The Michigan divorce process step by step runs from establishing residency and filing a no-fault complaint, through serving your spouse and waiting out a mandatory cooling-off period, to resolving custody, support, and property before a judge signs the final Judgment of Divorce. The minimum wait is 60 days from filing, and six months if you have minor children. Everything else — the paperwork, the hearings, the Friend of the Court involvement — fits inside that timeline.
Step 1: Confirm You Meet the Residency Rules
Before you file anything, you or your spouse must have lived in Michigan for at least 180 consecutive days, and one of you must have lived in the county where you plan to file for at least 10 days.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9 – Judgment of Divorce; Residency Requirement; Exception File too early and the judge can dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, forcing you to start over once you qualify.
Step 2: File the Complaint and Pay the Filing Fee
You start the case by completing a Summons (form MC 01) and a Complaint for Divorce, both available from the circuit court clerk or the Michigan Courts website. The complaint lists the legal names of both spouses, your marriage date, your separation date, and a statement that the marriage has broken down to the point it cannot be preserved.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.6 – Complaint for Divorce; Filing; Grounds; Answer; Judgment Michigan law prohibits you from listing any other reason beyond that standard no-fault language.
If you have minor children, you also file a Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act Affidavit (form MC 316) describing where the children have lived and whether any other custody case exists. List real estate, debts, and retirement accounts accurately in your initial paperwork; leaving things out invites expensive fights later.
Filing fees run around $175 for a divorce without children and about $255 with children, with slight variation by county. If you cannot afford the fee, request a waiver on form MC 20. The court grants it when household income is below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or when paying would create genuine hardship above that threshold.3Michigan Courts. MC 20, Fee Waiver Request If the waiver is denied, you have 14 days to pay the fee and keep your original filing date. Most counties accept electronic filing through MiFILE.4Michigan Courts. MiFILE
Step 3: Serve Your Spouse
Once the clerk stamps the Summons and assigns a case number, you have to formally notify your spouse. Michigan Court Rule 2.105 allows two main methods: a third party hand-delivers the Summons and complaint, or you send them by certified mail with return receipt requested, restricted to the addressee. With certified mail, your spouse must personally sign the receipt for service to count.5Michigan Courts. Service of Process Table Whoever delivers the papers completes a Proof of Service form, which gets filed with the court.
Service starts the clock on your spouse’s time to file a written answer.
If Your Spouse Does Not Answer
When your spouse ignores the complaint, you can ask the clerk to enter a default. Notice of the default must be mailed to your spouse even if they never appeared. You can then move for a default judgment, and the court must give your spouse at least seven days’ notice before granting it.6Michigan Courts. Default and Default Judgments A defaulted spouse loses the right to participate in key parts of the case, including property division, so silence can be very costly.
Step 4: Wait Out the Mandatory Cooling-Off Period
Michigan law prevents a judge from taking testimony or entering a final judgment until a statutory waiting period has run. For couples without minor children, the minimum is 60 days from the date the complaint was filed. With dependent children under 18, the minimum is six months.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9f – Divorce; Taking of Testimony; Minor Children
A judge may shorten the six-month period for unusual hardship or compelling necessity, but even then testimony cannot be taken until 60 days have passed.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.9f – Divorce; Taking of Testimony; Minor Children The 60-day floor is non-negotiable. The waiting period runs no matter how quickly you reach an agreement; you cannot speed past it just because everything is settled.
Step 5: Work With the Friend of the Court
If your case involves minor children or a request for spousal support, every county’s Friend of the Court (FOC) gets involved. The FOC investigates custody, parenting time, and child support disputes and prepares a written report with recommendations for the judge. Child support follows the Michigan Child Support Formula; custody follows the statutory best-interest factors.
Watch this deadline closely: a FOC recommendation becomes a court order unless you file a written objection within 21 days of being served with it. Miss the objection window and you are bound by whatever the FOC recommended.
Some counties also offer FOC-run mediation or facilitative conferences. Unlike a neutral mediator, the FOC worker can prepare a recommended order when parents cannot agree. After the divorce, the FOC enforces custody, parenting-time, and support orders through tools that include income withholding, tax refund interception, license suspension, and contempt proceedings.
Step 6: Resolve Property, Custody, and Support
Property Division
Michigan follows equitable distribution, which means the court divides marital property fairly under the circumstances, not necessarily 50/50. A judge can award one spouse all or part of the other’s real estate, personal property, or other assets if that spouse contributed to acquiring or improving the property during the marriage.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.401 – Decree of Divorce or Separate Maintenance; Award of Property Courts weigh the length of the marriage, each spouse’s earning ability, age and health, how the property was acquired, and each person’s contributions, including homemaking. Property owned before the marriage or received as a gift or inheritance is generally separate, though it can still be divided if fairness requires it.
Child Custody and Parenting Time
Custody turns on the best interests of the child, and the statute lists twelve specific factors a judge must evaluate: the emotional bond between parent and child, each parent’s ability to provide for physical and educational needs, the stability of each home, the child’s school and community ties, each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent, the child’s own preference if old enough to express one, each parent’s moral fitness and health, and any history of domestic violence whether or not the child witnessed it.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.23 – Best Interests of the Child A parent who takes reasonable steps to protect a child from domestic violence or sexual assault cannot be penalized under the cooperation factor.
Parenting time is a separate determination. Even a parent without primary custody has the right to reasonable parenting time unless the court finds it would endanger the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health.
Spousal Support
A judge can award spousal support to either spouse if the property settlement alone is not enough for suitable support and maintenance. The court looks at each spouse’s ability to pay, the character and situation of the parties, and all other circumstances.10Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 552.23 – Alimony In practice, judges also weigh the length of the marriage, each person’s age and health, the standard of living during the marriage, and whether one spouse sacrificed career advancement for the family. If you want support, you must include that request in your initial complaint, allege facts showing both your need and your spouse’s ability to pay, and provide a verified financial statement to the Friend of the Court.
Step 7: Finalize the Divorce
Once the waiting period has run and the FOC has done its work, your case follows one of three paths to a signed judgment.
Uncontested
If you and your spouse agree on everything, you draft a settlement agreement and submit it to the court. The judge holds a brief hearing called a “pro confesso” hearing, where you testify under oath that the marriage has broken down beyond repair and that you accept the terms. If the judge is satisfied, the Judgment of Divorce is signed that day or shortly after. This is the fastest and cheapest route.
Default
When your spouse was served but never responded and a default has been entered, the case proceeds much like an uncontested one. You still attend a hearing and present testimony, but your spouse has forfeited the right to contest the terms. The judge reviews the proposed judgment to confirm it is fair and lawful before signing.
Contested
When disputes remain, the case moves through discovery, often mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution, and ultimately a trial. The judge enters a scheduling order with deadlines for exchanging financial documents, completing depositions, and attempting settlement. Trials can run from a few hours for narrow disputes to several days for complex property or custody battles. The judge decides any issue the parties could not resolve.
Whichever path you take, the signed judgment must be filed with the court clerk to be enforceable. Once recorded, the marriage is legally dissolved and both parties are restored to single status.
Step 8: Handle What Comes After the Judgment
A signed judgment is not the end of the paperwork. Several deadlines kick in immediately.
Divide Retirement Accounts With a QDRO
If either spouse has a 401(k), pension, or other employer-sponsored retirement plan, you cannot split it by agreement alone. Federal law requires a court-issued Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) before a plan administrator will pay any portion of retirement benefits to an ex-spouse.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 414 – Definitions and Special Rules The QDRO must identify both spouses, name each plan being divided, specify the dollar amount or percentage going to the non-participant spouse, and state the time period it covers.12U.S. Department of Labor. Qualified Domestic Relations Orders – An Overview The plan administrator decides whether a submitted order qualifies.
Retirement funds distributed to an ex-spouse under a QDRO are exempt from the 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty that normally applies before age 59½.13Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – Exceptions to Tax on Early Distributions This exception covers employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s but does not extend to IRAs. Income tax still applies.
Health Insurance
Divorce is a qualifying event under federal COBRA law, so an ex-spouse covered under the other’s employer plan loses coverage when the divorce is final.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 1163 – Qualifying Event You generally have 60 days from the divorce date or the date coverage ends, whichever is later, to elect COBRA, which can continue the same plan for up to 36 months. You pay the full premium plus a 2 percent administrative fee, so compare marketplace and employer options before defaulting to COBRA.
Social Security
If your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you may be eligible to collect Social Security on your ex-spouse’s earnings record starting at age 62. You must be currently unmarried, and you must have been divorced for at least two years if your ex has not yet started collecting. The benefit can be up to half of your ex’s full retirement benefit.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments Claiming on an ex’s record does not reduce their benefit or affect a new spouse’s. If your own benefit is higher, you receive your own instead.
Name and Record Changes
If you are changing your name, the Judgment of Divorce serves as the legal name-change document. Update Social Security first by using a “my Social Security” account online where available or by filing Form SS-5.16Social Security Administration. How Do I Change or Correct My Name on My Social Security Number Card? Then take the new card and judgment to the Secretary of State to update your driver’s license, and notify your bank, employer, and insurance providers.
If Your Spouse Is on Active Military Duty
Federal law can slow or pause your case when a spouse is on active duty. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a court must grant a stay of at least 90 days if the service member files an application showing that military duties prevent a court appearance, along with a letter from a commanding officer confirming leave is not authorized.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice The stay can be renewed, and if the court denies an additional stay, it must appoint an attorney for the absent service member. A court also cannot enter a default judgment against an active-duty service member without following SCRA procedures. These protections must be affirmatively raised by the service member or their attorney; the court will not raise them on its own.