate values, vehicle titles, and a full list of debts. The judge relies on what you put in the forms to confirm the agreement is fair, and incomplete disclosure can unravel a judgment later.
Equitable distribution governs the property side. Michigan divides marital assets in a way that is fair given the circumstances rather than down the middle, and the court can award either spouse a share of the other’s property when that spouse helped acquire, improve, or build it up.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.401 – Property Owned by Spouse; Award to Party Contributing to Acquisition, Improvement, or Accumulation Thereof Gifts and inheritances kept separate usually stay separate; the same money, run through a joint account for years, often doesn’t.
If You Have Minor Children
Even when parents agree, the judge measures the custody arrangement against Michigan’s 12 best-interest factors, which cover emotional bonds, each parent’s ability to provide for the child, home stability, community ties, and each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent. Domestic violence is a standalone factor whether or not the child witnessed it.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.23 – Best Interests of the Child
Any divorce involving children also requires a UCCJEA affidavit listing where the child lives now, every address for the past five years, who the child lived with during that time, and any other custody proceedings. Skip it and the court can freeze the case until you file one.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.1209 – Pleading or Sworn Statement; Information
Child support is not negotiable in the same way as the rest. Both parents must follow the Michigan Child Support Formula, which accounts for each parent’s income, overnights with each parent, childcare, and health insurance, unless the judge approves a deviation and the reasons for it.8Michigan Courts. Michigan Child Support Formula If your proposed number differs from the formula, be ready to explain why at the final hearing.
The Forms and the Filing Fee
Michigan uses standardized forms from the State Court Administrative Office, including the Summons, the Complaint for Divorce, and the Consent Judgment of Divorce that spells out your full agreement. Download them from the Michigan Courts website or pick up paper copies at your circuit court clerk’s office.9Michigan Courts. SCAO Approved Court Forms
Filing fees are statewide and set by statute. A divorce without minor children costs $175 ($150 civil filing fee plus $25 electronic filing system fee). With minor children it costs $255, adding an $80 custody and parenting time fee.10Michigan Courts. Circuit Court Fee and Assessments Table
Fee Waivers
You can ask the court to waive the fee. The clerk must waive it if you receive means-tested public assistance such as Medicaid, food assistance, SSI, or Family Independence Program benefits, or if you’re represented by a Legal Services Corporation grantee or a law school clinic serving indigent clients.11Michigan Courts. Michigan Court Rules – Chapter 2
Even without public assistance, you qualify for a mandatory waiver if your gross household income is below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines. For 2026, that’s $19,950 for a single-person household and $27,050 for two.12U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines Above that line, the court still has discretion to waive the fee if paying it would create hardship. Use the SCAO-approved request form; if the clerk can’t approve it outright, a judge reviews it.11Michigan Courts. Michigan Court Rules – Chapter 2
Serving Your Spouse
After filing, your spouse has to be formally notified. In an uncontested case, the simplest route is to have your spouse sign the Acknowledgment of Service section on the Proof of Service form, then file it with the clerk. That skips process servers and certified mail entirely.
If signing isn’t an option, you can have an adult who is not involved in the case hand-deliver the Summons and Complaint, or send them by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, restricted to your spouse. Service has to be completed within 91 days of filing the Summons. After being served, the defendant spouse has 21 days to respond, which in an uncontested case usually means filing an answer that admits the grounds for divorce.
The Waiting Period
Michigan requires a minimum wait between filing and finalizing. Without minor children, it’s 60 days. With minor children under 18, it’s six months.13Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9f – Divorce; Taking of Testimony; Minor Children
A judge can shorten the six-month wait to the 60-day minimum on a showing of unusual hardship or compelling necessity, but this is not routine. You file a motion explaining why waiting causes real harm; think safety-driven relocation or domestic violence, not scheduling inconvenience.13Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9f – Divorce; Taking of Testimony; Minor Children
The Final Hearing
Once the waiting period expires, you schedule a Pro Confesso hearing. It’s usually short. The judge puts you under oath and asks whether the allegations in the complaint are true, whether any minor children were born or adopted during the marriage, whether there’s any chance of reconciliation, and whether both spouses voluntarily approved the proposed judgment.14Jackson County, MI. Pro Confesso Format The judge also confirms the property split is equitable and, in cases with children, that child support follows the formula or that any deviation is adequately justified. The Friend of the Court must review and approve the judgment when children are involved.
Michigan requires live testimony even in an uncontested divorce. A judge can’t sign the judgment on paperwork and consent alone. If everything checks out, the judge signs the Judgment of Divorce at the hearing, which ends the marriage and makes your agreement a binding court order. If the judgment isn’t signed that day, you generally have 21 days to present a corrected version before a new hearing is needed.14Jackson County, MI. Pro Confesso Format The clerk files the signed judgment and issues certified copies.
Handle These in the Judgment, Not After
Retirement accounts. Employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s and pensions need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order to divide without triggering early withdrawal penalties or immediate tax. The QDRO must specify each person’s name and address, the dollar amount or percentage going to the non-employee spouse, the payment period, and which plan it applies to.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 1056 – Form and Payment of Benefits IRAs don’t require a QDRO, but the judgment should spell out the direct rollover to avoid penalties. Address the QDRO before or at the time of the final judgment. Couples who leave it for later often pay for the delay.
Name restoration. If you changed your surname when you married, the judgment is the easiest place to change it back. Michigan law lets the court restore your birth name or a prior surname, or allow a different one if the change isn’t made with fraudulent intent, whether you filed or were served.16Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.391 – Change of Name of Divorced Woman Doing it here avoids a separate petition and its fees.
Who claims the children on taxes. Your filing status for the whole year is set by your marital status on December 31. If the divorce is final by then, you file as single or, if you qualify, head of household; no joint return for that year.17Internal Revenue Service. Filing Taxes After Divorce or Separation The IRS treats the parent with more overnights as the custodial parent, who generally claims the children. To let the noncustodial parent claim the child tax credit, the custodial parent signs IRS Form 8332 and the noncustodial parent attaches it to their return; the custodial parent can revoke it for future years, effective no earlier than the tax year after notice is given.18Internal Revenue Service. Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent Put the arrangement in your settlement agreement so it isn’t a yearly fight.