Title 552, DIVORCE

Sec. 4. (1) Each county may establish a citizen friend of the court advisory committee composed of the following members, each of whom is a resident of the county: (a) A noncustodial parent. (b) A custodial parent. (c) An attorney who engages primarily in family law practice. (d)…

Sec. 4a. (1) A citizen advisory committee is advisory only. Once established, the citizen advisory committee shall do all of the following: (a) Meet not less than 6 times annually. The citizen advisory committee shall keep minutes of each meeting and submit a copy to the county b…

Sec. 4b. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (4), and under the chief judge's supervision, the office shall provide the citizen advisory committee with a grievance filed as provided in section 26 and access to records and information necessary for the committee to…

Sec. 4c. (1) A citizen advisory committee, its members, and its staff shall consider as confidential a record or other information to which they have access in order to perform their functions under this act and shall properly safeguard its use and disclosure. (2) A person listed…

Sec. 5. (1) Each office of the friend of the court has the following duties: (a) To inform each party to a domestic relations matter that, unless 1 of the parties is required to participate in the title IV-D child support program, they may choose not to have the office of the fri…

Sec. 5a. (1) Except as required by this section, an office of the friend of the court shall open and maintain a friend of the court case for a domestic relations matter. If there is an open friend of the court case for a domestic relations matter, the office of the friend of the …

Sec. 7. (1) The chief judge may designate a referee as provided by the Michigan court rules. (2) A referee may do all of the following: (a) Hear all motions in a domestic relations matter, except motions pertaining to an increase or decrease in spouse support, referred to the ref…

Sec. 7a. (1) A copy of each report, recommendation, and any supporting documents or a summary of supporting documents prepared or used by the friend of the court or an employee of the office shall be made available to the attorney for each party and to each of the parties before …

Sec. 8. The circuit court shall utilize referees and take other appropriate action to expedite obtaining relief in the form of child or spousal support in domestic relations matters, including the entry and enforcement of child support orders and the enforcement of spousal suppor…

Sec. 9. (1) The office may accept a support payment made in cash or by cashier's check or money order. If the office accepts such a payment, the office shall transmit the payment to the SDU and shall inform the payer of the SDU's location and the requirement to make payments thro…

Sec. 9a. The SDU is responsible for the centralized receipt and disbursement of support and fees. An office of the friend of the court may continue to receive support and fees.

Sec. 11. (1) Except as provided in this section, each office shall initiate 1 or more support enforcement measures under the support and parenting time enforcement act when 1 of the following applies: (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the arrearage under the s…

Sec. 11a. (1) A complaint seeking enforcement for payment of a health care expense must include information showing that all of the following conditions have been met: (a) The parent against whom the complaint is directed is obligated to pay the child's uninsured health care expe…

Sec. 11b. (1) An office shall initiate enforcement under the support and parenting time enforcement act if the office receives a written complaint that states specific facts constituting a custody or parenting time order violation. Upon request of a parent who has the right to in…

Sec. 12. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the title IV-D agency shall report to a consumer reporting agency the arrearage amount for each payer with an arrearage of support of 2 or more months. The title IV-D agency may make support information available to the c…

Sec. 13. (1) In a friend of the court case, the office shall provide, either directly or by contract, alternative dispute resolution to assist the parties in settling voluntarily a dispute concerning child custody or parenting time. The alternative dispute resolution shall be pro…

Sec. 15. An employee of the office who provides domestic relations mediation in a friend of the court case involving a particular party shall not perform referee functions, investigation and recommendation functions, or enforcement functions as to any domestic relations matter in…

Sec. 17. (1) After a final judgment containing a child support order has been entered in a friend of the court case, the office shall use a procedure provided in section 17b to periodically review the order, as follows: (a) If a child is being supported in whole or in part by pub…

Sec. 17b. (1) Child support orders entered after June 30, 2005 shall be modified according to this section. For each support order entered before June 30, 2005, the friend of the court office shall provide notice to the parties of their right to a review under this section as req…

Sec. 17c. (1) If Michigan is the initiating state in an interstate friend of the court case involving child support, the office shall determine whether a review of a support order in another state is appropriate in accordance with section 17 and is appropriate based upon the resi…

Sec. 17d. (1) After a final judgment containing a parenting time order is entered in a domestic relations matter for which there is an open friend of the court case, if there is an unresolved dispute as to parenting time, the office may file a motion with the court for a modifica…

Sec. 17e. The office shall utilize guidelines provided in the child support formula developed by the state friend of the court bureau under section 19 to administratively adjust arrearage payment schedules. In making an administrative adjustment as authorized by this subsection, …

Sec. 17f. (1) The monthly amount of support payable under an order must be abated, by operation of law, effective the later of the effective date of the amendatory act that added this section or the date the payer becomes incarcerated for 180 consecutive days or more and does not…

Sec. 18. (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), upon the request of the office of the friend of the court, any employer or former employer of a parent as defined in section 1 of the office of child support act, 1971 PA 174, MCL 400.231, who is or was employed by the employer as …

Sec. 19. (1) The state friend of the court bureau is created within the state court administrative office, under the supervision and direction of the supreme court. (2) The bureau shall have its main office in Lansing. (3) The bureau shall do all of the following: (a) Develop and…

Sec. 20. (1) If the department of human services requests information from an office of the friend of the court, that office may provide the information requested on a quarterly basis. Not less often than quarterly, the department of human services shall publish the information r…

Sec. 21. (1) Each person appointed as friend of the court under former Act No. 412 of the Public Acts of 1919 who is serving in that position on the day before the effective date of this act shall continue to serve in that position, as reconstituted by this act. (2) All files, re…

Sec. 22. If the friend of the court serving a judicial circuit is not an attorney who is a member of the state bar of Michigan and that office does not employ such an attorney, the chief judge may appoint an attorney who is a member of the state bar of Michigan to assist the frie…

Sec. 23. (1) If the position of friend of the court becomes vacant for any reason, the chief judge shall appoint a person to the position of friend of the court not later than 6 months after the vacancy occurs. An appointment under this subsection is not effective until approved …

Sec. 24. (1) The chief judge annually shall review the performance record of each friend of the court serving that circuit to determine whether the friend of the court is guilty of misconduct, neglect of statutory duty, or failure to carry out written orders of the court relative…

Sec. 25. The chief judge may remove the friend of the court. A removal under this section is not effective until approved by a majority of the circuit, probate, and district court judges serving in all districts that have an area in common with the geographic area served by that …

Sec. 26. (1) A party to a friend of the court case who has a grievance concerning office operations or employees shall utilize the following grievance procedure: (a) File the grievance, in writing, with the appropriate friend of the court office. The office shall cause the grieva…

Sec. 27. The compensation and expenses of the friend of the court for each judicial circuit and of the employees of the office and all operating expenses incurred by the office shall be fixed by the chief judge as provided in section 591 of the revised judicature act of 1961, 196…

Sec. 28. Each office of the friend of the court shall compile data as required by the state court administrative office, under the supervision and direction of the supreme court.

Sec. 33. Act No. 412 of the Public Acts of 1919, as amended, being sections 552.251 to 552.255 of the Compiled Laws of 1970, is repealed.

Sec. 34. This act shall not take effect unless the following House Bills of the 81st Legislature are enacted into law: (a) House Bill No. 4871. (b) House Bill No. 4873. (c) House Bill No. 5257.

Sec. 35. Except as provided in section 34, this act shall take effect July 1, 1983.