Family Division Calendar of Events

Family Division of Circuit Court
County Annex Building
719 W. Chisholm
STE #8
Alpena, Michigan 49707-2452
Phone (989) 354-9696 Fax (989) 354-9786

Montmorency County Family Division
PO Box 789
Atlanta, MI 49709
Phone (989) 785-8059

The Family Division of the 26th Circuit Court is multi-county as well, including both Alpena County and Montmorency County. In Alpena, there are three Juvenile Motion Days each month which take place on Thursdays. In Montmorency, Juvenile Motion Days are held twice monthly, which take place the second Tuesday of each month and the fourth Monday of each month. There may be exceptions due to holidays or vacation scheduling.

The Family Division, a division of the Circuit Court, has jurisdiction over all family matters such as divorce, custody, parenting time, support, paternity, adoptions, name changes, juvenile proceedings, neglect/abuse proceedings, emancipation of minors, parental consent and personal protection proceedings. The Family Division also has ancillary jurisdiction over cases involving guardianships, conservatorships and proceedings involving the mentally ill or developmentally disabled.

Civil Family Division Actions:
The Michigan Legislature mandated that all Circuit Courts develop a plan for a Family Division. The law moved the Juvenile Division of the Probate Court to the Family Division of the Circuit Court, and required the assignment of the Probate Judge to function in that Division. The idea was to assure that a family involved in both Probate and Circuit litigations, such as a divorce or a neglect and abuse petition, had a single judge handling all matters.

Alpena County has one elected Probate Judge, who handles all Probate matters and serves in the Family Division.

The Family Division handles divorces, paternities, non-support actions, child custody and parenting time disputes, neglect and abuse petitions, adoptions and juvenile delinquency matters and personal protection orders (PPOs).