Moral fitness matters

When courts look at determining custody and parenting time, they must focus on the best interests factors set forth in MCL 722.23. Most are pretty self-explanatory, albeit in lengthy legal jargon, but one that often stumps is f – the moral fitness of the parties involved.

It’s a fair bet to say that most people don’t believe their exes have stellar morals, for a variety of reasons. Maybe they cheated, maybe they “borrow” their neighbor’s cable services, or maybe they have a criminal record. Or maybe, it’s things that the ex finds personally objectionable – smoking, not going to church or drinking. So where does the court draw the line on determining if a party is morally fit for purposes of custody and parenting time?

 

In the 1994 Michigan Supreme Court case Fletcher v Fletcher, 447 Mich 871, mom had an affair (or two depending on who you ask) during the marriage. Because of this, the trial court found in favor of the dad on factor f, believing that the affair provided a poor moral example for the children. The Court of Appeals reasoned that since the children had no idea she had an affair, her behavior didn’t give them a poor moral example. Michigan’s Supreme Court agreed, but noted that the laser focus on “moral example” overlooked factor f’s critical words, “fitness of the parties involved.”

 

The words moral fitness referenced in factor f relate to “a person’s fitness as a parent.” The court should not focus on who would win the overall moral superiority contest, but rather how and if their moral fitness impacts their ability to properly parent their child. The court held that “questionable conduct is relevant to factor f only if it is a type of conduct that necessarily has a significant influence on how one will function as a parent.”

 

The fact that you had an affair or other moral slipup doesn’t equate to being a lousy parent. The specifics of each alleged moral mishap need to be taken into consideration, instead of treating it as an automatic black mark on that parent’s column. People should still try to make good choices, but not every skeleton in your closet needs to come out in court.