Divorce

In Michigan, child care is included in child support until the first August after a child's twelfth birthday.  After that, the parties can agree to share the costs of child care or each parent will be responsible for paying for child care that is required during that parent's court ordered parenting time with the child.  

How Much Does Each Party Pay Toward Child Support?

There are four basic components of child support.  There is the base child support, which is determined primarily by the incomes of each parent and the number of overnights the children have with each parent.  There are also three supplements; the healthcare supplement, the ordinary medical care supplement and the child care supplement.

Never Try to Represent Yourself in a Divorce Case.

Some people believe that it is ok to go through a divorce without an attorney.  When that happens the court considers that person to be acting as his or her own attorney.  The legal term for a person that represents her or himself is in propria persona.  In Michigan, the court are required to hold a person acting in propria persona to the same standards as an attorney or member of the state bar.

In all divorce cases, the court will schedule a deadline for the parties (the people getting divorced) to submit witness lists to the court.  Clients always ask who they should list as witnesses for the case or whom does the judge want to hear from about the case.  In virtually every case, the two most important witnesses that the judge will want to hear from is the two people actually getting divorced.  Your attorney will be able to provide expert witnesses to testify regarding finances, business valuation, real estate appraisals and even which school would be better for the children to attend, but in the end, the court's decision will come down to the testimony of the two parties and the arguments of their attorneys.

​Working With Oakland County, Michigan, Divorce Lawyers Can Help Develop Your Testimony.

When it comes to a divorce, most of the time the parties (the people getting divorce) and counsel negotiate the division of the parties assets, debts, real estate and personal property.  This is called the property settlement or property division part of the case.  Sometimes the parties are able to reach an agreement on how to do this between themselves with some guidance from the attorneys, then the attorneys prepare the appropriate documents to accurately reflect the agreements and make them legally binding.  In many cases the parties are not able to reach an agreement between themselves, 

Sometimes people who are facing a divorce are concerned that their husband or wife will simply refuse to transfer assets or somehow avoid it.  This is a particular concern for the spouse that has the lower income or where the other spouse has always had control of the finances and retirement accounts.  In some of these situations, the other spouse will refuse to provide even basic information or account statements.  Other cases there are situations where one spouse will hide all of the statements or lock all the financial information away in a cabinet that the other spouse does not have access to.

Forcing Division and Transfer of Property in a Divorce 

Fortunately there are many ways that the attorney is able to determine where the money is invested and the value of those investments.

In a divorce case, one of the biggest factors that the court will consider when granting or denying alimony is the parties' incomes.  Many people are concerned that their spouse either works in an occupation that involves cash tips or the other spouse may own a business that handles cash but the parties have not reported this income to the Internal Revenue Service during the marriage.  The concern (other than potential issues with the IRS - the divorce court or judge will typically not report such activity to the IRS) is that the court will not consider this income when calculating alimony with a result of an inequitable alimony award.

Proving Cash Income in a Divorce Case 

Fortunately there are many ways that the court will allow a spouse to prove income in a divorce.  In one recent case decided by the Michigan Court of Appeals, Csercse v Csercse, March 19, 2019; the lower court awarded alimony to the wife for two (2) years after a three (3) year marriage based upon a number of factors, including the dominating and abusive nature of the husband.

What is divorce mediation?

If you’re considering getting divorced in North Oakland, Michigan, or anywhere else, there are several mistakes you could make prior to or during the divorce process that could really cost you.

One is not considering whether

Custody, parenting time and child support are only an issue in cases where people have children.  Alimony may be applicable in cases where there is a serious wage disparity or other grounds to order it.  Property division is an issue in almost every single divorce case.  One thing the court or the parties must determine is what date does the court or the parties use to value the parties property and divide accounts. 

Why Does it Matter What Date is Used to Value Accounts or Property?

In a very simple divorce, the date of valuation might not make much if any difference.

Some divorce or separation cases where there are children involved will include a right-of-first-refusal (RFR) provision.  Basically an RFR will provide that if one parent is not able to be available to be present (absent parent) for over a specific period of time while the child is supposed to be with the absent parent, then the absent parent must notify the other parent and offer the other parent the right to exercise time with the child before asking a relative or other person to watch the child until the absent parent is able to be present.  It is typically intended to handle the situations such as where one parent will be out of town for one night of his or her weekend parenting time.   An example of a standard RFR is as follows: each parent shall have the right of first refusal if they are going to be away from the minor child overnight OR for a twelve (12) hour work shift. If they will be away because of either of these, that parent must notify the other parent to offer them the first right of refusal for overnight parenting time.

In many cases where the parents of a child are divorced or separated, the child is with one parent more than the other.  This may be referred to as one parent having primary physical custody or it may be referred to as joint physical custody but the parenting time schedule actually grants one parent significantly more time than the other parent.  For the purposes of this bog, I will call the parent that has more time or control the custodial parent.  Unfortunately, in sometimes the custodial parent will either not allow the other parent the court ordered parenting time or will take steps to interfere with the other parent's time with the child.  This is a very serious problem and it can result in the court ordering a change in the parenting time schedule, physical custody and/or legal custody.