Here in Michigan, we have a “no fault” divorce system. In many ways, the divorce process has been transformed into a largely administrative process that takes place outside the courtroom; this is a good thing.
Currently, there are 1.6 million individuals incarcerated in the United States. Ten percent of those inmates are serving life sentences, with another 11% in for more than 20-years.
What Happens to Cryopreserved Embryos After a Divorce?
Yesterday, I was sure that I was going to spend the entire day in a divorce trial; my first in a quarter century of practice. Didn’t happen.
Toward the end of last month, you may have noted the stir that a WSJ article caused over the issue of nagging and its toxic effect on marriages.
I would not trade living in an open Democratic society for anything. Ours is a government of laws where personal liberties are ingrained into the societal fabric as rights.
As our soldiers return from war in the Middle East, many cases of post traumatic stress disorder are becoming manifest. Often, the PTSD shatters an already fragile marriage, strained to the break point from years long separation.
Rather than just linking to the post, we took the pains to reproduce it here. Warning, the post and the art are somewhat dark, but then so is the criminal law.
Does a brief political “exchange” between a citizen and a sitting member of the executive branch of government constitute protected speech under the First Amendment? Is the calculus changed when the citizen, in urging his words upon the public official, actually reaches out and touches the official?
Prenuptial agreements, contracts executed in the anticipation of a marriage, have long been validated in Michigan courts. Generally, there are two contingencies covered in a typical prenuptial agreement:
A well-respected blog on sentencing picked-up on the infamous NBA drunk driving cases coming out of the 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills, MI.
Many factors affect whether a second marriage will last: the relative age and incomes of the partners, whether either party has children, cohabitation prior to the second nuptials, and the education level of the parties. And, of course, how could we forget the personality of the ex-spouse; perhaps the most important factor of all.
Perhaps because my first job out of law school was with the Michigan Court of Appeals, I have always maintained a robust appellate docket to my law practice. For the past several years...
In 1988, the federal Family Support Act required all states to enact presumptive child support “guidelines” in order to preserve federal funding on a variety of family-oriented programs.
In a 2-1 decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled that a certificate mailed to a state driver, notifying him of his suspended license, is “testimonial” as that term is used in the constitution...
Recently, one of our estate planning clients wanted us to set aside a significant portion of her estate to care for her beloved pets; all four of them. So we arranged for a trust to be set up for the specific purpose of caring for her pampered pets.
As noted in a recent WSJ article, “estate planning” seems to cause anxiety in many elderly people. It does not need to be so.
This past week, Governor Rick Snyder issued an executive order appointing 10 people to serve on an “advisory commission”. Their mission: to quickly assess and make recommendations to the executive and legislature about the delivery of effective legal representation to the indigent accused.
SCOTUS to Hear Michigan Case on Plea Bargain Process
The following is a guest post from the LawDiva blog of Georgialee Lang, a Canadian lawyer turned “stay-at-home-Mom” from Vancouver, BC.
Three years after the passage of the medical marijuana referendum and its attendant Medical Marijuana Act, there have been many developments in Michigan’s municipalities...
This week in Time Magazine, there is a story in the “Society” section about a mode of parenting known as, “Nesting”. This is where divorced parents each secure a residence beyond the former marital home; the couple’s children remain in the marital home, to “nest”.
This bizarre family law custody case is playing out in Seattle, WA. The unusual facts of the case bring into sharp focus the challenge of putting parents’ often-questionable decisions through review by a family court judge.
Earlier this week, a bill was submitted to the plenary Michigan Senate by the Judiciary Committee that would require a state-wide registry for medical marijuana patients and care providers. Senator Rick Jones, a sponsor of the proposed legislation and chairman of the judiciary committee said the registry would be a “critical tool” for law enforcement.
Divorce lawyers are expensive; far too expensive for what most families need in a divorce proceeding. If you are involved in a divorce, here are some warning signs to help you
This week, the Michigan Supreme Court integrated one of its pilot projects, involving the specific tasks of trial jurors, into the Michigan Rules of Court. The significant changes take effect September 1st.
A family court judge in Bucks County, Pennsylvania has enjoined divorcee Anthony Morelli from operating his web site devoted to his ex-wife; thepsychoexwife.
Do the regularly maintained statistics support the contention that fathers are getting more time with their children in family courts? To borrow a lyric from the 70’s band, Boston, “it’s more than a feeling“.
As the High Court’s term comes to an end this week, SCOTUS is issuing opinions by the day. One of those announced this week was the South Carolina case involving a father’s contempt proceeding for failure to pay his child support.
