Children are an important consideration in a divorce. When the Michigan couple decides that the marriage cannot be salvaged, they still each have a responsibility to their children. As part of the divorce decree, child custody details are stated so that the children’s best interest are protected.
One aspect of the child custody arrangement is parenting time. Depending upon the relationship of the parents, the parents can work together to come up with a reasonable parenting schedule. This is a flexible schedule in which the parents work out the specific details such as date, time and any other issues that need to be considered. This arrangements gives the parents the freedom to work together rather than follow a rigid schedule that might not fit the individuals’ or a child’s lifestyle.
In some cases, however, it is better to have specific details stated within the child custody agreement. In this case, the court will set specific times and schedules for parenting time. One traditionally common format is every other weekend and a set number of weeks during the summer. If the parents share custody of the child, the arrangement may be every other week or even split equally. Holidays are also taken into consideration.
Parenting time is an important consideration when children are involved. The Michigan courts will work to ensure that what is in the best interest of the child is the end result regarding a child custody order. Experienced legal counsel can help guide a parent in determining if the parties are able to utilize a flexible parenting time arrangement or if a more structured one is the better choice.
Source: michiganlegalhelp.org, “Custody and Parenting Time“, Accessed on July 8, 2017