A bill has been entered in the Michigan House of Representatives to make Equal Parenting the default parenting arrangement. Judges can overrule the default only on the basis of “clear and convincing” evidence that Equal Parenting wouldn’t be in the best interest of a child.
http://michiganradio.org/post/bill-would-make-shared-custody-mandatory-priority-family-court-judges
This is a powerful bill. The requirement of clear and convincing evidence is necessary to stop the painful, and wasteful arguing over who is better or worse deserving of being a parent. If you are a parent before separation, you are a parent after. There is no valid reason for depriving children and parents of their full relationship because of separation of the parents.
The bill was introduced by Representative Runestad, who happens to be the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. This means the bill’s sponsor in a very powerful position to see it gets the full service it deserves. We can expect harsh words and tactics to be applied against this bill and Representative Runestad. On the other hand, Ex-fathers wants to encourage those who work to overcome the terror of the family court. You can help, a simple message to Rep. Runestad will let him know there is support behind him in this:
Email: JimRunestad@house.mi.gov
It doesn’t matter where you live, whatever state or country, we can show Michigan we are all united for Equal Parenting.