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Legal Information: Michigan

Custody

Updated: 
March 27, 2024

Can a grandparent file for grandparenting time?

Michigan law allows for a grandparent to file for “grandparenting time” under one of the following circumstances:

  • the child’s parents are in the middle of a divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment process in court;
  • the child’s parents are divorced, separated under a judgment of separate maintenance, or have had their marriage annulled;
  • the grandparent’s son/daughter, who was the child’s parent, died;
  • paternity has been established but the child’s parents have never been married and they are not living in the same household;
  • legal custody has been given to someone who is not the child’s parent but an adoption process hasn’t been completed;
  • the child lives in a home that’s not the home of his/her parents; or
  • in the year before filing for grandparenting time, the child lived with the grandparent even if s/he didn’t have custody of the child under a court order.1

However, if both parents of the child are considered to be fit and they both object to grandparenting time, the grandparent’s petition will be dismissed.2

1 MCL § 722.27b(1)
2 MCL § 722.27b(5)