Can My Ex Leave My Child with His Girlfriend? Custody and Visitation Rights in Michigan

Yes, unless there is a risk to your child’s safety, your ex can leave your child with his girlfriend.

Can my ex leave my child with his girlfriend? This is a common question a lawyer hears. Is their partner/boyfriend allowed to come into contact with my children? In most situations, the answer to this question will be “Yes.” They are usually permitted to see the children and care for them during your ex’s parenting time.

However, the answer to this question is not as straightforward as you might think. We will explore the custody and visitation rights of parents in Michigan. We will also provide some guidance on what you can do if you are concerned about your child’s safety.  

Controlling Who May Interact With Your Child

You may or may not be able to prevent your ex’s new partner from spending time with your child. In general, you do not have the authority to choose if your ex’s new girlfriend or boyfriend is able to spend time with your kids.

Under your current parenting plan, you can choose who is there when you have your kid. You may decide whether or not to introduce them to a significant other. When your kid is with their other parent, that person chooses the company they keep.

If you wish to restrict which adults your child interacts with, you’ll need the other parent’s agreement or evidence that your ex-husband’s girlfriend is not safe or healthy for your kid’s health. If both you and your ex agree on the well-being of your kids there is no need to go back to Court. If you cannot resolve the dispute you will need to consult with a family law and divorce attorney!

Talk to a Family Law Attorney to discuss your concerns

A family law attorney can help you understand your custody and visitation rights in Michigan. If you are concerned about your child’s safety, an attorney can also guide what steps to take to protect your child.

Divorce and Custody Court Orders

After a divorce or custody case, it is common for there to be an issue with the ex’s new partner being around your minor children. Usually, a divorce decree will award custody to both parents.

The divorce decree generally does not restrict a new romantic partner from spending time with the minor children. However, these new partners cannot pose a risk to the well-being of the children.

An example of a risk to the children would be an ex leaving the kids with a recently registered sex offender. A new Court order may be needed to avoid this situation.

Request a change to the parenting plan

Divorced parents can request new court orders from the family law judge to protect the kids. The Court will decide if a change to the parenting plan is necessary.

When a new romantic partner enters the scheme, it is common for parties to have issues concerning the child’s physical care and safety.

Ex-partner’s New Partner and Custody Disputes Involving a New Partner

Because the courts are duty-bound to act in a child’s best interests, a new partner can impact custody. This necessitates looking at the child’s child’s living conditions, including a parent’s new boy or girlfriend.

The Court’s decision isn’t solely based on the child’s new partner. There are several other elements to consider when the Court reviews best interest factors, such as emotional and physical necessities, parenting abilities, history of abuse or violence, and so on.

What if you do not like the new boyfriend or girlfriend?

Disagreeing with the ex’s new partner isn’t a good enough reason to fight over child custody. There must be a compelling reason to believe that exposing the children to this new partner would be harmful.

For example, the relationship is unstable because they constantly split up and get back together. Other factors include violence, drugs, or a criminal record.

The Following Are Some Common Concerns When A New Person is brought into your child’s life

The desire of one parent to prevent a relationship between their child and the new partner of another parent is frequently rooted in jealousy. As a result, many courts will not even consider such a claim.

However, there are occasions a parent may have a valid reason to be concerned about the influence that their ex’s new partner has over their children.

• How much time the new partner is in the child’s life;
• The new partner’s level of caregiving, especially regarding discipline; and
• The overall impact that the new partner may have on your child.

Although none of the above reasons should alone justify restricting contact or prohibiting visitation, they are valid concerns that must be addressed with your former partner at the very least.

Legal Standard in Michigan for Determining a Custody and Parenting time order

The legal standard for all things to do with custody and parenting time is the children’s best interests. In general, courts do not restrict who can be around your minor child unless they have a history of criminal convictions, drug abuse, alcoholism, or violence toward children.

If your custody order is silent about specific third parties being present during parenting time, your ex has no right to who can be around your children. If you do not want a particular party around your child, you need to file a motion to change the current court order to reflect this.

Motion to Change Custody, Parenting Time, and Support Order

If you have concerns about your child being around the other parent’s significant other, you can file for a change in the custody, child support, and parenting time order. This can be done through the family law courts.

An experienced family law lawyer can help you file the necessary paperwork and guide what evidence you will need to present to make your case.

Motion for a new parenting plan

A new parenting plan can be petitioned to the family court. You can move to have your ex’s parenting time changed to restrict the new significant other from seeing your child.

If the Judge finds a valid reason to restrict or prohibit visitation between your child and the new partner, they will issue an order accordingly.

A family lawyer is experienced in family law, such as spousal support, parental rights, support, and legal custody.

What if your ex violates the existing parenting time plan

If a family law judge issues a court order prohibiting a party from being around your child and the other parent ignores the order, you must file a show cause. A show cause is a petition for an order to show your ex-partner in contempt of Court for violating the Judge’s prior order.

A consequence can be the Judge awarding physical custody to the party, not violating the Court’s Court’s parenting time plan. The violating party can also get a restricted visitation schedule for violating the Court’s order.

Does living with a new partner affect child support?

When it comes to child support, either parent can live with a new partner without affecting child support payments. Child support calculations are based only on parents’ salaries, not the partner’s income (even if they financially contribute to the child’s upbringing).

For assistance, please get in touch with one of our child custody lawyers today!

Can my ex leave my child with his girlfriend? Generally yes, but you must act if your child is at risk. Call a Michigan family lawyer as soon as possible if you are concerned about your child being left.

Our family law attorneys will look into your child’s custody status to see the other parent’s rights and responsibilities now. We’ll then investigate your concerns regarding your ex-boyfriend’s significant other.

Contact a Michigan Custody and Parenting Time attorney

Call Bruce Law Firm for a free consultation on your child custody matter today! If you have a Custody case in Southeast Michigan we can help you.