Many people wonder if they were married in another state if they can get divorced in Michigan. The short answer is – yes- as long as you meet certain residency requirements.
The 4th Amendment requires each state to recognize valid marriages performed in other states. Yet each state is able to place certain restrictions on the cases a court is able to here. At issue here are restrictions called jurisdictional requirements. In Michigan the statues require that either party must have lived in the state for 180 days prior to filing a complaint for divorce in the family courts here. Additionally, when deciding which circuit court to file a complaint with, you need to choose the one for the county that either party has lived in for at least 10 days prior to filing.
Even if you were married in another state, as long as you or your spouse have lived in Michigan for 180 days and in the county you want to file in for 10 days you are able to file a complaint for divorce in Michigan.