Abstract: In Michigan, the Wayne County Circuit has jurisdiction over divorce matters.' By statute in I9292 and Rule of Court3 the office of of the Court was created. The present article discusses problems of modification of custody and maintenance orders in divorce cases from the standpoint of the Friend of the Court. First then as to the size of the problem. The population of Wayne County is approximately 2,000,000. Divorce applications average 4,ooo a year. In many of these cases decrees for maintenance and custody are necessary. In about 20%/o of the cases in which decrees for maintenance are entered petitions are later filed for a modification due to a change in circumstances. In about 14%/o of the cases where custody orders are entered petitions are later filed for a modification due to a change in circumstances. It is obvious that there is need for the court before making a decision to obtain full and complete information regarding the changes in circumstances in each case. This is the reason for the creation of the office of the Friend of the Court. Under the methods in effect prior to I929 the orthodox litigation procedure was employed to place the facts before the judge. One party might cite the other for contempt or file a petition for a change of custody. Counsel for the parties would then proceed to secure witnesses, affidavits and go through the somewhat ponderous process of preparing for the trial. On the day set for the hearing the court would be obliged to listen to evidence and to apply the various rules excluding legally nonrelevant information. Counsel would examine, cross examine, make objections, take exceptions. After expenditure of necessarily considerable time a decree would be entered. Sometimes months would elapse. The present practice is useful if only because it permits greater expedition in disposing of these complicated matters. Saving time may be of advantage to the court and to the parties. Today the spouse who desires a modification of a maintenance or custody order files a praecipe and a petition. Within two or three weeks the matter is referred to the Friend of the Court. An investigator from the office of the Friend of the proceeds to gather data. * LL.B., I905, Detroit College of Law. Member of the Michigan Bar. Friend of the for the Circuit for the County of Wayne, State of Michigan, since I918. Attorney for the Legal Aid Bureau of the Detroit Bar Association, I909-I919. Member of the Board of Directors of the Children's Aid Society. 1MICH. Comp. LAWS (1929) ?12734. 'MICH. COMP. LAWS (1929) ?12783. 3 For a more detailed description of the Friend of the see The Evolution of the Office of Friend of the (1935) MICHIGAN JUDICIAL COUNCIL, FIFTH ANN. REP. 6i ff.; Pokorny, Practical Problems in the Enforcement of Alimony Decrees (1939) 6 LAW AND CONTEMP. PROB. 274.