ACTION ALERT

HB 4564 – Mandated Joint Custody

Once again HB 4564, commonly called the Equal Parenting Bill, has been introduced. Supporters of this legislation will put tremendous pressure on legislators for their support.

This bill would institute automatic joint physical and legal custody of both parents unless one of the parents can prove the other unfit, unwilling, or unable to care for the child by clear and convincing evidence.

HB 4564 has serious consequences women and their children as well as victims of domestic violence.

Action is needed NOW! We need you to contact your legislator by letter, email or phone and urge them to OPPOSE HB 4564. Joint custody is based on several assumptions, which are:

• That both parents were active co-parents before the divorce or separation;
• That both parents are skilled negotiators who can put their feelings aside and put the needs of their children before their own;
• That the best and only way for both parents to be active in a child’s life is through joint custody;
• That the need for a child to have both parents in their life supersedes the child’s need for safety and stability.

Joint custody is more expensive, as it presupposes the maintenance of two households with sufficient room and necessities for the children. It May also add to the divorce proceedings by including fitness hearings of the parents to determine if joint custody is not appropriate. Joint custody can also result in decreased resources for the children, particularly in the many joint custody cases where one parent becomes the primary caretaker despite the provisions of the court ordered joint custody.

HB 4564 would take all discretion from the courts in considering the best interest of the child. Divorce does not mean that the child’s needs should not be put FIRST!

To find your legislator go to www.michiganlegislature.org click Michigan House for your state representative. At the top of the page under ‘Representative’ click “Find a Representative” and follow the instructions. Click Michigan Senate for your state Senator and on the left hand side of the screen click “Find Your Senator”.