The Macomb County parenting time schedule is the default template the 16th Judicial Circuit Court uses when parents don’t have their own agreement: the noncustodial parent gets alternating weekends, one weekday evening, a rotating list of holidays, and three weeks each summer. The Friend of the Court publishes the guidelines and enforces whatever schedule the judge ultimately signs.1Macomb County. Friend of the Court Parents are free to agree to something different, and the court will generally approve their agreement unless clear and convincing evidence shows it would harm the child.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.27a – Parenting Time When they can’t agree, the schedule below is what fills the gap.
Weekends and the Weekday Evening
The noncustodial parent has the child every other weekend from 6:00 p.m. Friday until 7:00 p.m. Sunday during the school year. In summer, that Sunday return time stretches to 8:00 p.m.
On top of alternating weekends, the noncustodial parent gets one weekday evening each week from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. during the school year, extended to 9:00 p.m. in summer. If the parents can’t settle on which weekday, the default is Thursday.3Macomb County. General Parenting Time Schedule
Holiday Rotation
Holidays override the regular weekend rotation. If Thanksgiving lands on your scheduled weekend, the holiday schedule controls, not the weekend one.3Macomb County. General Parenting Time Schedule
Two holidays are fixed. Memorial Day weekend always goes to the noncustodial parent, from Friday at 6:00 p.m. through Memorial Day at 7:00 p.m. Labor Day weekend always goes to the custodial parent on the same terms.
The rest alternate between even and odd years:
- Thanksgiving runs from 6:00 p.m. the Wednesday before through 7:00 p.m. Sunday. Father takes even years, Mother takes odd years.
- Fourth of July runs from July 3 at 6:00 p.m. through July 5 at 7:00 p.m., alternating on the same pattern.
- Halloween runs from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on October 31, alternating on the same pattern.
- Christmas and winter break split at 9:00 p.m. on December 24. In odd years, Father takes the first half (last day of school through 9:00 p.m. Christmas Eve) and Mother takes the second half (9:00 p.m. Christmas Eve through January 1 at 7:00 p.m.). In even years, they swap.
- Easter/spring break and mid-winter break each run from 6:00 p.m. the day school lets out through 7:00 p.m. the evening before school resumes. Father takes Easter/spring break in even years and mid-winter break in odd years; Mother takes the opposite.
- Children’s birthdays run from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with Mother in odd years and Father in even years. If a birthday collides with a court-ordered holiday or school break, the holiday wins.3Macomb County. General Parenting Time Schedule
Summer Parenting Time
Each parent gets a total of three weeks with the child during the summer. No more than two of those weeks can be taken consecutively.
A single week means seven consecutive overnights beginning at 6:00 p.m. Friday on that parent’s regular alternating weekend. A two-week block means fourteen consecutive overnights, starting the same way.
Parents must exchange their preferred summer dates by May 15. Missing that deadline doesn’t erase your three weeks, but you may be stuck picking from whatever the other parent hasn’t already claimed.3Macomb County. General Parenting Time Schedule
The 30-Minute Rule for Exchanges
Life happens, and the Macomb County guidelines account for it. A parent who arrives within 30 minutes of the scheduled exchange time because of an unexpected circumstance is generally not treated as violating the order.
Once a parent is more than 30 minutes late without communicating, the waiting parent is free to leave with the child.416th Circuit Court. Macomb County Parenting Time Guidelines Cutting it close every week is exactly the pattern that draws an enforcement complaint.
Changing the Schedule
Once a parenting time order is signed, you can’t rewrite it just because you’d prefer different days. Michigan law requires you to show “proper cause” or a “change of circumstances” before a judge will reconsider the order.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.27 – Powers of Court The threshold you have to clear depends on what you’re asking for.
If the change would alter the child’s established custodial environment, the bar is high. You’d need something significant that happened after the last order, such as a parent’s drug or alcohol abuse, a pattern of failing to provide care, or extended absence from the home. Ordinary life changes, tight finances, or a child wanting to switch households don’t clear it.
If you’re asking to adjust the timing or duration of visits without disrupting the custodial environment, the threshold is lower. A new work schedule, an evolving school routine, or extracurricular activities that conflict with existing parenting time can qualify. To add, remove, or change a condition on parenting time, such as supervised visits or drug testing, you need to show the child’s best interests are no longer served by the current order.
When the court weighs any of this, it works through the twelve best-interest factors in MCL 722.23, which cover the emotional bond, each parent’s capacity to provide guidance and material support, stability of the home, moral fitness, mental and physical health, the child’s adjustment to school and community, the child’s preference if mature enough to express one, each parent’s willingness to encourage the other’s relationship with the child, and any history of domestic violence.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.23 – Best Interests of the Child No single factor decides the case.
Enforcement When the Other Parent Ignores the Order
A parenting time order is not a suggestion. If the other parent denies your time, arrives hours late repeatedly, or ignores the schedule entirely, Michigan gives you real enforcement tools.
The process starts with a written complaint to the Friend of the Court describing specific violations. Once the FOC receives a written complaint with specific facts, it must begin enforcement and send a copy of the complaint to both parents within 14 days.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.644 – Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act
If informal enforcement doesn’t fix the problem, the case moves toward contempt. When the court finds a parent violated the order without good cause, the judge must find contempt and can impose any combination of the following:
- Makeup parenting time compensating for what was wrongfully denied.
- Fines of up to $100 per violation for contempt.
- Bad-faith sanctions of up to $250 the first time, $500 the second time, and $1,000 for the third or any later finding, plus the other parent’s costs.
- Up to 45 days in jail for a first contempt finding and up to 90 days for each later one.
- Conditional suspension of the violating parent’s driver’s, occupational, or recreational license.
- Placement under FOC supervision with conditions such as parenting classes, substance abuse counseling, or employment requirements.
The penalties escalate on purpose. A first violation usually draws makeup time and a warning; repeat offenders face jail, license consequences, and mounting fines.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.644 – Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act If a parent skips a show cause hearing, the court can issue a bench warrant and order the arrested parent to pay the resulting costs.8Michigan Courts. Motion and Order to Show Cause for Contempt (Custody/Parenting Time)
Before You Move: The 100-Mile Rule
The schedule assumes both parents live reasonably close. Michigan requires court approval before a parent with legal custody moves more than 100 miles from the child’s current legal residence, when the move would increase the distance between the parents’ homes and the other parent doesn’t consent. Any move out of state needs court approval regardless of distance.9Michigan Courts. Changing Childs Legal Residence (100-Mile Rule) Checklist This comes up often in Macomb County given the Ohio and Canadian borders.
To get approval, the moving parent must show the move would genuinely improve life for both the child and that parent, that each parent has been following the current order, that the move isn’t meant to undermine the other parent’s time, and that a modified schedule could preserve the child’s relationship with both parents. Any history of domestic violence also factors in. Moving first and asking permission later is one of the fastest ways to lose credibility with a Macomb County judge.