Child Custody & Visitation

Full-Service Skills In One Package

Child Custody and Visitation Lawyers in Kalamazoo

Last updated on January 2, 2025

When it comes to child custody and visitation, nothing is more important than protecting the best interests of your children. At Herbert Machnik Law Firm, this is exactly what we do. We represent clients in Kalamazoo County and the Jackson, Michigan area who seek practical legal counsel regarding child custody, visitation, divorce and related family law challenges.

How Does Michigan Award Child Custody?

With extensive skills in family law mediation and negotiation, our custody lawyers regularly facilitate mutually satisfactory parenting time agreements. If out-of-court methods do not serve to uphold your children’s best interests, a Michigan family law judge will issue a decision. Whether during divorce, a paternity matter, or when a parent seeks a post-judgment modification, the courts consider criteria such as:

Each parent’s ability to care for the child
The child’s relationship with each parent
The location of each parent’s residence
The child’s involvement in school, church, sports and other activities
The presence of substance abuse, domestic violence or severe mental illness

If litigation is necessary, we advocate for your rights assertively while also prioritizing cost-efficiency and the mental health of your children. If you are an unmarried parent, we can also represent you as you face the many challenges that apply to unmarried people with children.

How Does Child Custody Work in Michigan?

There are two different types of child custody in Michigan. They can each be divided equally between both parents, or one parent can be given sole custody. The two main categories are legal custody, which refers to making important decisions for the child – such as where they will go to school or what medical care they should receive – and physical custody, which refers to where the child lives in which parent has physical care of them at that time.

A parent could be given only one type of custody. For instance, one parent may get primary physical custody, while the other parent gets visitation rights and shared legal custody so that they can be involved in making important decisions.

As a general rule, courts often prefer joint custody so that both parents can maintain a relationship with the child and share the responsibility of raising them. However, they can use soul custody if it is in the child’s best interests. For example, if one parent does not have a stable living situation or if the court believes the child may be in physical danger living exclusively with that parent, they can assign sole custody to the other parent.

What Are the Biggest Mistakes Parents Make in a Child Custody Case?

A mistake during a child custody case can be highly detrimental to the outcome and could even cause a parent to lose custody rights. Common examples include:

Missing important deadlines to file paperwork or attend hearings.
Making excessive negative statements about the other parent, which go beyond merely reporting the facts of the case.
Failing to communicate with the other co-parent.
Making false claims or misrepresenting issues like substance abuse.
Trying to manipulate children – which sometimes leads to parental alienation—or use them as messengers between parents.
Violating court orders, such as refusing to exchange custody on schedule after a ruling is made.

An experienced lawyer can help a parent seek custody, despite mistakes that have already been made, and can also offer advice and insights to help avoid these mistakes in the first place.

Our Holistic Approach to Helping You

Our custody and visitation attorneys do not just talk about legal statutes and law books. We know that our clients are real people who need real-life solutions with which they can live. To avoid missing the forest for the trees, we look at the holistic picture, examining how a variety of family law factors such as your living situation, your child care needs, health care considerations and potential guardianship designations should factor into your parenting arrangement.

Ask Us About Arranging a Child Custody and Visitation Consultation

Herbert Machnik Law Firm has the trustworthy and clear-sighted counsel needed to honor your children’s best interests in a custody arrangement. To speak with us more about representation, please call our law office at 269-459-1432 or send us an email.