Child Custody & Parenting Time Lawyers in Birmingham, Michigan

We represent women in 9 counties: Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, Genesee, Lapeer and St. Clair.

Helping You Do What Is Best for Your Child

Whether you are married or unmarried, child custody and parenting time issues can be some of the most difficult family law issues to resolve. We understand that mothers want to do what is best for their children and sometimes, you need the help of a skilled child custody lawyer to help you get it.

At The Law Firm of Victoria, P.C., our Michigan law firm has helped over 15,000 women with their family law matters over the past 25 years.

We have the knowledge and experience it takes and we can work tirelessly to help you obtain child custody and parenting time order that is consistent with your child’s best interest.

Legal Custody in Michigan

Legal custody can be sole or joint and gives one or both parents the right to make decisions for the child regarding education, health care, religion, and the child’s general welfare.

In most cases, both parents, on their own or with the help of their attorneys, can come to an agreement on the issue of custody.

If the parties cannot agree, the court will intervene and make a decision based on the “best interests of the child.”

The courts weigh the following factors when determining what is in the child’s best interest:

• The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parties involved and the child;
• The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the education and raising of the child in his or her religion or creed if any;
• The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care, or other remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state in place of medical care, and other material needs;
• The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity;
• The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes;
• The moral fitness of the parties involved;
• The mental and physical health of the parties involved;
• The home, school, and community record of the child;
• The reasonable preference of the child, if the court considers the child to be of sufficient age to express preference;
• The willingness and ability of each of the parties to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent or the child and the parents;
• Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was directed against or witnessed by the child; and
• Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to a child custody dispute.

Physical Custody & Parenting Time

Physical custody defines where the child lives on a day to day basis and is a separate issue from legal custody.

The specific times a child spends with each parent are usually set forth in a parenting time schedule. Our attorneys are experienced in negotiating parenting time arrangements that are agreeable to both parties and in the best interests of the child.

Can Child Custody or Parenting Time Schedules Be Modified?

The court always retains jurisdiction over child custody and parenting time to modify its previous judgments or orders upon a showing of proper cause or a change in circumstances, if such a modification is in the child’s best interests.