Michigan Family Law Blog

Fault and Divorce in Michigan  When handling divorce matters, the issue of fault often comes up.  In Michigan, by law, there are many types of fault that the court may consider when dividing property or awarding alimony.  The primary type of fault that most people think of when it comes to the to...

It can be heartbreaking for a grandparent to lose access to his or her grandchild. Most grandchildren benefit from a close and healthy relationship with their grandparents. However, divorce, misunderstandings, or the death of a parent can often put grandparents in a situation where they must figh...

Fault and Divorce in Michigan  When handling divorce matters, the issue of fault often comes up.  In Michigan, by law, there are many types of fault that the court may consider when dividing property or awarding alimony.  The primary type of fault that most people think of when it comes to the to...

Families in America are increasingly becoming blended families of various compositions. According to The Step Family Foundation, there are approximately 1,300 new stepfamilies formed each day in the United States and over one-half of the families in our country are re-coupled or remarried. Some s...

When spouses decide to end their marriage, many issues must be addressed. For example, if the parties have children, questions related to custody, visitation, and child support must be resolved. In some cases, a spouse may seek alimony or temporary spousal support. Even when the parties do not h...

How Do I Enforce Child Support Orders? Being awarded child support is helpful, but being able to collect it is even more beneficial. When the other parent refuses to pay child support, it can have a severe detrimental impact on you and your children. Thankfully, you can take steps to enforce a c...

What Happens if I Can't Pay Alimony? Alimony, or spousal support, is used to allow one spouse a means to maintain the lifestyle that he or she had during the marriage. When one party's income or property cannot support him or her properly after a divorce, alimony will often be awarded. There is ...

Child custody orders are not written in stone in Michigan. They are living documents that the judge can change when appropriate. If you are facing the possibility of changing the parenting plan in your case, you might be wondering what a judge considers before modifying child custody orders. The...

Going through a child custody battle can bring out the worst in people, but you do not want to make stupid mistakes during this short-lived time that will hurt your long-term custody time with your child. To help you avoid this regrettable situation, here are the top 5 ways you can screw up your ...

You have married someone who has children from a prior relationship, and you have created a family. You would like to make it official by adopting your spouse's children. The legal process for this is a step-parent adoption. You should understand the legal ramifications before taking this step, s...

Legal separation (called “separate maintenance” in Michigan), is a divorce alternative that few people use. When you get a legal separation, you are still legally married. Neither of you is free to marry someone else. In some situations, however, a legal separation can meet at least some of the n...

If you are going through a divorce in Michigan, you might be wondering about your options. You have seen friends or relatives go through toxic divorces that permanently destroyed relationships and hurt people deeply. If you want to do everything in your power to avoid such an experience, you migh...

If you have children and you anticipate a divorce, you might be worried about how much time you will have with the children. Parenting time is one of the greatest challenges for family court judges. As King Solomon asked, “How can you split up a child?” There is no simple way to divide a child be...

How to Obtain a Michigan Personal Protection Orders Michigan courts offer you protection if someone is threatening, harassing, or harming you. You can go to court and ask the judge to order the person to stop hurting or frightening you. These orders have different names in different states. In M...

When you are going through a divorce, you need to know what to expect and how you will pay your bills moving forward after the divorce. With child support, there is some predictability, as Michigan uses a formula to calculate the amount of child support, based on the income and needs of the parti...

If you are going through a divorce in Michigan, you may be worried about how the divorce will impact you financially. Divorce can be devastating to a person's finances in both the short-term and the long-term. You will get to keep the property the court decides is your separate property, but the ...

You negotiate parenting time in Michigan during a divorce, a paternity action or a family support case. If you are going through one of these legal proceedings, you need to know what to consider when negotiating for parenting time. An experienced visitation lawyer can help. How Michigan Courts Vi...

When you get married it is natural and advisable to think about what you want your marriage to look like. Even in the happiest of marriages, a spouse might want to set some things down in writing. The most important question to ask when your spouse asks you to sign a post-nuptial agreement is: WH...

Michigan does not have “legal separation” in the usual sense of the term. In Michigan, once you marry, you are either a married couple that lives together or a married couple that lives apart. A married couple that wants to live apart from each other can have a formal, written separation agreemen...

When going through a divorce, people are usually concerned about the future. Will they be financially ruined by the divorce? Will they have enough means to live on and pay their bills? Will they receive or have to pay alimony? How is spousal support determined in Michigan? Talking with an experi...

When we think about divorce, the image of two angry, bickering spouses often comes to mind. The fact of the matter is, many divorcing couples are able to behave in a civil manner and are more interested in moving on than in making each others' lives a living hell. In those cases, talking with a d...

Nobody wants to see a marriage end, especially when the relationship is beyond repair and children are involved. Grandparents occupy a unique space during a divorce, serving as a supportive and loving place for children and grandchildren alike. In some cases though, one divorcing spouse may exerc...

Our Kids Are Growing Up. Can We Modify Our Custody Order? One of the greatest joys of having children is watching them grow and thrive. As children grow, however, they need things around them to change in order to fit their new abilities and roles—everything from new shoes to fit their feet to ne...

Calculating child support can be a daunting task. Under the law, the calculation must take into account both parents' income and expenses, as well as various other factors relating to the child's unique financial needs (e.g., tuition, medical expenses, etc.). For many navigating the system for th...

An unfavorable ruling on the trial court level is not necessarily the end of the case. Fortunately, the Michigan court system is designed to allow for judicial review of lower court orders, and reversal is possible under certain circumstances. The following discusses some of the broader points co...