How to File a Motion to Change Parenting Time (No Agreement)

Complete the Do-It-Yourself Motion to Change Parenting Time to prepare the following forms:

• Motion Regarding Parenting Time (and any attachments)
• Order Regarding Parenting Time (and any attachments)
• Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Affidavit (and any attachments)

The instructions below explain which forms you need for each step and how many copies to make.

Some of the steps later in these instructions may have slightly different information for you depending on how you will file with the court. Each court decides how it will accept documents for filing. Contact your court to find out which methods are available. Depending on your court, you may be able to file by: 

• In-person filing
• E-mail
• E-filing using MiFILE
• Mailing or dropping off documents

You can find contact information for your court on the Courts & Agencies page of Michigan Legal Help.

MiFILE is only available for some courts. Even in courts where it is available, you can only use it for some case types. The State Court Administrative Office keeps a chart of courts that use e-filing. To learn more, read What Is E-Filing?.

If you will be filing in person at the court, you can either call the court before filing to get a hearing date, or wait until you are at the court. If you call ahead of time to get a hearing date, fill out the Notice of Hearing section on your Motion Regarding Parenting Time with the information you get about the hearing date, location of hearing, and name of the judge or referee who will hear the motion. If you wait until you are at the court to get a hearing date, remember to fill out the Notice of Hearing on all copies of your motion. 

If you are not filing in person (such as filing by MiFILE, e-mail, or mail), call the court clerk's office and ask how they would like the Notice of Hearing section of your motion to be completed. They may give you a hearing date or choice of dates, or they may ask you to leave it blank for the court to assign a date later. If they give you a hearing date, fill out the Notice of Hearing section on your Motion Regarding Parenting Time with the information you get about the hearing date, location of hearing, and name of the judge or referee who will hear the motion.

It will cost you at least $100 to file a Motion Regarding Parenting Time. If you are unable to pay the filing fee, you can ask the court to waive it by filing a Fee Waiver Request.

If your fees have already been waived in your family case and there is no final judgment or order in your case yet, you don't have to file another Fee Waiver Request. If there is already a final order (not a temporary order) in your case, you will need a new Fee Waiver Request. You can complete our Do-It-Yourself Fee Waiver to prepare a Fee Waiver Request.

The clerk of the court must automatically approve your fee waiver if any of these are true:

• You receive public assistance based on having low income (examples: FAP, SNAP, Healthy Michigan, CHIP, ESO, FIP, TANF, WIC, SSI);
• You are represented by a legal services program that receives funding from the Legal Services Corporation or the Michigan State Bar Foundation; or
• You are represented by a law school clinic based on having low income.

If you do not fit into one of these three categories, a judge will review your Fee Waiver Request. The judge must waive your fees if you show that your gross household income is under 125% of the federal poverty level. If your gross household income is over 125% of the federal poverty level, but you show that paying fees would be a financial hardship for you, the judge must also waive your fees.

To learn more, read Fee Waivers in Court Cases.

You must sign and date the Motion Regarding Parenting Time. If you chose to sign electronically, this is already done. The electronic signature will look like this: /s/ Your Name.

Also sign and date the Fee Waiver Request if you are filing one.

You must get the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act Affidavit notarized. Wait to sign it until you are in front of the notary. There may be a fee for notarization. You may be able to get your document notarized at a bank or at the court clerk's office. Some copy and print shops also offer notary services for a fee. Contact the bank or other location to make sure that a notary will be available at the time you plan on going.

After you sign your documents, make copies as follows:

• Motion Regarding Parenting Time – 5 copies
• Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act Affidavit – 3 copies
• Fee Waiver Request (if needed) – 3 copies

If there is a third party in your case, make an extra copy of each form.

In some counties the court clerk’s office will make the copies for you. You can call the clerk’s office ahead of time to ask whether you need to make your own copies.

If you are filing either by e-mail or using MiFILE, you will not need to make copies.

Please note that completing the documents on Michigan Legal Help or LawHelp Interactive does not file anything with the court. Contact your court to find out which filing methods are available. Depending on your court, you may be able to file electronically. To learn more about filing methods that may be available, read Step 1.

File your Motion Regarding Parenting Time with the court. If you are filing in person or need contact information for the court, click on Courts & Agencies for the address and phone number of the court.

It will cost you at least $100 to file a Motion Regarding Parenting Time. Pay the motion fee or file a Fee Waiver Request along with your motion form and UCCJEA Affidavit. You can use the Do-It-Yourself Fee Waiver tool to prepare a Fee Waiver Request.

If you are filing in person at the court clerk's office and you did not already get a hearing date for your motion, remember to ask the clerk for a hearing date. Then fill out the Notice of Hearing section of your motion on the original and all copies. Give the clerk your forms and all copies. The clerk will keep the originals and one copy of each form. The clerk will return the copies the court doesn’t need. 

You must serve (send) the other party a copy of each paper you file. If the other party has a lawyer, send the papers to the lawyer instead. This includes one copy of each of the following forms, along with any attachments that you filed:

• Fee Waiver Request and the decision on your request (if you filed a Fee Waiver Request)
• Motion Regarding Parenting Time
• UCCJEA Affidavit

You must serve documents electronically if you can and if the other party has access to e-mail. If you or the other party can't do this electronically, or if you are not sure, you can serve by regular mail. If you serve by mail, send the papers to the other party’s last known address. 

If you are using MiFILE to file documents electronically, your documents will be served electronically as long as the other party is also using MiFILE. If the other party is not using MiFILE, you will need to serve the documents by e-mail, if possible, or by regular mail if electronic options are not available.

MiFILE is only available for some courts. Even in courts where it is available, you can only use it for some case types. The State Court Administrative Office keeps a chart of courts that use e-filing. To learn more, read What Is E-Filing?.

Service must be completed at least 9 days before the hearing date if you serve by mail or at least 7 days before the hearing date if documents are served by personal delivery or through MiFILE. If you are serving through e-mail, the court rule is not clear about the timeline. To be on the safe side, complete service at least 9 days before the hearing date.

If there is a third party in your case, you must serve them also.

If you are serving documents by e-mail, keep the following rules in mind:

• All documents must be in PDF format;
• The e-mail subject line must include the name of the court, case name, case number, and the title of each document being sent;
• If you e-mail a document at or before 11:59 p.m., it is considered served on that day. If you send the e-mail on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it is considered served on the next business day;
• Do not delete any e-mails you send to the other party, especially e-mails that served court documents. You must keep a record of sent items until a judgment or final order is entered and all appeals have been completed.

Complete the Certificate of Mailing on one copy of the Motion Regarding Parenting Time if you will be filing it electronically. If you will be filing in person or by mail, complete the Certificate of Mailing on all three remaining copies of the Motion Regarding Parenting Time. File two copies, and keep one copy for your records.

If you served the motion electronically, cross out the part of the Certificate of Mailing section that says “first-class mail addressed to their last-known address as defined in MCR 3.203” and write how you served your documents. If it is by e-mail, include the e-mail address you used. For example, you could write “I served this document by e-mail to emailaddress@email.com.” 

If you served the other party using MiFILE, you will not need to file a Proof of Service. MiFILE will create and file a Proof of Service for you.

The other party has the right to file a response to your Motion Regarding Parenting Time. If they file a response, make sure you read it before you attend the hearing so you know what arguments they are likely to make in court. The other party may attend the hearing even without filing a response.

Below are brief instructions about attending your court hearing. For more detailed instructions about going to court, watch the Going to Court video.

Bring to your court hearing an original plus two copies of any document you wish the court to consider when making a decision in your case.

Go to the hearing location on the scheduled day and time. Dress neatly. Arrive 10 or 15 minutes before your scheduled hearing time. Go to the clerk and tell them your name, that you are there for a hearing, and that you are representing yourself. Follow the clerk’s directions and do not interrupt any hearing in progress.

Bring the Order Regarding Parenting Time. Only the top part of the order will be filled in. The rest will be completed when the judge or referee makes a decision.

When you are called, go to the place you are directed. Be prepared to say:

• Your name

• That you are representing yourself

• That you need a change in a parenting time order

• The facts or reasons for your request (bring any documents that support your facts)

• Why you believe this order would be in the best interests of the child(ren)

• Whether you have witnesses in court who are willing to testify

Clearly and directly answer any questions the judge has. If the judge wants to hear from your other witnesses, ask them to say what they saw or know about the situation.

If the other party is in court, they will also have a chance to speak. When the other party talks, take notes. Do not interrupt. After the other party speaks, you will have another chance to talk. Taking notes will help you with this.

If the judge makes a decision at the hearing, they will probably sign the proposed order at that time. If the other party is at the hearing, you can ask the judge to serve them with a copy of the order in the courtroom, or you can give them the order.

The judge may not make a decision at the hearing. Instead, the judge might refer the motion to the Friend of the Court (FOC) or schedule a trial. In some counties, you may meet with the FOC first or have a hearing in front of a FOC referee instead of a judge. If the FOC makes a recommendation in your case, or if a referee makes a recommended order, the judge will consider it. Either type of recommendation can become a final order in your case, but you will have a chance to object to it before that can happen.

If the judge signed the order at the hearing in Step 10, go to Step 14.

If the judge made a decision at your hearing but did not sign the order, carefully complete the order. Check only the boxes that say what the judge ordered at the hearing. Then write what the judge ordered in the blank space provided. The information you write must state as closely as possible what the judge said. Use an attachment if needed. If the judge approved the proposed schedule that you prepared using the Do-It-Yourself Motion to Change Parenting Time, use the order addendum that printed out with your forms.

If the judge signed the order at the hearing in Step 10, go to Step 14.

In some courts, the Friend of the Court (FOC) has to approve the order before the judge will sign it. Contact the FOC office and ask whether they need to approve the order. If so, take the order to the FOC office. Ask if you will get a call from them to pick it up. If you do not hear from the office within five days, call to find out when to pick up the order. 

If the judge signed the order at the hearing in Step 10, go to Step 14.

Otherwise, fill out and sign the Notice to Enter Order without Hearing. Within seven days after your hearing, serve the other party a copy of the order you filled out in Step 11 and a copy of the Notice to Enter Order without Hearing. Look back to Step 7 for information on how to serve papers. If you will file these documents in MiFILE, you can serve the other party through MiFILE instead at that time, as long as it is still within seven days.

On your Notice to Enter Order without Hearing form, complete the Certificate of Mailing portion at the bottom to show that you have served the other party. If service was done electronically, cross out "by first-class mail addressed to their last-known addresses as defined in MCR 3.203" and write in how you served your documents. If it was by e-mail, be sure to include the e-mail address you used. For example, you could write “I served this document by e-mail to [other party's e-mail address]."

File the order with the court using the same filing method you have used throughout your case. Also file the Notice to Enter Order without Hearing, with the completed Certificate of Mailing.

If you are filing in MiFILE, make sure you also click the option to serve the documents. If you serve the papers in MiFILE, MiFILE will create and file a Proof of Service for you.

What happens next?

If the other party doesn’t file a written objection within seven days of when they were served with the Notice and the order, the judge will sign the order if they determine it is consistent with what they ordered at the hearing. If there is a problem with the order, the court will schedule a hearing and the clerk’s office will send you notice.

File the signed order. If you are filing in person at the court clerk's office, also file a copy for the Friend of the Court, and ask the clerk for two copies to take with you (one for your own records, and one to serve on the other party).

If you are filing either by e-mail or using MiFILE, you will not need to make copies.

Unless the other party was served with the order(s) at the hearing, you must serve the order(s) within 7 days after the judge signs. Look back to Step 7 for information on how to serve papers. If you file these documents in MiFILE, you can serve the other party through MiFILE at that time.

If there is a third party in your case, you must also serve that person with a copy of the order(s).

Complete the Certificate of Mailing on a copy of the Order Regarding Parenting Time. If you served the order electronically, cross out “by first-class mail addressed to their last-known addresses as defined in MCR 3.203” and write in how you served your documents. If it is by e-mail, be sure to include the e-mail address you used. For example, you could write “I served this document by e-mail to emailaddress@email.com.” File this in the same way you filed your other documents. If you are filing in person or by mail, file two copies with the court and get a copy for your records.

If you served the other party using MiFILE, you will not need to file the Certificate of Mailing. MiFILE will create and file a Proof of Service for you.