Click Here for Friend of the Court Hours/Services

The Friend of the Court is the statutorily created arm of the Circuit Court.  It is charged with ensuring that the Court’s orders with respect to child support and parenting time are observed by both parties.  Action by the office is governed directly by the provisions of the court order with respect to any particular case.  Until an order has been issued by the Judge who is assigned to a given domestic relations case, the Friend of the Court cannot become involved.

Friend of the Court staff uses many different approaches to obtain compliance with court orders.  They include mediation whenever possible to encourage parents to develop the ability to resolve their own conflicts short of court action.  If necessary, the Friend of the Court will take appropriate steps to enforce court orders that are harsher and may subject a party to contempt of court sanctions.

Although the Friend of the Court no longer receipts child support payment or issues checks, it does maintain the accounting records that are necessary in cases involving child support, health care and day care expenses for minor children. 

The Friend of the Court also assists the court in reaching decisions by making recommendations on a wide range of issues including custody, child support and parenting time.  With respect to child support, the Friend of the Court staff use the 2008 Michigan child support formula as required by law.  They also abide by the statutory “best interest” requirements when making custody recommendations.  However, until the matter is decided by a Judge and that decision put into a court order, a Friend of the Court recommendation is not the final word and is not enforceable.

The Friend of the Court is not the advocate of either party.  It is designed specifically to assist the Judges of the Family decision by making recommendations as provided in the applicable statutes and once an order is entered, to ensure compliance with the provisions of that order. 

WE ALSO HAVE OFF-SITE WALK-IN HOURS

WEDNESDAY 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Orchard View Early Elementary School
2820 MacArthur

About leaving a message

In Muskegon, we have committed a significant percentage of the Friend of the Court’s staff to direct customer service.  Ten Court Services Specialists handle an average of 3,200 telephone calls along with 750 walk-in constituents in any given month.  They also spend significant amounts of time working with constituents on their case-related issues and chasing down the solutions to the wide variety of problems that can arise in about 15,000 active cases.   This means they are not always at their desk to answer a call and we ask that you leave a message.
 
We will make every effort to return calls within 48 hours.  We may not always be able to do so.  If you believe that your call is not being responded to in a timely manner on a consistent basis, please contact me in writing and I will look into the matter.  But you should give the worker at least 48 hours in which to respond. 

Please observe basic courtesy when calling.   When you leave a message, please state the issue briefly and clearly.  Your call will not be returned more quickly if you leave constant repetitive messages.  If a messages contains foul or abusive language, it will not be returned.  If the problem continues, appropriate measures will be taken.  If it is clear that your call concerns an issue that a CSS worker cannot resolved, it will be forwarded to the appropriate worker, who should also return the call within 48 hours.

And please, treat the worker with the same respect that I expect them to give to your case and your issues.  Thanks.

Patricia Steele
Circuit Court Administrator
Director, Friend of the Court

We have 3 websites available:
www.michigan.gov/micase
www.misdu.com
www.co.muskegon.mi.us/circuitcourt/familydivision.htm