Family Law Section Updates

As the current Chair of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, Liisa Speaker oversees and takes part in numerous projects aimed at bettering the family law division throughout the state. Check out all of the current projects Liisa is working on!

Dedicated Family Court Legislation Updates

You might have heard about “shared parenting” or “mandatory joint custody” legislation. The issue comes before the Legislature approximately every two years.  The recurring proposed legislation would create a presumption that children would have 50/50 parenting time, and require clear and convincing evidence for a judge to depart from that 50/50 schedule.  The proposed legislation is focused on the parents and not on the best interests of the child or the child’s established custodial environment.  The Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, along with family law attorneys all across the country, have uniformly opposed this type of legislation because it takes away judges’ discretion to decide custody and parenting time based on the best interests of the child in that particular case before the court.    

The Family Law Section has come to realize that the reason the shared parenting legislation comes before the Legislature every two years like clockwork is really due to an institutional, systemic problem.  The problem is that we have family law judges who are not experienced or trained in family law.  And some of those untrained and inexperienced family law judges are not following the law.  We have come to realize that the solution to the problem that the shared parenting legislation seeks to fix has a better solution: change how we select and elect family law judges, impose education requirements before a judge can hear family law cases, and change how the Supreme Court adopts family court plans. We need your help to accomplish these tasks! Click the button below to learn more about how you can help.

Adoption-Related Updates

The Family Law Section has been working on improving the Adoption Code for over 5 years. The section’s work is finally coming to a point where we can submit proposed legislation to the Michigan Legislature. The proposed legislation will address a variety of concerns that have come up in appellate decisions over the past 15 years, by accomplishing the following:

  • Defining putative father;

  • Eliminate the need for a parent to have a custody order for a stepparent adoption when an affidavit of parentage establishes legal parenthood;

  • Eliminate the requirement to challenge MCI’s adoption decision as arbitrary and capricious by clear and convincing evidence and change who decides to grant or deny consent about contested adoptions of state wards from MCI to judges, and require that judges decide the adoption based on the best interests of the child.

In addition to the Adoption Code, the Family Law Section has been working on amendments to the Safe Delivery of Newborns Law for the past two years. The proposed legislation would:

  • Create a new section that clearly protects the anonymity of the surrendering parent;

  • Requires the court to appoint an attorney to represent the surrendering or nonsurrendering parent;

  • Add definitions for nonsurrendering parent and surrendering parent;

  • Clarify that a newborn subjected to abuse (such that the baby does not qualify as a surrender under the statute) refers to abuse after the child is born;

  • Change the obligation to make reasonable efforts to locate the nonsurrendering parent from the child placing agency to DHHS;

  • Extend the time in which a surrendering parent or nonsurrendering parent could request custody from 28 days to 42 days.

New LGAL/GAL Handbook

In 2005, family law attorneys Connie Thacker and Donna Mobilia created the Guardian Ad Litem Handbook for Divorce Litigation. While it was a very useful tool, a lot has happened in the past 20 years. Two years ago, the Family Law Section endeavored to overhaul and expand the handbook.  The GAL Handbook will now cover both Guardians ad Litem and Lawyer Guardians ad Litem. It will also address some topics that were not previously covered, such as reunification therapy, parental alienation, the role of the mental health therapist. There are many cases that have come out about the interplay of a GAL and LGAL.

We expect to publish the GAL/LGAL Handbook electronically in the Fall of 2025. We hope it will be a useful guide for not only GALs and LGALs, but also for attorneys representing parents and judges. Stay tuned for training opportunities around the State.

Preventing Violence Against Attorneys and Judges

The Family Law Section continues to support the Judicial Protection Act, which would allow judges to remove their private information from the public domain.  The many members of the Family Law Section strongly believe that these protections should also be afforded to Friend of the Court Referees.

In addition, the Family Law Section would like to see an updated study of violence against the legal profession since the last study was performed in 2014.  Family law attorneys and family court judges have observed, particularly since 2020, an uptick in the threats of violence against family law attorneys and judges and also the actual use of violence. More needs to be done to protect the professionals who work in the family courts.