Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

Re: leaving 16yr old

Depends on what kind of custody you and your son's father share. You can 'get in trouble' if you violate a custody order. You are responsible for your son's well-being until he is of the age of consent which is 18, not 17.

There are ways to do this legally, namely by providing the 'family friend' with a properly executed power of attorney and/or modifying the custody order. If you share joint legal custody your son's father he would need to agree to this & sign the POA as well. If you believe there is good reason for doing this and your ex is just trying to prevent you from leaving the state, then you need to go to court modify your custody order. If you don't, he can petition for a show cause motion when you're gone and that causes lots of problems out of state. You could not get proper notice, fail to appear, get in held in contempt of court (rare but possible), a warrant could issue, which could prevent you from getting an AZ driver's license.

You'd best try to him on board with a POA and I can assist with that for a reasonable fee. Otherwise, you don't have time to get before the court prior to your scheduled move and I recommend post-poning the move until you've done so.