UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW

The Lawyer | Litigant's "Secrets of Internet Search"

Let's face it: More than a quarter of the world's population is online, accessing and sharing information on a 24/7 basis. Therefore, for lawyers and other legal researchers, the Internet has become a NBF ["new best friend]" and is a logical first choice for researching people -- finding them and gathering background information. [By the way, I tell all of my clients either to take down their Facebook or MySpace websites or make them accessible only to trusted insiders.]

Family lawyers find gold in those sites. Family lawyers aren’t the only ones who can use information from the Internet. Imagine the insurance company lawyers searching them, too, only to see that the lady who claimed she was terribly injured in an auto accident has posted photos of herself and a friend square-dancing up a storm last week!]

How to keep kids out of the middle of parents' divorce

Every divorcing parent should make it their top priority to keep their  

children from getting caught inthe middle of the conflict of their divorce. Mark A. Wortman, has published a terrific series of articles at his Missouri Divorce & Family Law Blog. He offers some tips and thoughts about how to keep kids out of the middle to avoid the potential for life-long consequences of the conflict parents often go through in a contested divorce.

Local sheriff's deputies attend burial service for abandoned dead newborn

The Traverse City Record Eagle reports today that a group of Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies surrounded a miniature burial site at Oakwood Catholic Diocesan Cemetery in Traverse City early Tuesday to offer their final respects to an infant found dead May 14 in a Gladewood Lane backyard. Among the deputies attending the memorial service were many who had responded to the Garfield Township home after a young resident found the dead body near a fence.

Kentucky biological dads enjoy benefits not available to Michigan dads

Kentucky biological dads who learn after a divorce that, in fact, a child is their biological child and not the ex-husband's child have the opportunity to establish parentage through DNA testing, according to a new decision in the Kentucky Supreme Court. Diana Skaggs reported on Smith v Garber today on her blog Divorce Law Journal today.

The facts are kind of complicated, which seems some days to be the norm in a family law practice. Skaggs reports that

New York on brink of "no fault" divorce

In an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times on June 16, 2010, Stephanie Coontz comments on New York State pending legislation that would, if enacted, let New Yorkers join the rest of the nation in what is called "No-Fault Divorce." What a breath of fresh air that would be. Presently, New York is the last state in the nation that requires one of the parties to be the appointed "at fault" person. The fault alleged might be mental cruelty, infidelity, or worse.

No-fault divorce could not possibly, in my mind, harm a family nearly as much as the need to find “fault” and worse yet, to litigate it. As a family law lawyer, it's always my goal when parents are divorcing, to attempt to make the process non-litigious. Why? These folks are going to be co-parenting for a long, long time. Those of us who are parents know that you don't stop being a parent when your children reach the age of 18. There is much, much more: the high school graduation, the college parents' weekends, college graduation, weddings, birth of grandchildren, holidays . . . and the list goes on.

Boston Globe takes stand against presumption of joint custody

While supporting the goal of giving fathers a large presence in their children’s lives, the Boston Globe took exception Massachusetts House Bill 1400, which promotes the concept of “shared parenting.’’ The Glove argued that the bill, pending in the MA Joint Committee on the Judiciary, is “too broad an approach to a challenging issue that demands nuanced, case-by-case decisions based on the best interests of the child,” and rejected the bill as a solution to the argument that fathers aren’t getting fair court hearings.

Like other shared parenting legislation pending in other states, the MA proposed legislation would create a legal presumption for joint custody unless there is evidence of child abuse or neglect. The MA legislation would not eliminate a judge’s right to award sole custody to one parent, however it would require judges to give written justification to support decisions rejecting an automatic grant of joint custody. 

NPR News Investigations | Brain Wars: How The Military Is Failing Its Wounded

As family law lawyers, we're seeing more marriages failing in military families.  Sometimes divorce in the military family is caused by the absence and the growing apart of a couple. Sometimes, it's infidelity on the part of one or both spouses. But more often, it's due to war injuries. Some of the injuries are catastrophic. Others don't show on the surface, but impact the ability of a husband and wife to function as a family.

Recently, NPR in cooperation with Pro Publica has been running a detailed investigative series on the effects of war on a service member's brain and the failure of the military to diagnose these serious brain injuries. In addition, another part of this series of reports illustrates how service members are having to fight to get adequate treatment.

Location of military service records and how to request them

There are times when, in a family law case, it is important to have the military personnel records of a service member. Some records from personnel files are available and stored in various locations; some records are of a medial or mental health issue. Those are kept in other locations. Some of those may be unavailable.

Military Personnel Records:

Divorce rates for older couples

The New York Times today, writing about the failure of Tipper and Al Gore's 40-year-old marriage said: "From a statistical standpoint, your risk for divorce begins to fall once you’ve passed the 10-year mark. According to Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, recent Census Bureau data show that only about 4 percent of recently ended marriages involved couples married for 40 years or more."

http://tinyurl.com/2426x3j

The Gratitude Campaign

I represent a fair number of service members, both male and female. Usually, I don't get to meet them and most everything is done by email or telephone. But sometimes, I do get to know them--some better than others.

This video came to me today in an email. Having heard some of the stories, having seen some of the fallout with families, children and the service members themselves, I am always concerned that they are appreciated for their service and their sacrifices. The video shows a wonderful way to express your gratitude. It's not about whether these military operations are something you approve or disapprove. It's about saying "Thank you for being there for me, for my family, for our country. Thank you for your sacrifices." And please, pass it along.

To send to a friend, copy and paste this link: The Gratitude Campaign

Protecting privacy | Wiping your copier or telefax hard drive before disposal

Recently, CBS News ran a segment on the horrific breaches in security that have occurred as a result of copy machines being sold, send back to the lessor, etc. without the necessary security wipe of confidential information contained on the hard drive of the machine. Highly confidential criminal records from a police agency, from a medical service provider were shown in this segment, appropriately redacted.

How many of us knew that a copy machine has a hard drive? It not only saves copies of every document copied on the machine. If the machine is also used as a telefax machine, it saves out-going and in-coming documents. You can see the video here. It is instructive. Below the video you will find a link to a CBS News report with even more details.