HOUSE BILL No. 4531


     March 19, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Jellema, Goschka, Bodem, Dalman, Law, Walberg, Curtis, Johnson, Nye and McNutt and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.


        A bill to amend 1970 PA 91, entitled

   "Child custody act of 1970,"

   by amending section 7 (MCL 722.27), as amended by 1996 PA 19; and

   to repeal acts and parts of acts.

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 1         Sec. 7.  (1) If a child custody dispute has been submitted

 2    to the circuit court as an original action under this act or has

 3    arisen incidentally from another action in the circuit court or

 4    an order or judgment of the circuit court, for the best interests

 5    of the child the court may do 1 or more of the following:

 6         (a) Award the custody of the child to 1 or more of the par-

 7    ties involved or to others and provide for payment of support for

 8    the child, until the child reaches 18 years of age.  Subject to

 9    section  4a  30 OF THE SUPPORT AND PARENTING TIME ENFORCEMENT

10    ACT, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.630, the court may also order support


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 1    as provided in this section for a child after he or she reaches

 2    18 years of age.  The court may require that support payments

 3    shall be made through the friend of the court or clerk of the

 4    court.

 5         (b) Provide for reasonable parenting time of the child by

 6    the parties involved, BY the maternal or paternal grandparents,

 7    or by others, by general or specific terms and conditions.

 8    Parenting time of the child by the parents  shall be  IS governed

 9    by section 7a.

10         (c) Modify or amend its previous judgments or orders for

11    proper cause shown or because of change of circumstances until

12    the child reaches 18 years of age, and, subject to section  4a,

13     until  30 OF THE SUPPORT AND PARENTING TIME ENFORCEMENT ACT, 1982

14    PA 295, MCL 552.630 AFTER the child reaches  19  18 years  and

15     6 months  of age.  The court shall not modify or amend its previ-

16    ous judgments or orders or issue a new order so as to change the

17    established custodial environment of a child unless there is

18    presented clear and convincing evidence that it is in the best

19     interest  INTERESTS of the child.  The custodial environment of

20    a child is established if over an appreciable time the child nat-

21    urally looks to the custodian in that environment for guidance,

22    discipline, the necessities of life, and parental comfort.  The

23    age of the child, the physical environment, and the inclination

24    of the custodian and the child as to permanency of the relation-

25    ship shall also be considered.

26         (d) Utilize the community resources in behavioral sciences

27    and other professions in the investigation and study of custody



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 1    disputes and consider their recommendations for the resolution of

 2    the disputes.

 3         (e) Appoint a guardian ad litem or counsel for the child and

 4    assess the costs and reasonable fees against 1 or more parties

 5    involved, totally or partially.

 6         (f) Take any other action considered to be necessary in a

 7    particular child custody dispute.

 8         (g) Upon petition, consider the reasonable grandparenting

 9    time of maternal or paternal grandparents and, if denied, make a

10    record of  such  THE denial.

11          (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the court

12     shall order support in an amount determined by application of the

13     child support formula developed by the state friend of the court

14     bureau.  The court may enter an order that deviates from the for-

15     mula if the court determines from the facts of the case that

16     application of the child support formula would be unjust or inap-

17     propriate and sets forth in writing or on the record all of the

18     following:

19          (a) The support amount determined by application of the

20     child support formula.

21          (b) How the support order deviates from the child support

22     formula.

23          (c) The value of property or other support awarded in lieu

24     of the payment of child support, if applicable.

25          (d) The reasons why application of the child support formula

26     would be unjust or inappropriate in the case.





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 1         (3) Subsection (2) does not prohibit the court from entering

 2     a support order that is agreed to by the parties and that

 3     deviates from the child support formula, if the requirements of

 4     subsection (2) are met.

 5          (4) Beginning January 1, 1991, each support order entered,

 6     modified, or amended by the court shall provide that each party

 7     shall keep the office of the friend of the court informed of both

 8     of the following:

 9          (a) The name and address of his or her current source of

10     income.  As used in this subdivision, "source of income" means

11     that term as defined in section 2 of the support and parenting

12     time enforcement act, Act No. 295 of the Public Acts of 1982,

13     being section 552.602 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

14          (b) Any health care coverage that is available to him or her

15     as a benefit of employment or that is maintained by him or her;

16     the name of the insurance company, health care organization, or

17     health maintenance organization; the policy, certificate, or con-

18     tract number; and the names and birth dates of the persons for

19     whose benefit he or she maintains health care coverage under the

20     policy, certificate, or contract.

21          (5) For the purposes of this act, "support" may include pay-

22     ment of the expenses of medical, dental, and other health care,

23     child care expenses, and educational expenses.  The court shall

24     require 1 or both parents of a child who is the subject of a

25     petition under this section to obtain or maintain any health care

26     coverage that is available to them at a reasonable cost, as a

27     benefit of employment, for the benefit of the child.  If a parent



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 1    is self-employed and maintains health care coverage, the court

 2     shall require the parent to obtain or maintain dependent coverage

 3     for the benefit of the child, if available at a reasonable cost. 

 4         (2)  (6)  A judgment or order entered under this act provid-

 5    ing for the support of a child IS GOVERNED BY AND is enforceable

 6    as provided in  Act No. 295 of the Public Acts of 1982, being

 7     sections 552.601 to 552.650 of the Michigan Compiled Laws  1982

 8    PA 295, MCL 552.601 TO 552.650.  IF THIS ACT CONTAINS A SPECIFIC

 9    PROVISION REGARDING THE CONTENTS OR ENFORCEMENT OF A SUPPORT

10    ORDER THAT CONFLICTS WITH A PROVISION IN THE SUPPORT AND PARENT-

11    ING TIME ENFORCEMENT ACT, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.601 TO 552.650,

12    THIS ACT CONTROLS IN REGARD TO THAT PROVISION.

13         Enacting section 1.  Section 4a of the child custody act of

14    1970, 1970 PA 91, MCL 722.24a, is repealed.

15         Enacting section 2.  This amendatory act does not take

16    effect unless Senate Bill No. _____ or House Bill No. _____

17    (request no. 01895'97) of the 89th Legislature is enacted into

18    law.





















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