Michigan Grandparents' Rights: How the Law Was Rebuilt After DeRose

Michigan's grandparent-visitation law has a history worth knowing before you read the current statute: the version on the books today is not the version Michigan courts actually struck down. If you find an older description of "Michigan's grandparent visitation law," it may be describing dead law. The current statute is a genuine post-Troxel rebuild, and it is worth understanding both halves of that story.

No grandparent in Michigan has an automatic right to visitation. But Michigan's current law is a reasonably well-built example of a state that responded to a constitutional problem by fixing the statute itself, rather than leaving the fix entirely to case law.

Information last verified on 2026-08-12. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

The Law That Was Struck Down: DeRose v. DeRose

In DeRose v. DeRose, 469 Mich. 320, 666 N.W.2d 636 (2003), the Michigan Supreme Court struck the prior version of MCL 722.27b facially as unconstitutional under Troxel v. Granville. The problem was structural: the old statute did not require courts to give any deference to a fit parent's decision about grandparent visitation, and it contained no presumption that a fit parent's decision serves the child's best interest. Justice Weaver's concurrence in the case specifically urged the Legislature to fix the statute rather than leave the gap to further litigation.

The Current Law: What the Legislature Built to Replace It

The Legislature responded, and the version of MCL 722.27b in force today is a materially different, more protective statute than the one DeRose struck down. The current law starts from a rebuttable presumption that a fit parent's decision to deny grandparenting time does NOT create a substantial risk of harm to the child's well-being. To overcome that presumption, a grandparent must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the parent's denial does create a substantial risk of harm, weighed against the ten-factor best-interest test in MCL 722.27b(6): the emotional ties between grandparent and child; the length and quality of the prior relationship and the role the grandparent has played; the grandparent's moral fitness; the grandparent's mental and physical health; the child's own reasonable preference, if the child is old enough to express one; the effect on the child of hostility between the grandparent and the parent; the grandparent's willingness to encourage the child's relationship with the parent; any history of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect of any child by the grandparent; whether the parent's decision to deny grandparenting time relates to the child's well-being or to some unrelated reason; and any other factor relevant to the child's physical and psychological well-being.

The statute even builds in a contingency: if a preponderance standard is ever held unconstitutional, it specifies a fallback clear-and-convincing standard. That level of detail reflects a Legislature that was deliberately building a statute meant to survive exactly the kind of constitutional challenge that took down its predecessor.

Standing to file requires one of six specific circumstances: a pending action for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment; the parents already divorced or legally separated; a parent's death; unmarried parents with established paternity who do not live together; custody having been given to someone other than a parent; or the grandparent having provided an established custodial environment for the child at some point in the year preceding the filing.

That last trigger is commonly misread. MCL 722.27b(1)(f) asks whether, "in the year preceding the commencement of an action," the grandparent provided an established custodial environment, whether or not the grandparent had custody under a court order. It is a one-year look-back window, not a requirement that the caregiving lasted a year. Whether an established custodial environment existed is judged under MCL 722.27, which asks whether over an appreciable time the child naturally looked to that custodian for guidance, discipline, the necessities of life, and parental comfort.

Custody: A Separate, Harder Track

MCL 700.5204 allows guardianship-of-minor appointment, including by a grandparent, when parental rights have been terminated or suspended by a prior order, a parent has died, is mentally incompetent, has disappeared, or is confined; or when an unmarried custodial parent dies or goes missing and the proposed guardian is related to the child within the fifth degree; or when a parent has let the child live elsewhere without granting legal authority for care and the child is not currently residing with a parent when the petition is filed. This is a separate legal track from grandparenting time and is fact-specific in its own right. See Michigan child custody laws for the broader picture.

Adoption: The Default Is Termination, With One Narrow Exception

Start with the default, because it is the opposite of what many summaries suggest. MCL 722.27b(13) provides that adoption of a child, or placement of a child for adoption under the Michigan adoption code, terminates the right of a grandparent to commence an action for grandparenting time with that child.

MCL 710.60(3) is sometimes cited as though it preserved grandparenting-time rights through an adoption. It does not. It says only that section 710.60 itself does not prohibit the filing of an action or entry of an order for grandparenting time under MCL 722.27b. The operative cutoff is in 722.27b(13), and it runs the other way.

The exception is narrow. Adoption by a stepparent does not terminate "the right of the parent of a deceased parent of the child to commence an action." On its face that carve-out reaches a grandparent whose own child has died. It does not, by its wording, reach a grandparent whose child's parental rights were terminated rather than ended by death.

A different subsection governs a different situation, and the two are easy to confuse because their exceptions are worded differently. Under MCL 722.27b(5), if two fit parents sign an affidavit stating that they both oppose an order for grandparenting time, the court must dismiss the petition. That subsection does not apply where one of the fit parents is a stepparent who adopted the child and the grandparent seeking the order is the natural or adoptive parent of a parent of the child who is deceased or whose parental rights have been terminated. Subsection (5) covers both death and termination; the adoption cutoff in subsection (13) mentions only death. Which exception matters depends on which subsection is being used to stop the petition.

Filing for Grandparenting Time: Court, Process, and Cost

Michigan Child Custody Act matters, including grandparenting-time petitions, are heard in Circuit Court, Family Division. Standing is tied to one of the six enumerated circumstances above; most involve an existing or terminated family-court matter, though the custodial-environment trigger and the parent's-death trigger can arise outside a currently pending case.

There is no official statewide fee schedule found for this specific petition. Confirm the current filing fee with the Circuit Court, Family Division, where you plan to file.

Consider Mediation Before You File

Even with Michigan's more grandparent-friendly preponderance standard, a contested case still means real cost, delay, and strain on family relationships. Before filing, consider a direct conversation with the parent if that is realistic, a trusted family member as an intermediary, or a mediator experienced in family disputes. Many Michigan Circuit Courts offer or require mediation once a case is filed.

What Are Your Realistic Odds in Michigan?

Michigan is a genuinely useful comparison point for readers wondering what a "done right" post-Troxel statute looks like. The preponderance-of-the-evidence bar, while real, is a more achievable standard than the clear-and-convincing-evidence bar used in some other states, and a grandparent who can point to concrete evidence of substantial risk to the child from losing contact, not just a general preference for more time together, has a workable path forward. If you decide to pursue a petition, a family-law attorney licensed in Michigan can assess how your specific facts fit the ten-factor test before you file.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Michigan grandparenting-time and custody law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Michigan's statute was substantially rebuilt after a prior version was struck down, and outcomes depend heavily on the specific facts of a family's situation. Verify current details with the court where you plan to file or a licensed Michigan attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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Last updated: 2026-08-12.