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 modification of the parenting time order. The office shall send each party to the parenting time order notice of the filing of the motion. With a motion filed and each notice sent under this subsection, the office shall include the following:
(a) Subject to subsection (2), a written report and recommendation.
(b) Either as a separate document or in the motion document under a separate heading, a notice, in not less than 12-point, boldfaced type, that states substantially the following:
"A party may object to the office of the friend of the court's recommendation for modification of the parenting time order. If a party does not object to the recommendation within 21 days after this notice was sent to the party, the office of the friend of the court may submit to the court a parenting time order that incorporates the recommendation.".
(2) The office shall prepare a written report and recommendation required for subsection (1) after making an evaluation that is commensurate with the scope of the unresolved dispute as to parenting time.
(3) If, within 21 days after the notice under subsection (1) is sent to each party, no party objects to the recommendation for modification of the parenting time order, the office may submit an order, incorporating the recommendation, to the court for the court's adoption. If a party objects within the 21 days, the motion for modification of the parenting time order shall be noticed for a hearing before a judge or referee.
(4) At a hearing on a motion filed under this section, the judge or referee may admit a statement of fact in the office's report or recommendation as evidence to prove a fact relevant to the proceeding, but only if all parties stipulate to or no party objects to the admission of the statement of fact and no other evidence is presented concerning the fact to be proved.
History: Add. 1994, Act 37, Imd. Eff. Mar. 7, 1994 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 144, Imd. Eff. Mar. 25, 1996 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 569, Eff. Dec. 1, 2002
Popular Name: Friend of the Court