This morning there was an amber alert issued for a two week old baby taken from the mother's home by it's father.

This was a rather odd thing, because I have often been told by mothers whose child's father has taken them, that the police will not do anything to help them get the child back.

In Michigan, if you have a child out of wedlock, unless you have an order from the court that says otherwise, the mother has sole custody of the child. Even if the father is named on the birth certificate, and there is an affidavit of parentage, meaning that paternity has been established, the mother has sole legal and physical custody of that child.

In order for fathers to secure their rights to parenting time and custody, they must file a complaint for custody with the circuit court in their county and get an order for custody and parenting time.

I want to caution mothers however, because most times, most police agencies will not get involved with custody disputes and leave it to the mother to file a court action to get the child back.

I have had success with providing the police department with the attorney general opinion that states mothers have custody if there is no further order of the court and the police can rely on that opinion to return the child to the mother.