## Facts

- Jennifer Ireland and Steven Smith, unmarried high-school students, had a daughter born April 22, 1991.
- The parents never lived together; the child initially was placed in foster care for adoption, but the mother decided within weeks to raise the child.
- For the child’s early life, the mother lived with her family, who helped care for the child; the father lived with his parents.
- The father did not attempt to see the child during the first year, but later began visiting regularly.
- In fall 1993, the mother and child moved to Ann Arbor; the mother attended the University of Michigan on scholarship and used university-approved day care while in class.
- The mother had been the child’s primary caregiver, and the child had lived with her mother for her entire life.

## Issues

1. Whether, given an established custodial environment with the mother, the trial court could transfer custody to the father without clear and convincing evidence that the change was in the child’s best interests.
2. Whether the trial court improperly relied on generalized preferences for grandparent-provided care over licensed day care, and improperly treated the mother’s college attendance as weighing against custody.
3. Whether the circumstances required remand for further proceedings before a different judge based on concerns about judicial impartiality.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the finding that the child had an established custodial environment with the mother.
- The court reversed the custody transfer to the father because the record did not contain clear and convincing evidence that changing custody was in the child’s best interests.
- The court held the trial court’s analysis overemphasized the father’s living arrangement with grandparents and undervalued the stability and adequacy of the mother’s home and care plan, including use of approved day care while attending college.
- The court remanded for further proceedings, directing that the matter proceed before a different judge.

## Legal Principles

- When an established custodial environment exists with a parent, custody may not be changed unless clear and convincing evidence shows the change is in the child’s best interests.
- Best-interest determinations must be grounded in the statutory factors and supported by the evidentiary record; a court may not effectively alter the burden by relying on speculative or generalized assumptions.
- A parent’s attendance at school or use of licensed/approved day care, without evidence of harm or inadequacy, does not by itself constitute a basis to displace an established custodial environment.
- Appellate relief may include reassignment on remand where the record supports concerns affecting the fairness of further proceedings.

## Conclusion

The court held that because the child’s established custodial environment was with the mother, the father could not obtain a custody transfer absent clear and convincing evidence that the change served the child’s best interests, and it rejected treating the mother’s college attendance and use of approved day care as sufficient grounds to disrupt the child’s stable living arrangement; the case was remanded for further proceedings before a different judge.


Ireland v. Smith, 542 N.W.2d 344 (Mich. Ct. App. 1995)