November 13, 2008, Introduced by Rep. Meisner and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to amend 1982 PA 294, entitled
"Friend of the court act,"
by amending section 13 (MCL 552.513), as amended by 2002 PA 571.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 13. (1) The office shall provide, either directly or by
contract, domestic relations mediation to assist the parties in
settling voluntarily a dispute concerning child custody or
parenting time that arises in a friend of the court case. Parties
shall not be required to meet with a domestic relations mediator.
The service may be provided directly by the office only if such a
service is in place on July 1, 1983, if the service is not
available from a private source, or if the court can demonstrate
that providing the service within the friend of the court office is
cost beneficial. Any expansion of existing services provided by the
court on July 1, 1983 shall be provided by an individual meeting
the domestic relations mediator minimum qualifications listed under
subsection (4).
(2) If an agreement is reached by the parties through domestic
relations mediation, a consent order incorporating the agreement
shall be prepared by an employee of the office who is a member of
the state bar of Michigan; under section 22, by a member of the
state bar of Michigan; or by the attorney for 1 of the parties. The
consent order shall be provided to, and shall be entered by, the
court.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (2), a communication
between a domestic relations mediator and a party to a domestic
relations mediation is confidential. The secrecy of the
communication shall be preserved inviolate as a privileged
communication. The communication shall not be admitted in evidence
in any proceedings. The same protection shall be given to
communications between the parties in the presence of the mediator.
For purposes of this section, privileged communications include
psychological evaluations and psychological tests.
(4) A domestic relations mediator who performs mediation under
this act shall have all of the following minimum qualifications:
(a) One or more of the following:
(i) A license or a limited license to engage in the practice of
psychology under parts 161 and 182 of the public health code, 1978
PA 368, MCL 333.16101 to 333.16349 and 333.18201 to 333.18237, or a
master's degree in counseling, social work, or marriage and family
counseling; and successful completion of the training program
provided by the bureau under section 19(3)(b).
(ii) Not less than 5 years of experience in family counseling,
preferably in a setting related to the areas of responsibility of
the friend of the court and preferably to reflect the ethnic
population to be served, and successful completion of the training
program provided by the bureau under section 19(3)(b).
(iii) A graduate degree in a behavioral science and successful
completion of a domestic relations mediation training program
certified by the bureau with not less than 40 hours of classroom
instruction and 250 hours of practical experience working under the
direction of a person who has successfully completed a program
certified by the bureau.
(iv) Membership in the state bar of Michigan and successful
completion of the training program provided by the bureau under
section 19(3)(b).
(b) Knowledge of the court system of this state and the
procedures used in domestic relations matters.
(c) Knowledge of other resources in the community to which the
parties to a domestic relations matter can be referred for
assistance.
(d) Knowledge of child development, clinical issues relating
to children, the effects of divorce on children, and child custody
research.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless all of the following bills of the 94th Legislature are
enacted into law:
(a) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6659(request no.
07492'08).
(b) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6660(request no.
07492'08 a).
(c) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6661(request no.
07492'08 b).
(d) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6662(request no.
07492'08 c).
(e) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6664(request no.
07492'08 e).