To open a child custody case in Michigan, the core child custody forms you file are a Complaint for Custody, Parenting Time, and Child Support with a Summons if no family court case exists yet, or a Motion Regarding Custody (Form FOC 87) if one does. Every custody filing must include a Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act Affidavit (Form MC 416), and your local Friend of the Court will require its own intake paperwork. Filing runs through the MiFILE system and totals $255 for a new case, with a fee waiver available through Form MC 20.1Michigan Courts. Circuit Court Fee and Assessments Table
Forms to Open a New Custody Case
If you and the other parent were never married and no paternity, support, or divorce case involving your child currently exists, you’re opening a new case. Two documents do that work: a Complaint for Custody, Parenting Time, and Child Support, and a Summons. The complaint tells the court who the parents and child are, what orders already exist (if any), and what custody and parenting time arrangement you’re asking for. The summons is the document that formally notifies the other parent that a case has been filed.
File in the circuit court for the Michigan county where your child lives. Enter every name exactly as it appears on government-issued identification, list current addresses for both parents and the child, and identify any other court orders involving the child. Mismatches between names or addresses across your forms are one of the most common reasons a clerk rejects a filing.
Paternity is a threshold issue for unmarried parents. If legal paternity hasn’t been established, that has to happen first, either through a court order or an Affidavit of Parentage filed with the Michigan Division of Vital Records. Once filed, that affidavit has the same legal effect as a court finding of parentage and can support custody, parenting time, and child support.2Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Affidavit of Parentage
The Form to Use When a Case Already Exists
If there is already a family court case involving your child — a paternity action, a support case, or a divorce — you don’t open a new case. You file a Motion Regarding Custody (Form FOC 87) inside the existing case.3Michigan Legal Help. Overview of a Michigan Custody Case Either parent can file this motion. FOC 87 is also the form you use to change a custody order that has already been entered; the same document serves both purposes, and the section you complete depends on whether you’re asking for an initial order in an existing case or a modification of one.4Michigan Courts. Motion Regarding Custody
The UCCJEA Affidavit (Form MC 416)
Every Michigan custody case requires a completed Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act Affidavit, Form MC 416, attached to the very first document you file. Michigan law makes this mandatory; if you leave it out, the court can freeze the case until you file it.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722-1209
The affidavit collects three categories of information:
- Every place the child has lived during the past five years, including cities, states, and dates.6Michigan Courts. Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act Affidavit
- Every person who has had physical custody of the child during that period, with current addresses.
- Any other court proceedings anywhere in the country involving the child, including protective orders, termination of parental rights, and adoption cases.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722-1209
The purpose is jurisdictional. Courts use the answers to confirm that Michigan is the proper state to hear the case under a nationwide framework designed to keep parents from filing competing custody actions in different states. If disclosing an address would put you or your child at risk, you can ask the court to seal that information.
Friend of the Court Intake Paperwork
Alongside the complaint or motion, you’ll complete intake paperwork for the Friend of the Court (FOC), the agency that assists the judge in every Michigan custody case. The exact forms vary county by county, but they collect the same core information: employment history, pay rates, health insurance details, and biographical data for both parents and the children.7Michigan Courts. Uniform Child Support Order
Have this ready before you sit down with the forms: your employer’s name, your work schedule, your current income, and details about any health coverage available to you. The forms also ask about each child’s school, healthcare providers, and counselors. If you have children from other relationships, list them, because your existing support obligations feed into the court’s child support calculations.
Many counties also require parents to complete a parenting education program. The most common is SMILE (Start Making It Livable for Everyone), which involves watching a video, reviewing FOC materials, and submitting a questionnaire. Check with your local FOC office; the format and deadline vary.
How to File and What It Costs
Michigan uses an electronic filing system called MiFILE. Create an account on the MiFILE site, upload your completed forms as PDFs, select the correct circuit court, and pay online.8Michigan Courts. MiFILE
For a new custody case, the statewide fees are:
- Civil filing fee: $150
- Custody and parenting time fee: $80
- Electronic filing fee: $25
Total: $255.1Michigan Courts. Circuit Court Fee and Assessments Table A post-judgment motion to modify custody carries a $20 motion fee plus the $25 electronic filing fee, though some counties add local charges.
Fee Waiver: Form MC 20
If you can’t afford the filing fees, submit Form MC 20 to request a waiver. You qualify automatically if you receive means-tested public assistance such as Medicaid, food assistance (SNAP), or Supplemental Security Income. Without public assistance, you can still qualify by showing that your household income and expenses make paying the fees a genuine hardship.9Michigan Courts. Fee Waiver Request When the court waives the civil filing fee, it must also waive the electronic filing fee.
Serving the Other Parent
Filing is only the first half. Once the court accepts your paperwork and assigns a case number, you have to formally notify the other parent. Michigan Court Rule 2.105 allows two methods of service on an individual: personal delivery of the summons and complaint, or registered or certified mail with return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee. If you use mail, service is not complete until the other parent signs the return receipt.
You cannot serve the papers yourself. Personal delivery must be made by a process server or another adult who is not a party to the case. After service is complete, file proof of service with the court, either the process server’s affidavit or a copy of the signed return receipt.
The other parent then has 21 days to file an answer if personally served within Michigan, or 28 days if served by registered mail or outside the state.
Forms to Modify an Existing Custody Order
To change an existing custody order, file a Motion Regarding Custody (Form FOC 87) in the same case where the original order was entered. The motion asks you to identify the current custody arrangement, explain what has changed, and describe the arrangement you’re now requesting.4Michigan Courts. Motion Regarding Custody Attach a fresh UCCJEA affidavit; the earlier one from the original filing won’t carry over.
A modification motion has to clear a substantive hurdle before the court will even consider changing the arrangement. You must show either “proper cause” or a “change of circumstances,” and the bar is deliberately high. A change of circumstances must be something that happened after the last order and has a significant effect on the child. Normal changes as a child grows older don’t qualify, and neither do a parent’s financial problems that could be solved by adjusting child support.10Michigan Legal Help. Changing a Custody Order Examples courts have accepted include a parent beginning to abuse drugs or alcohol, routine failure to provide proper care, or documented abuse or neglect. A child’s stated preference to switch homes, on its own, generally is not enough.
Once you clear that threshold, the court weighs the modification using the same twelve statutory best interest factors that governed the original order, ranging from the emotional bond between parent and child to any history of domestic violence.11Michigan Courts. Custody Guideline The tone of what you write on FOC 87 matters. Judges pay attention to whether a parent supports the child’s relationship with the other parent or subtly undermines it, and that assessment often starts with the motion itself.
Emergency Ex Parte Orders
In genuinely dangerous situations, you can ask for an ex parte order, a temporary order the judge signs before the other parent is notified or has a chance to respond. These are reserved for emergencies where waiting for a hearing would cause irreversible harm to the child, or where giving notice would prompt the other parent to act in a way that endangers the child before the court could intervene.12Michigan Legal Help. Ex Parte Orders in Family Court
Judges grant ex parte custody orders sparingly. You need specific facts showing immediate risk, not general worry. If the judge signs the order, the other parent receives notice afterward and gets an opportunity for a hearing. The ex parte order holds things in place until the court can hear from both sides.
Where to Find the Forms
The State Court Administrative Office publishes the approved statewide forms — MC 416, MC 20, FOC 87, FOC 10, and others — on the Michigan Courts website, and copies are available at county clerk offices. County-specific FOC intake paperwork usually lives on the Friend of the Court page for your circuit court. Confirm you have the current version of each form before filing, because clerks will reject outdated versions.