Terry v. Affum, ___Mich App___(1999), # 210862, 213582, (January 22, 1999)
Domestic Relations Review MenuClifford was born in 1991. His parents never married. He lived with his mother until her death in 1997 and had an ongoing relationship with his maternal aunts and uncles. After his mother died, Clifford's aunts failed to return him to his natural father. Father then filed a paternity complaint and sought adjudication of the parties' custody rights. The case was initially settled by a stipulation that father would have sole legal and physical custody and the aunts and uncles would have specified visitation. Within three months father moved to terminate the visitation. The circuit court ruled that the aunts and uncles had standing to seek visitation. The court of appeals disagreed:
"We conclude that defendants do not have standing to seek visitation under MCL 722.26c; MSA 25.312(6c) because defendants have not asserted a claim for custody but rather seek only visitation, of which this provision makes no mention. Although it is true that a claim for custody seeks a greater right and degree of intrusion than does a claim for visitation, and although one may argue that visitation rights are implicit in custody rights, the clear language of the relevant statute limits third-party actions to actions for custody. Indeed, our review of the Child Custody Act reveals only one instance where a third-party is conferred standing to seek visitation. Pursuant to MCL 722.27b; MSA 25.312(7b), a grandparent . . . may seek an order for visitation under carefully limited circumstances. . . . It can be reasonably inferred that if the Legislature intended to afford similar rights to other relatives or third parties, it would have incorporated a similar provision in the Child Custody Act. . . Upon plaintiffs' decision to terminate visitation rights, defendants were without standing to pursue visitation, irrespective of the prior agreement of the parties. . . . The law protects the natural parent's relationship with his or her child and should not unnecessarily interfere with that relationship, even at the cost of estrangement of the extended family."
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