Factor (e) of the "best interests of the child" criteria under Michigan law reads: "the permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial homes or homes."
This factor is one in which dads routinely are given the shaft. In my personal case, this one was figured equally, as I had managed to hang on the marital home, seeing as how the soon-to-be-ex had no claim to it, at all. She hid in a shelter for about six weeks, and then found a subsidised (and filthy) apartment to rent. Yet, that place was deemed a "custodial home". After all, mom can't lose too many of the factors, or she loses the custody battle, and the county and the State of Michigan won't profit from this custody fight.....
Here, though, if a dad has been tossed from the home, what is he to do for a "custodial home". Depending on where he has been able to find a bed or a couch even, the biased judges will hold that against him in a flash.
We also need to look at the wording "as a family unit". This is a no-brainer for the system-remove the dad, one way or another, and the "family unit" is mom and the kids, regardless of how loving, dedicated, and active the father was in the lives of his children.
Heck, even if mom if moving the kids from shelter to apartment to grandma's and then to yet another apartment, that is still a good enough "custodial home" for a Michigan family law judge.
A Father of Two.
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