UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW

Firewall protection to increase Internet security

Thanks to Scott Bassett, Michigan appellate lawyer extraordinaire, and also a highly skilled computer tech, knowledgeable about both hardware and software for this tip about the type of protection you should be thinking about to avoid hackers from accessing your computer and/or computer network. As you can see from Scott's comments how you use the Internet will be a big factor in what type of firewall protection you will need.

Scott says:

The Safe Delivery of Newborns Act | Help for young moms & infants

Greater publicity about options available to young mothers who want to legally surrender their children for adoption is provided in a community-based effort to avoid infant deaths such as occurred in several cases locally where newborns have been found abandoned and dead in the Traverse City area.

Lorrie Jorgenson, pregnancy counselor at Bethany Christian Services in Traverse City said, "This provides a way out for a desperate person. Fear and desperation would lead to the type of tragedies this community has witnessed."

Cuts in child care subsidies eliminate some parents' ability to work

Young parents are finding impossible to stay employed for lack of child care assistance. The jobless rate hovers near double digits. 6.7 million people have been unemployed for six months or longer, and yet some states are cutting back child care subsidies, making it impossible for some parents who lack help from friend or families to watch the kiddos.

Increases in court filing fees

Ben Stevens of the South Carolina Family Law Blog said on May 12th that the South Carolina Legislature is considering drastically increasing certain Court filing fees.  For those in South Carolina, the proposed increases would increase filing fees (except for child support enforcement or modification) from $150 to $200; (b) increase the filing fee for Motions from $25 to $75; and (c) would impose a new fee of $50 per deposition. Michigan has recently increased filing fees as well. 

Legal father allowed to disestablish paternity and end child support

The Michigan appeals court says a man who mistakenly believed he was the father of his girlfriend's son cannot be pursued for child support. The ruling in April 2010 overturns a decision by an Iosco County Family Court Judge who had agreed with the prosecutor's office and ordered child support in 2009. The facts of this case were distinguished from a published Ohio case. The importance of this case from my point of view is that the conclusions of law can be applied to similar cases in which a father was held liable for child support as the "presumptive father" simply because he was married to the mother when the child was born or conceived.

Registration of a Foreign Judgment | Order

The following procedure is available to register a foreign judgment / order such as a subpoena for discovery from a third party, a foreign (out-of-state or foreign country) divorce decree / judgment, an order for DNA testing, etc. Use the form here to register the judgment or order. [WORD 2007] [PDF]

• No Petition/Complaint is necessary
• Circuit Court jurisdictional amount is $25,000.00 or more for money judgments
• You must attach an authenticated or certified copy of the judgment for the court file And circuit court judge to review
• $150.00 filing fee [No personal checks accepted, Money order or cashiers check; Law firm checks acceptable. Payable to the __________ County Clerk.