Starting a Case
If you or your children have never received public assistance, have received public assistance in the past and a child support case was not opened, or is closed, you can apply for child support services. You may apply online with MiChildSupport, or you may print, complete, and mail the Application for IV-D Child Support Services -DHS-1201D.
- Divorce Actions
- Family Support Actions
- Paternity Actions
- Interstate Cases
The FOC office does not initiate or establish new orders. However, we sometimes assist the Court in reviewing pre-judgment cases to ensure that all provisions required by law are in the order and that it is enforceable should any conflicts arise between the parties.
Divorce Actions
A divorce action starts with the filing of a complaint with the Circuit Court. You can do this on your own or you can hire an attorney to represent you. The FOC office does not provide divorce packets. A divorce ends the legal relationship between a husband and wife. In Michigan, there is a sixty-day mandatory waiting period from the date of filing a divorce action without minor children to the date the judgment can be entered. The waiting period is usually six months in a divorce action with minor children. The Judgment of Divorce divides property, debts, and parenting rights and responsibilities. The FOC is required by the Court to review every final judgment of divorce to ensure that it complies with the statutes and court rules of the State of Michigan.
Family Support Actions
There are two types of cases that are called “family support” cases. One involves parents that are married and separated, but not divorced. The other involves a child born out of wedlock (unmarried parents) where the biological father has acknowledged paternity by signing an Affidavit of Parentage (AOP). This document makes the biological father the "legal” father of the child.
NOTE: A parent does not have to apply, or be receiving, state assistance to start a family support case. If you would like to start a family support case and you are not receiving state assistance, you should contact the county DHS office and ask for an appointment. You may also choose to file a family support action on your own or hire an attorney to file one on your behalf.
If a family support order is entered and a divorce action begins, the family support order will act as a temporary order in your case. This means that the parties must continue to follow all orders in the family support case. The family support order will be closed upon entry of the judgment of divorce. If child support is owed under the family support action, state law requires that an order to pay the support arrearage must be part of the judgment of divorce.
• Sign Affidavit of Parentage (AOP) Form. The fact that your name appears on the birth certificate does not automatically establish paternity. These forms are available through DHS, the Prosecuting Attorney’s office, and hospitals.
• Order of Filiation. An Order of Filiation will provide for the support of the child, reimbursement of medical expenses incurred in the child’s birth, healthcare insurance coverage when it can be obtained at a reasonable cost, and child support. Parenting time is not automatically ordered in paternity cases. However, if a parent who has a paternity action pending would like a parenting time order, he or she must file an answer to the paternity complaint before the entry of the final orders.
If the mother and father marry each other after the entry of a paternity order, or a family support order involving a child born out of wedlock, they must provide a copy of their marriage license to the FOC office. The support order will end and the case will be closed pending payment of any money owed to a public agency. Sometimes, payment of birth expenses (confinement) may be suspended in this situation.