... Petitioner further asserts that MCR 5.143(A) specifically authorizes the probate court
to employ methods of alternative dispute resolution and that the jurisdictional limitations
deemed critical in In re Meredith Estate no longer apply. ...
... 186, 187-188, 680 NW2d 835 (2004), held that regardless of the type of alternative dispute
resolution that parties use, the Child Custody Act [2] requires the circuit court to determine
independently what custodial placement is in the best interests of the children, emphasizing that ...
... an issue that was not called to the trial court's attention. [25] Trial courts are not
the research assistants of the litigants; the parties have a duty to fully present their
legal arguments to the court for its resolution of their dispute. ...