Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan
Child Custody
I am in the process of suing for divorce. I want to get custody of my step daughter. She has been my daughter since she was 17 months old. She is now 15 years old. She doesn't have a relationship with her father and her birth mother lives in Lansing. We (my soon to be ex) and I have had joint custody with the birth mother of our daughter for the past 7 years. My daughter doesn't want to live with either one of her birth parents when the divorce is final. My husband has been physically abusive and it is documented in police records. The birth mother only sees my daughter once every other month. Can I retain custody of her if that is what my daughter and I both want?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child Custody
The child is not a child of the marriage, so technically, you have no right to custody. Hopefully, since she's been with you all this time, you've adopted her? If not, seek to do that right away, because legally, the court cannot order her to be with you if you are not her legal guardian. It shouldn't be that hard if her father and mother want it as well, but it's not going to be legally easy, if she hasn't been adopted by you. Of course, you can always be appointed her legal guardian, so that's another approach short of adoption. You need to have a lawyer work through your options with you.
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