Changing a Custody Order in Michigan: The Threshold You Have to Clear First

Most parents who want to change a custody order come to court ready to explain why the change would be better for their child. Some never get to make that argument. Before a Michigan judge will weigh your child's best interests, you have to clear a threshold question, and a motion that doesn't clear it can end right there.

Why Michigan makes you clear a threshold first

Michigan's Child Custody Act lets a court modify a custody order "for proper cause shown or because of change of circumstances." MCL 722.27(1)(c). That phrase is the gate. The Court of Appeals explained how it works in Vodvarka v Grasmeyer, 259 Mich App 499; 675 NW2d 847 (2003), and Michigan courts still apply it today.

The idea behind the rule is stability: custody orders are not meant to be relitigated whenever a parent is unhappy. The parent asking for the change carries the burden of proving proper cause or a change of circumstances by a preponderance of the evidence. Vodvarka, 259 Mich App at 509. If that burden isn't met, the court may not move on to a full custody hearing. Id. at 508-509.

Two ways through: proper cause or change of circumstances

You can clear the threshold in one of two ways.

Proper cause means "one or more appropriate grounds that have or could have a significant effect on the child's life to the extent that a reevaluation of the child's custodial situation should be undertaken." Vodvarka, 259 Mich App at 511.

Change of circumstances means that "since the entry of the last custody order, the conditions surrounding custody of the child, which have or could have a significant effect on the child's well-being, have materially changed." Id. at 513.

Either way, the facts have to connect to at least one of the best-interest factors in MCL 722.23 and be significant enough to affect the child's well-being. Id. at 512-514. As the definition says, the focus is on what has happened since the last custody order. The same threshold applies to requests to change legal custody (decision-making on things like school and medical care), not just physical custody. Merecki v Merecki, 336 Mich App 639, 647; 971 NW2d 659 (2021).

"Normal life changes" don't count

This is the part of the test that trips people up. Vodvarka makes clear that the change must be something more than the "normal life changes (both good and bad) that occur during the life of a child." 259 Mich App at 513-514. Kids get older and change grades; parents change jobs and argue about pickups. On their own, ordinary developments like these usually are not enough to reopen custody.

What can qualify depends entirely on the facts. The question is always whether something material has changed that bears on a best-interest factor, such as a parent's capacity to meet the child's needs, the stability of a home, the child's health or school record, or a parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent.

Custody and parenting time aren't treated the same

If you are asking only to adjust parenting time, and the adjustment would not change the child's established custodial environment, the Court of Appeals has applied a more flexible reading of the threshold. In Shade v Wright, 291 Mich App 17; 805 NW2d 1 (2010), the court held that the kinds of ordinary life changes that are not enough to change custody, like a child starting high school and taking on new activities, can be enough to justify revisiting parenting time.

But the label on the motion doesn't control. If a "parenting time" change is large enough to change the established custodial environment, the stricter Vodvarka framework applies. Lieberman v Orr, 319 Mich App 68; 900 NW2d 130 (2017). And a request to change a condition on parenting time, rather than its amount, still requires proper cause or a change of circumstances showing that the condition no longer serves the child's best interests, though under the more flexible understanding of those terms. Kaeb v Kaeb, 309 Mich App 556; 873 NW2d 319 (2015).

The established custodial environment raises the stakes

Clearing the threshold only opens the door. What comes next depends on whether the change would alter the child's established custodial environment. Under MCL 722.27(1)(c), that environment exists if "over an appreciable time the child naturally looks to the custodian in that environment for guidance, discipline, the necessities of life, and parental comfort." Courts have recognized that it can exist with one parent or with both.

If the change would alter that environment, the court may not order it unless there is clear and convincing evidence that it is in the child's best interests. MCL 722.27(1)(c). If it would not, the standard is a preponderance of the evidence. Shade, 291 Mich App at 23. The Michigan Supreme Court has said the question is whether the change would alter whom the child naturally looks to for guidance, discipline, the necessities of life, and parental comfort. Pierron v Pierron, 486 Mich 81, 86; 782 NW2d 480 (2010). More recently, it held that the court looks at the custodial environment as it exists when the court decides, not as it existed before the parents separated. Sabatine v Sabatine, 513 Mich 276; 15 NW3d 204 (2024).

How the request gets to court

If you already have a custody case, the State Court Administrative Office publishes form motions: FOC 87 (Motion Regarding Custody) and FOC 65 (Motion Regarding Parenting Time). The motion needs specific facts, with dates, that show what has changed since the last order and why it matters to your child. Depending on the county and the request, a referee or the Friend of the Court may be involved before a judge hears it.

What this means for you

• Start with the date of your last custody order. That is the baseline. What has happened since then is what the court will look at.

  
  

• Tie every fact to a best-interest factor. A list of frustrations is not a threshold showing. Each point should connect to something in MCL 722.23.

  
  

• Be honest about what's "normal." If your reasons are the ordinary changes every family goes through, a custody motion may not be the right tool. A parenting-time adjustment might be.

  
  

• Figure out whether your request would change the established custodial environment. That decides how much proof you need.

  
  

• Document as you go. School and medical records, written messages, and a calendar of what actually happened are concrete evidence; general impressions are not.

  
  

• If you've been served with a motion, evaluate the threshold question first.

  
  

Talk to a lawyer before you file

If you are thinking about asking a Michigan court to change custody or parenting time, or you have been served with a motion to change it, Scozzari Law, PLLC can review your current order and what has changed since it was entered, and talk with you about your options. Contact our Grand Rapids office at (616) 226-4343 to schedule a consultation today.

This article is general information about Michigan law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Scozzari Law, PLLC. Michigan law changes, and how it applies depends entirely on the facts of your case. If you have a family law or criminal matter in Kent County or elsewhere in Michigan, talk to a lawyer about your specific situation.