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Legal Information: Michigan

Divorce

Updated: 
December 7, 2020

What are the residency requirements to file for divorce in Michigan?

To be granted a divorce in Michigan, you or your spouse must have lived in Michigan for at least 180 days immediately before filing your complaint for divorce. In addition, you or your spouse must have lived in the county where the complaint is filed for 10 days immediately before filing.1 If you or your spouse has not lived in the county that you are filing in for at least 10 days, you can still file for divorce in that county (or in any county) if all of the following are true:

  1. your spouse was born in, or is a citizen of, a country other than the United States;
  2. you and your spouse have a child under 18 years old; and
  3. the judge believes that your child is at risk of being taken out of the United States by your spouse and held in another country.2

1 M.C.L.A. § 552.9(1)
2 M.C.L.A. § 552.9(2)

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