The trial court in this custody matter improperly refused to hold an evidentiary hearing on the plaintiff-mother’s request to modify custody and parenting time, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

This custody and parenting-time case must be remanded because the trial court once again committed various errors in making its decisions.

The trial court’s decision to award a father joint legal custody must be vacated because the ruling was “against the great weight of the evidence”.

The trial court in this case wrongly imposed restrictions on a father’s parenting time of his three minor children, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

In this parenting-time dispute, the trial court improperly 1) treated the guardian ad litem (GAL) as a lawyer-guardian ad litem (LGAL) and 2) denied the parties’ right to question the GAL at a hearing.

The trial court didn’t err when it modified the mother’s parenting time, found that a change in circumstances had occurred and that a change in custody was in the child’s best interests.

The matter should be remanded to the trial court so periodic hearings can be held to determine whether reinstating visitation would be in the children’s best interests.