Child Custody and Home Stability

 Posted on April 28, 2024 in Family Law

Children benefit from stability. A routine schedule, stable and trusting relationships with the most important people in their lives, and a largely permanent home environment can all make a child feel safe and secure. Children who enjoy stability and predictability in their day-to-day lives, even after their parents get divorced, are less likely to “act out” or get into trouble. These children are better able to focus on school and extracurricular activities and may feel more emotionally secure. Two of the factors Michigan uses to determine what child custody arrangement would be best for the child consider the stability of each parent’s home environment and family unit. A Northville, MI child custody attorney can help you determine how these factors might apply to your household.

A Stable, Satisfactory Environment

One of the factors Michigan courts consider is how long the child has been living in a “stable, satisfactory environment” and how much maintaining continuity in that environment might help the child. If your child is in the only home he or she has ever known, uprooting the child during an already difficult time might not be in the child’s best interest. If your child already has a good living environment he or she feels safe, keeping the child in that environment might help give him or her a sense of stability.

This factor might not apply as strongly if your family tends to move frequently or if the child’s current home environment is less than ideal.

The Permanence of a Family Unit

It might sound strange to consider the permanence of a child’s family unit, given that if you are going through a child custody case, the child’s family unit is breaking up. However, the court will also want to understand who each parent would be living with and how stable these household relationships might be.

If you are in a long-term relationship and your child has a well-established, family-like relationship with your partner, your child may benefit from the stability your new family unit offers. The opposite might be true if one parent has lived with a lot of different people over the past year. Any extended family members, like the child’s grandparents or aunts and uncles, who live in the household might also be important, as these are stable and permanent family relationships.

Contact an Oakland County, MI Child Custody Lawyer 

Elkouri Heath, PLC is committed to helping parents resolve their child custody cases in a way that benefits the children. Our Northville, MI child custody attorneys have been representing local families for more than 25 years combined. Contact us at 248-344-9700 for a complimentary consultation.