UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW

Second mortgages complicate property settlements

Divorce and property settlements are so much more difficult to negotiate in these troubled financial times. Many married couples have real estate that is "under water" (worth less than the indebtedness), or in foreclosure, or have not just a mortgage but also a home equity loan or two.

The Washington Post focuses on whether there's any help down the road for those saddled with second mortgages.

Read "Second mortgages complicate efforts to help homeowners" here. March 27, 2010 (free)

Additional Washington Times content: 

Obama administration revises anti-foreclosure strategy

Information on Foreclosure Prevention Program

Droid v iPhone - A lawyer's & consumer's choice

What did we ever do before cell phones? Nowadays, they are almost an extension of our hands. I have a new Blackberry something . . . still sitting in the box it arrived in 3 or 4 months ago. I guess I am not motivated as much as my more techie family lawyer friends. But I've been watching. Blackberry or iPhone? Who has what? Do they like it? Does it do for them what they want? Much more important than that is whether they can get a signal. There is a huge hue and cry about signal/connection problems with iPhones tied to AT&T service only.

Here's a link to an informative American Bar Association Journal article "Droid v iPhone: New mobile devices give Blackberry a run for lawyers' money." While you are on my blog, check out the other valuable tools in "Jeanne's Toolbox."

How many parents may a baby have?

The New York Times published an Op-Ed piece near the end of January that's been sitting in my to-do pile. The issue raised is whether a baby can have three (or more) biological parents. Non-traditional families are more prevalent today than ever before. Parenthood may occur in a Lesbian relationship with one partner being the "host" parent (the biological parent who conceives using sperm of a third party). Gay men have also used surrogacy or adoption to form family units with children. The other partner then is the supportive second parent. If a "second parent adoption" is legal, the second parent's parental rights can be protected. Otherwise, there have been serious risks when the parents' relationship sours.

Qualifying event | Health care coverage

In today's economy, especially with health care insurers under high scrutiny, family law practitioners and families in transition need to be very clear about what is a "qualifying event" that may cause rescission of health care insurance in the future and also, perhaps, efforts by the insurer to recoup payments made for past medical treatments. In particular, folks should be aware that by the express terms of ERISA, the federal law governing employer-provided insurance, entry of a judgment of separate maintenance, as well as a divorce, is a "qualifying event" that means an employee's spouse or former spouse is no longer entitled to be covered under the employer insurance plan.

Calculate parenting time overnights

When setting out a parenting time plan, the number of overnights needs to be considered because of the impact on child support, if minimizing child support is important to one parent, or maximizing child support is important. Moreover, setting out a specific parenting time schedule has the advantage of giving the non-custodial parent a parenting time plan that the court can enforce. There's nothing I hate to see more than that the NCP will have "parenting time as the parties may arrange and agree." It's certain to create arguments.

Child support | Termination of parental rights doesn't end obligation

In a case for publication, In Re Beck, decided March 4, 2010, the Michigan court of appeals held that the termination of parental rights arising out of a neglect or abuse case does not end a parent's obligation to pay child support.

The father whose parental rights were terminated argued that the trial court violated his due process rights by providing in the termination order that his “[c]hild support and other support for the children shall continue.” He did not appeal the termination order itself.

Tricks to keep your devices going and going

Eric Taub of the New York Times wrote an article yesterday with many good tips about saving batteries on such devices as smartphones and laptops. It's worth reading.Taub suggests such things as reconsidering your network, dimming your device, changing the settings so it will stop searching for signals, checking mail manually, and more.

Tricks to keep your devices going and going may be read here.

$19 million in divorce attorney fees . . . and counting?

Good grief! A divorce with $19 million dollars in attorney fees? According to
the  LA Times, the divorce between the Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie McCourt has already cost that much and the parties haven't even had a trial yet! Teams of lawyers and accountants are working on the case.

According to the Times:

When choice of schools impacts custody

 Family law attorneys are seeing more cases recently having to do with parents' disagreements about which school or school district is appropriate for the parties' children. Parents who have joint legal custody of a child must agree upon important decisions that affect the child’s welfare. Bowers v VanderMeulen-Bowers, 278 Mich App 287, 295-296 (2008). One of those important decisions is the child’s placement in a particular school. Id. at 296. “If [the parents] are unable to agree, the trial court must resolve the dispute according to [the child’s] best interest.” Id.