Yesterday, Governor Snyder signed Senate Bill 09 and tied barred House Bills 4071 and 4482 which provide protections for active service members involved in family court child custody proceedings.
Last week, the United States Supreme Court addressed one of the finer points of the Fourth Amendment’s search and seizure clause in a Nebraska case, Rodriguez v United States. The decision, released on Tuesday, held that police cannot detain a motorist any longer than is reasonably necessary to complete a routine traffic stop.
Last month, certain components of Michigan’s sex offender registration act [SORA] were invalidated as unconstitutional by a federal judge in Detroit. Since passing the law in 1994, the Michigan legislature has made a series of amendments tightening restrictions on registrants over the past two decades.
Last weekend, we noticed an article in the Detroit Free Press about one of our colleagues from Troy, MI who got into some hot water relative to his estate planning practice.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Court of Appeals again considered the 100-mile rule in a published decision. The case is significant to the extent that it provides parents guidance on the location of their post-divorce domicile and is yet another case that illustrates the concept of joint custody.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Court of Appeals addressed alcohol abuse and parenting conditions in a rare published opinion; rare in that parenting time appeals do not get published very often.
Wow. A recent unpublished Court of Appeals decision arising from a messy Waterford & Clarkston divorce touches on many significant legal issues that arise in family court.
Defense Lawyer Deficient in Baby Death Case
In mid-January, the Michigan Court of Appeals again addressed an aspect of the oft-litigated Medical Marijuana Act. This time, the issue was what parts of a marijuana plant count when determining whether a certified care provider has complied with the Act to obtain immunity from prosecution.
Parents behaving badly in family court; happens all the time. When your family life is placed in the public arena of family court, pressures can mount; not everyone handles the pressure with poise or grace.
Last week, the Michigan Court of Appeals reviewed the language of a divorce judgment from the Kent County Family Court. The issue presented to the appeals court was whether certain language contained in a consent judgment...
Last month, just before the holidays, Governor Rick Snyder signed several tie-barred bills into law dealing with paternity and the rules establishing paternity in the county family courts of Michigan. The statute, officially known as the Genetic Parentage Act, adopts DNA testing and streamlines the procedure for establishing paternity in the family court.
Every year there are multiple family law decisions the contribute to the jurisprudence of Michigan’s family law. There are too many decisions to summarize here in this blog post.
James Brown was known as the “Godfather of Soul.” When he died in 2006, he was considered by many to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century.
This is a seasonal re-post from last December. The suggestions apply to divorced or separated families this time of the year.
Paul Heminger admittedly grew nearly two-dozen (22 to be exact) marijuana plants on his property in Alger County, Michigan. At trial, during her closing arguments, Alger County prosecutor, Karen Bahrman, criticized the medical marijuana law and attacked the credibility of the Alger Hemp Coalition, the organization which a defense witness belonged.
Lesbian Mom Prevails Under Equitable Parenting Doctrine
According to the Innocence Project, misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions. This statistic is important to criminal defense lawyers of my half-century vintage.
In a recent case of first impression, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the county family court, in this case St. Clair County, can compel a party to a divorce to sign a joint tax return.
Here is a tough choice: to serve your country through military service, or to continue being the primary care provider for your preschooler. That is the decision a Wayne County mother had to make recently as she contemplated her options in family court.
Times have changed. In 2014, we now live in a fully digital world; computers are literally everywhere. Technology changes faster than we can keep up with, and we may not realize how that can affect our estate.
Social acceptance and decriminalization has equated to more people getting behind the wheel after they have consumed marijuana. However, unlike alcohol, there is no standard measurement to determine whether someone has had “too much” weed while operating a motor vehicle; if blood is drawn and there is any THC, the active ingredient of pot, then the driver is in violation.
Recently, I came across an article in the Probate Lawyer Blog that focused on the deteriorating health of celebrity actress Amanda Bynes, and how her parents were eventually forced to seek a guardianship and a conservatorship for their famous daughter.
An interesting book was released earlier this summer, “Marriage Markets” by June Carbone and Naomi Cahn, which describes the state of marriage in our modern American society.
Especially among the “older” generation, an Up North cabin or cottage symbolizes family unity over time. The family cottage is a place for the family to gather, year after year, to enjoy nature and bond as a family unit.
So you’ve decided to take that fateful step and file a complaint for divorce. Prior to doing so, consider these tips, mostly taken from USA Today reporter Kim Kommando’s article reprinted in the Freep.
As undergraduate and graduate students from the past decade turn to marriage now that their education is complete, many are turning-up with a significant debt load. Should this be a consideration in drafting a prenuptial agreement?
A secret memorandum that a concerned father passed to his daughters some 13-years prior to his death may have saved their sizable inheritance.
Even the thought of some of our colleagues, cornering the little children of their clients in a conference room in order to elicit a parental preference, causes recurring nightmares.
A case that caught our attention from the Michigan Court of Appeals last month deserves mention in this blog. The case comes from the St. Clair County’s Family Court; the family court judge that ruled in Mother’s favor to allow a significant modification of the parenting schedule was reversed by the Court of Appeals.
