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Form FOC 65 MOTION REGARDING PARENTING TIME
Use this form if:
· you have a pending case for divorce, separate maintenance, family support, or paternity; or · you have a judgment of divorce or separate maintenance, a family support order, or an order of filiation but parenting time was not included; or · you already have parenting time orders in your judgment of divorce or separate maintenance, your family support order, or your order of filiation and you want the court to either order parenting time or change parenting time.

MOTION CHECKLIST

Use the following checklist to make sure you have done all the steps that are needed.

DID YOU . . .
1. 2. 3. 4. Fill out all requested information on the form? Make all necessary copies? Pay the motion fee to the clerk? Mail (serve) a copy of the motion on the other party and on any other custodian/guardian after the judge and hearing date were assigned to your case by the clerk? Return to the clerk's office after you mailed the motion and notice of hearing to the other party and completed the certificate of mailing? Keep one copy of the motion and notice of hearing form for yourself? Give two copies of the completed form to the clerk of the court? YES YES YES

YES

5.

YES YES YES

6. 7.

If you cannot answer "yes" to all the above steps, a hearing on your motion may be delayed or your motion may be dismissed.

By using this form packet you are representing yourself in a court action regarding parenting time. In order to receive the action you seek, you must follow the instructions in this packet. If you fail to do even one of the required steps, the order you get from the court may not give you the parenting time you want.

If you have any questions about any steps in the process, refer to pages 3 through 5 of this booklet for details.

PAGE 2

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING FORM FOC 65 FILING A MOTION AND SERVING A MOTION »» FILING A MOTION 1. Fill out the Motion form. Use the instructions on page 6. Be careful not to make mistakes. Before filling out the "Notice of Hearing" part of the form, contact the friend of the court office to find out who to contact about getting a hearing date. Then contact the person or office as directed by the friend of the court office. Fill in the form with the information you get about the hearing date, location of hearing, and name of the judge or referee who will be hearing the motion. Make at least five copies of the form after you have filled it out. 2. File the Motion form with the county clerk. Take the original and five copies of the form to the county clerk in the county where your case is located. You must pay a $20.00 motion fee. If you can't afford to pay the motion fee, ask the county clerk for an Affidavit and Order, Suspension of Fees/Costs (Form MC 20 not included in this packet) to fill out. The county clerk will write the name of the judge assigned to your case on your form. The clerk will keep the original and one copy of the motion and any attachments for the court file and the friend of the court. Then the clerk will return four copies and remaining attachments to you. Do not lose them. What you should have when you leave the clerk's office: One copy of FOC 65 (with any attachments) - for you One copy of FOC 65 (with any attachments) - for the other party One copy of FOC 65 - for proof of service to the court One copy of FOC 65 - for proof of service to the friend of the court »» SERVING THE MOTION ON THE OTHER PARTY OR PARTIES 1. Serve the Motion and Notice of Hearing on the other party. The other parent, or other party (if there is a custodian or guardian other than a parent) must be served with (notified of) the motion and hearing date at least 9 weekdays (not including holidays) before the hearing date. NOTE: Serve the papers by mailing them to the other party by first-class mail. PAGE 3

What you need for service: One copy of FOC 65 (with any attachments) - for the other party Two copies of FOC 65 - for proof of service Any additional copies of FOC 65 (with any attachments) - for other custodian or guardian if there is someone other than the other parent who has care or custody of the child(ren). Mail one copy with attachments to the other party. If there is a custodian or guardian, mail one copy and the attachments to him/her. Then fill out the Certificate of Mailing on the front of the remaining three copies. Keep one copy for your own records. 2. Return to the county clerk. Once you have mailed the motion and notice of hearing and filled out the Certificate of Mailing on the remaining three copies, return to the county clerk's office with two copies. Remember to keep one copy for your own records. The county clerk will deliver one copy to the friend of the court. 3. Response from other party. If you receive a response to your motion from the other party, make sure you read it before you attend the hearing. Think about what you want to say on your behalf. 4. Attend the hearing. You must attend the hearing on the motion. »» INFORMATION ABOUT ATTENDING THE HEARING Bring the original and five copies of the Order Regarding Parenting Time (Form FOC 67) with you to the hearing. Also bring all supporting papers you have and any witnesses who are willing to testify. 1. Because you are representing yourself, you are expected to conduct yourself as an attorney would and to follow the same general rules an attorney would. 2. Make a list of information you think is important for the referee or judge to know. The information should relate to the reasons stated in your motion. You can use this list as a reminder to bring up the points you think are important. 3. If you think you need to order someone to attend this hearing, follow the procedure in Michigan Court Rule 2.506 or consult with an attorney. 4. Go to the judge's courtroom or referee's hearing room on the scheduled day and time. Dress neatly. Arrive 10 or 15 minutes early. Be prepared to spend most of the morning or afternoon in court. Bring any witnesses with you. PAGE 4

5. If you are responsible for preparing the order, bring all copies of your order form. 6. Go into the courtroom or referee hearing room and tell the referee or clerk (sitting near the judge's bench) your name, that you are there for a hearing, and you are representing yourself. Do not interrupt any hearing in progress. Then take a seat in the back of the courtroom and wait for your case to be called. 7. When your case is called, go to the podium and clearly state: 1) your name. 2) that you are representing yourself. 3) that you need a parenting time order or a change in a parenting time order. 4) the facts or reasons for your request (bring papers such as reports that support your facts or reasons). 5) why you believe this order would be in the best interests of the child(ren). 6) whether you have witnesses in court who are willing to testify. Answer the judge's or referee's questions clearly and directly. If the judge or referee wants to hear from the other witnesses, ask them to tell the court what they saw or know regarding your situation. 8. If the other party is in court, he or she will have a chance to speak also. When the other party talks, take notes. Do not interrupt the other party. After the other party speaks, you will have another chance to talk. Taking notes will help you with this. 9. After the judge or referee makes a decision, follow the instructions on the packet for FOC 67, "Order Regarding Parenting Time." You are responsible for preparing the order even if you do not get what you are asking.

NOTE: If your hearing was held before a referee and you do not agree with the referee's decision, you have 21 days from the date you receive the referee's recommendation to file an objection and request a de novo hearing before the judge. Use the packet for FOC 68, "Objection to Referee's Recommended Order."

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING "MOTION REGARDING PARENTING TIME" Please print neatly. After filling in the form, you will need to make at least five copies. Items A through I must be completed before your motion can be filed with the court. Please read the instruction for each item. Then fill in the correct information for that item on the form. A B Before you fill in the Case No., get your court papers for divorce, separate maintenance, family support, or paternity and copy the Case No. from those court papers onto this form. Also use your court papers to fill in the "Plaintiff" and "Defendant" boxes and if applicable, the "Third Party" box. Copy the names from these court papers onto this form. For example, if your name is in the box that says "plaintiff," then you should write your name in the "plaintiff" box on this motion form. You are the "moving party." Once you have written both names where they belong, you must check the box "moving party" in the same box as your name. C Check only one box. If you have a judgment or order for divorce, separate maintenance, or paternity, read it carefully to find out if there is any information in it about parenting time. If there is information about parenting time, check box a. If there is no information about parenting time, check box b. Check this box only if you checked box a. in C above and the parenting time orders have not been obeyed. Then check those boxes a. through d. that best explain what has happened. After you check the boxes, use a separate sheet of paper to explain in as much detail as possible what has happened. Print this information as neatly as you can. You will need four copies of this sheet to attach to copies of this form. Check this box if you and the other party have agreed to start parenting time or make changes in the parenting time. If you check this box, use a separate sheet of paper to explain in as much detail as possible what you have agreed on. Print this information as neatly as you can. You will need to have four copies of this sheet to attach to copies of this form. Check the box which best states what you are asking the court to order. You need to explain why you think it is in the best interests of the child(ren) for the court to order this request. Use a separate sheet of paper and print your explanation as neatly as you can. You will need four copies of this sheet to attach to copies of this form. Check the box that best explains what you want the court to order. You need to explain in as much detail as possible what you want the court to order. Use a separate sheet of paper and print as neatly as you can. You will need four copies of this sheet to attach to copies of this form. Write in today's date and sign your name. Now contact the the friend of the court office in your county to find out how to get a hearing date. See page 3 of this booklet for details. Once you get a hearing scheduled, fill in the full name of the judge or referee who will be hearing this motion, the date of the hearing, the time of the hearing (include whether it is a.m. or p.m.), and the place of the hearing. Now go to the county clerk's office with the original and five copies of this form and the four copies of each separate sheet. The clerk will attach one copy of each separate sheet to four of the copies. The clerk will return four copies to you. Read page 3 of this booklet for details on mailing this form to the other party. J On the date you mail one copy (and the separate sheets) to the other party, write in the date and sign your name on the remaining three copies. Return to the county clerk with two copies. Read page 4 of this booklet for details. You must read this booklet for directions on the legal process.

D

E

F

G

H I

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Approved, SCAO

Original - Court 1st copy - Other party 2nd copy - Moving party

3rd copy - Friend of the court 4th copy - Proof of service 5th copy - Proof of service

STATE OF MICHIGAN JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY
Court address

A
MOTION REGARDING PARENTING TIME

CASE NO.

Court telephone no.

B

Plaintiff's name, address, and telephone no.

moving party

Defendant's name, address, and telephone no.

moving party

v

Third party name, address, and telephone no.

moving party

C

1.

a. On

Date

a judgment

or order was entered regarding parenting time. b. There is currently no order regarding parenting time.

D

2.

Name

has disobeyed the parenting-time order as follows:

a. b. c. d.

he/she has denied me parenting time with the child(ren) as follows: he/she has not had parenting time with the child(ren) as follows: he/she has made changes in parenting time without court order as follows: he/she has not followed the specific conditions of parenting time as follows:

Use a separate sheet to explain in detail what has happened and attach. Include all necessary facts.

E

3.

and I have agreed to parenting time as follows:

Name Use a separate sheet to explain in detail what you have agreed on and attach. Include all necessary facts.

F

4. It is in the best interests of the child(ren) to

Use a separate sheet to explain why it is in the best interests of the child(ren) and attach.

establish parenting time

change parenting time

because:

G H

5. I ask the court to order that parenting time be

Use a separate sheet to explain in detail what you want the court to order and attach.

established

changed

made up

as follows:

Date

Moving party's signature

NOTICE OF HEARING

I

A hearing will be held on this motion before on
Date

Judge/Referee Time

at

at

Location

.

If you require special accommodations to use the court because of a disability, or if you require a foreign language interpreter to help you fully participate in court proceedings, please contact the court immediately to make arrangements. When contacting the court, provide your case number(s).
NOTE: If you are the person receiving this motion, you may file a response. Contact the friend of the court office and request form FOC 66.

CERTIFICATE OF MAILING I certify that on this date I served a copy of this motion and notice of hearing on the parties or their attorney by first-class mail addressed to their last-known addresses as defined in MCR 3.203.

J
Date FOC 65 (3/09) Moving party's signature

MOTION REGARDING PARENTING TIME

MCL 552.14, MCR 2.119