"Legal custody" is your decision-making right over your minor child under Michigan law. This right is what elevates you over me, or any other third party, with authority over your child. THIS IS NOT A RIGHT YOU WANT TO GIVE UP, for most circumstances, under the guise that settlement is better or your ex will "still work with you." Our Child Custody Act presumes parents should share joint legal custody, and it is the burden of the parent who wants sole legal custody to prove why, by clear and convincing evidence (a VERY high standard) he or she should have legal custody.
Here's why:
Legal Custody Definition
Legal custody means, by way of example and not limitation, all of the following:
Each parent will foster, encourage and support the relationship between the minor child and the other parent.
Each parent will be entitled to have complete access to the minor child’s medical, dental, psychological, school, religious and other pertinent records.
Each parent will promptly advise the other of any illness, emergency, or other significant event concerning the minor child, including school and/or health problems, if any, of which the parent becomes aware.
The parents will consult together concerning major decisions involving the health, education, religion and welfare of the minor child.
Each parent will make his or her best effort to work with the other parent to insure consistency in agreement of matters affecting the upbringing of the minor child and to work together to promote the best interests of the minor child.
Each parent will have full rights to receive and to authorize the release of information regarding the minor child from the child’s school, mental health provider, physical health provider or any other source.
Each parent will be entitled to be informed of all parent/teacher conferences and any other activities, including sports and school programs, in which the minor child has been invited to attend or participates in.
Each parent will be entitled to receive copies of the minor child’s report cards, medical records and current photographs.
Each parent will be entitled to make routine and emergency decisions regarding the minor child when the child is with that parent.
Each parent will keep the other informed of the parent’s whereabouts in the event of an emergency concerning the minor child.
Each parent must share in the decision making process in all matters relating to major and/or significant life decisions affecting the minor child, such as education, surgery, healthcare treatment and religious upbringing.
Controls on Moving
When a parent does not have joint physical or joint legal custody, the other parent can move wherever he or she wishes (including out of the state and country) with very little input from the other parent. By comparison, if the parents share joint legal custody or joint physical custody, then when the parties are unable to agree, and provided the parties reside within one hundred radial miles of each other, the party seeking to move cannot move the child’s residence to a location that is more than one hundred radial miles from either of the residences without the consent of the other party or the approval of the judge who awarded custody or the judge’s successor. Additionally, neither party can move the child out of the child’s residential state, even if both parties agree to the move, without applying to the court first and in conformity with applicable laws for interstate moves.
What If We Disagree?
This is OK, and it happens even for good parents who share legal custody. If you disagree, then the court will make the decision in light of the child best interests at that time. Disagreements do not mean the parents cannot share legal custody going forward – the court is there to help.