| GENERAL INFORMATION | ||
| What are the Michigan residency requirements for filing for divorce? | ||
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State Residency Requirement: 180 days At least one spouse must have resided in Michigan for at least 180 days immediately before the divorce is filed. County Residency Requirement: 10 days If both spouses have lived in Michigan for at least 180 days immediately before the divorce is filed, then the divorce should be filed in the county where the spouses have lived for at least 10 days. If they have not lived in the same county, this means that there could be two counties where the divorce could be filed, in which case, it doesn't matter. If only one spouse has lived in Michigan for at least 180 days immediately before the date of filing, the divorce should be filed in the county where that spouse has resided for at least 10 days before filing. | ||
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| STATE PROCEDURES | ||
| How long does it take to finalize a divorce in Michigan? | ||
| In Michigan divorces where there are no children of the marriage, the divorce can be finalized in as little as 60 days. In Michigan divorces with children, there is a 6-month waiting period before the divorce can be finalized. | ||
| How do I serve my spouse with the divorce papers in Michigan? | ||
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If the non-filing spouse, or Defendant, will sign an Acknowledgment of Service form, the Plaintiff can serve the Defendant with divorce papers him or herself. However, if the Defendant won't sign an Acknowledgment of Service, the Plaintiff selects an adult "helper," to either hand-deliver the divorce papers to the Defendant or mail them to the Defendant by certified mail with a return-receipt requested. | ||
| What are the basic steps to getting a divorce in Michigan? | ||
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| Where are the grounds for filing for divorce in Michigan? | ||
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Michigan is a no-fault divorce state. For a Michigan no-fault divorce, the spouse must allege that there has been a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved. | ||
| Will either of us be required to attend a court hearing? | ||
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Yes. The spouse who files the divorce (Plaintiff) must attend a hearing in order to finalize the divorce. The non-filing spouse (Defendant) does not need to attend this hearing, assuming his or her notarized Answer and Waiver was filed when the Plaintiff filed the initial divorce documents. DivorceWriter Filing Instructions include sample testimony for the hearing. | ||
| How do I get a copy of the Model Friend of the Court Handbook? | ||
| You can obtain a copy of the Model Friend of the Court Handbook at courts.michigan.gov. | ||
| When you use DivorceWriter, you are selecting the following self-prepared Michigan DivorceWriter document package? | ||
Customers with minor children together will also receive:
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| How long does it usually take to finalize a divorce in Michigan? | ||
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No Children: 60 days from the date of filing Children: Six months the date of filing | ||
| Which spouse can file for divorce? | ||
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The spouse who files for divorce is the Plaintiff. The other spouse automatically becomes the Defendant. In order to file for divorce in Michigan, at least one spouse must have resided in Michigan for at least 180 days immediately before the divorce is filed. Thus, as long as at least one spouse meets the 180-day residency requirement, either spouse is entitled to file for divorce in Michigan. | ||
| In which county can the divorce be filed? | ||
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If both spouses have lived in Michigan for at least 180 days immediately before the divorce is filed, then the divorce can be filed in any Michigan county where either spouse has lived for at least 10 days immediately before the date of filing. If only one spouse has lived in Michigan for at least 180 days immediately before the date of filing, the divorce can be filed in the county where that spouse has resided for at least 10 days before filing. | ||
| Where do I file for divorce in Michigan? | ||
| Divorces are filed at the Circuit Court Clerk's office in the county of filing. | ||
| What's the difference between a DM case and a DO case in Michigan? | ||
| Divorce cases involving minor children have the letters "DM" in the case number while divorce cases that do not involve minor children have the letters "DO" in the case number. | ||
| How is my divorce hearing scheduled in Michigan? | ||
Step 3 of the Michigan Divorce Filing Procedures included in your DivorceWriter document package provides the following information on scheduling the divorce hearing:
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| How do I get a Referee's recommendation? | ||
| When you go before the Judge you need to bring your Judgment of Divorce, which may be either a Consent Judgment or a Default Judgment, and also a Uniform Child Support Order for the Judge to sign after the pro con hearing. If you are opting out of Friend of the Court services, a hearing must take place with the Friend of the Court before the pro con hearing. In many counties, after the opt out hearing has been held, the Friend of the Court will prepare an Order, also known as the Referee's Recommendation, and a Uniform Child Support Order regarding the opt out. If the opt out request is granted, the Uniform Support Order will state a $0.00 support amount, although the Uniform Support Order must still be filed with the court. Both the Referee's Recommendation and the Uniform Support Order must be submitted pre-approved by Friend of the Court and submitted to the Judge before the pro con hearing. | ||
| How much is the filing fee in Michigan? | ||
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The filing fee charged by the Court is NOT included in the DivorceWriter price. The divorce filing fee is between $150.00-$255.00 in Michigan and is paid at the time of filing. Michigan divorces with children also require a judgment fee of $80.00. Some counties require you to pay the judgment fee when you file your divorce while other counties require it to be paid on the day of your divorce hearing. The judgment fee is not required if the parties have no minor children. | ||
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| CUSTODY, VISITATION, SUPPORT | ||
| How is child support calculated in Michigan? | ||
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Based on the information provided by the customer when completing this online interview, a computer generated Child Support Worksheet is automatically created and sent to the customer as part of the DivorceWriter package. Additional information on the calculation of child support can be found here. | ||
| When can a child support order be modified in Michigan? | ||
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Modification of a support order can by done in two ways: You may choose to file a motion to change the support order more often than every three years if there is a substantial change in income for either party. In public assistance cases, every 36 months the Friend of the Court does an automatic review of child support orders. Additional information on child support modification is available at MCL 552.517. | ||
| How is child support collected and disbursed? | ||
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Information on the collection and disbursement of child support in Michigan is available at: MCL 552.603 and www.misdu.com | ||
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| PROPERTY AND DEBTS | ||
| Can we customize our documents to fit our plans for our real estate? | ||
| The DivorceWriter online interview allows customers to list not only the street address, c... more | ||
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| SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES | ||
| What if one spouse is living in another state or in a foreign country? | ||
| The self-prepared DivorceWriter package contains instructions for choosing someone to hand... more | ||
| What if one spouse is in the military? | ||
| If both parties are willing to sign the papers, ending your marriage when a spouse is in t... more | ||
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| ADDITIONAL RESOURCES | ||
| Where can I find the full-text version of the Michigan divorce statutes online? | ||
| Additional information on divorce in Michigan is available at: Divorce Statutes, MCL 552.1-552.45 . | ||
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