Rule 3.208.Friend of the Court

The friend of the court watches a domestic relations judgment after the judge signs it. MCR 3.208 sets out the powers that office carries, the show cause machinery it uses when a party ignores an order, how the money it collects is divided, and when it may stop working a case.

Powers and the duty to enforce

Subrule (A) borrows rather than invents: the office has the powers and duties statutes give it, including those in the Friend of the Court Act, MCL 552.501 et seq., and the Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act, MCL 552.601 et seq. Subrule (B) assigns responsibility for initiating proceedings to enforce an order or judgment for support, parenting time, or custody, and sorts contempt work into two tracks: contempt under the Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act follows this subrule, while contempt under MCL 600.1701 follows MCR 3.606.

Bringing a party in on a show cause

Subrule (B)(1) gives the friend of the court two routes when a party has failed to comply with an order or judgment: move for an order to show cause why the party should not be held in contempt, or, in nonpayment of support cases and as the court allows, schedule a hearing before a judge or referee for the party to show cause, without first obtaining an order. Under (B)(2), either paper may be served personally, by ordinary mail at the party's last known address, or in another manner permitted by MCR 3.203.

Subrule (B)(3) borrows the form requirements for a subpoena under MCR 2.506(D), with an authorized signature meaning one that comports with MCR 1.109(E). The notice states the amount past due, the source of the information about that amount, and the act or failure to act said to violate the order. The state court administrator develops a form for statewide use, and the hearing notice and show cause notice may be combined in one document.

Subrule (B)(4) sets the timing: the hearing comes no sooner than seven days after service, or nine days if the paper went by ordinary mail. Under (B)(5) the court may run the hearing without the office unless a party offers evidence that requires more from its records, and a party who does not appear may draw an order for arrest. Under (B)(7) the office may petition for an order of arrest at any time when immediate action is necessary.

Where the payments go

• Subrule (C)(1) sends allocation and distribution to the guidelines the office of child support establishes.
• Subrule (C)(2) lets the court depart where the guidelines would produce an unjust result, but the order needs specific findings of fact and must direct the payer to mark each payment with the payer and payee names, the case number, the amount, and the date of the order allowing the special payment.
• Subrule (C)(3) covers a payer with several cases paying the office directly rather than through income withholding. The money spreads across all the cases unless the payer asks in writing at the time of payment and supplies the payer name, the payee name, the case number, and the amount for each case.

When the office steps back

Subrule (D) lets the friend of the court inactivate a case and stop performing its statutory activities when the case is no longer eligible for federal funding, either because a party will not take the action needed to keep that funding or because the federal child support case has been closed under Title IV, Part D of the Social Security Act, 42 USC 651 et seq.