UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW

Movies about Divorce & Custody Issues

In addition to bibliotherapy that might help not only children grieving the loss of a marriage, but also one of both parties, there are many movies that take a look at dysfunctional families, issues arising in divorce, how to handle divorce and custody issues, and more particularly, how NOT to handle them. Here's a helpful list of some of those movies, with a brief summary. You might send this on to someone it may benefit.

One movie not on the list is "The Squid and the Whale." The movie is not for the faint of heart, but sure provides a good illustration to parents on how they ought to proceed in a divorce or custody matter to avoid completely screwing up their children. This is available through Netflix and video stores.

MERS & Foreclosure Defense | NY Times

A New York Times article explains the legal issue that forms the basis for avoidance of foreclosure by publication by MERS. In a sentence: MERS has no title to the real estate; thus MERS has no "power of sale." This is a must-read for those of you who are facing mortgage foreclosure by publication and also for family lawyers who have clients facing this issue. Read Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Inc., New York Times, October 14, 2010 here.

My earlier post discussing a new Michigan Court of Appeals case dealing with this issue is here. That article also contains a link to state-by-state case law around the United States where this issue has arisen to protect homeowners.

Books for Children about Divorce

Family lawyers recognize that separation and divorce is an experience during which losses must be grieved. Not only do husband and wife grieve their loss of what may have seemed like a fairytale romance when they were younger, but if children are involved, no matter what their age, they, too have losses to grieve. As a former elementary teacher and later as a volunteer for my children's schools running two annual book sales, I became very interested in bibliotherapy--using books to help children see that they are not alone. There are lots of kids in the same boat.

The Barr-Harris Children's Grief Center, In Chicago, Illinois, has compiled a lengthy bibliography for children of all ages that parents may access. The brief descriptions of the books should help parents decide which book might offer his or her child the comfort and/or information that the child needs.

The list of books reviewed by Benjamin Garber, MD And Members of the Staff of the Barr-Harris Children's Grief Center may be accessed here.

Foreclosures | Defending against Foreclosure by Publication

I've just finished The Fifth Witness, Michael Connelly's latest legal thriller, which features Mickey Haller. [You may remember him from The Lincoln Lawyer, about to be released as a movie]. In this new novel, the L.A. lawyer, who uses the back seat of his Lincoln town car as his office, has switched from criminal defense work to "foreclosure defense." The plot thickens as Haller elects to defend one of his mortgage foreclosure clients who has been charged with murder.

As the story unfolds, Mickey Haller crafts an impressive effort to interject reasonable doubt at the trial. He struggles to work in "the fifth witness." Connelly's understanding of the obscure and mysterious world of mortgage foreclosure is fascinating.

I have to confess that the fine points of the mortgage industry's much criticized practices have largely gone unnoticed by me. It is only coincidence that brings Michael Connelly's novel and me together at the same time that the Michigan Court of Appeals has decided, for publication, a case finding some mortgage foreclosure practices illegal under Michigan law for exactly the same reason that Haller's clients were able to successfully defend against foreclosure by publication.

Of iPads & Android tablets | Scott Bassett Guest Author

Today's Guest Author is Scott Bassett, Michigan appellate lawyer and also a technology consultant. Scott makes these observations about the iPad:

"I think Apple is missing a chance to expand its market dominance in tablet computers by not making a 7 inch version of the iPad.  For portability, a 10 inch tablet (or 9.7 inches in the case of the iPad and iPad 2) is too large.  It doesn't fit in a purse or a man's inside suit jacket pocket.  I am on my second 7 inch Android tablet (Archos 70) after the first (a cheap Augen GenTouch from Kmart) proved less than ideal due to a resistive rather than capacitive touch screen.  Both fit in my inside suit jacket pocket (as I discovered when I brought the Augen to last year's SBM Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids). 

 

Stunning Result | Assault in Judge's Chambers

Now here's a guy who might have qualified for a some kind of a "Darwin Award." The Darwin Award commemorates those who assist natural selection by removing themselves from the gene pool... Darwin Awards are given to honor those who do their best to ensure that the next generation is smarter--by one.

According to the ABA Journal, 28-year-old Paul Henry Gonzalez Jr. assaulted his 23-year-old wife Catherine after a judge ordered him to pay child support and set visitation terms. He came up behind her in a Florida judge's chambers and attached her, giving her two black eyes, broken facial bones and split lips. Catherine's lawyer restrained the man until deputies could get there. Law enforcement used a stun gun to subdue him. He is now jailed in lieu of $1 million bond on a felony battery charge.

For tips on safeguarding against domestic violence during a divorce, see these archives on Updates in Michigan Family Law.

To read the article, see Lawyer Steps In to Help Woman Attacked During Divorce Hearing in Judge’s Chambers, ABA Journal, April 19, 2011.

So you want an iPhone (or have an iPhone)?

Now that I have upgraded to an iPhone (having never activated that Blackberry that I bought about 9 months ago), this news just in about security issues:

Apple, the maker of the iPhone you are holding, or that iPad on your lap, or the computer in front of you, is tracking your every move. A secret file on Apple's mobile devices has been found to store location information, a privacy glitch discovered by two independent programmers and revealed at a conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
 
That's not the only bad news about the hip technology developer. Greenpeace, the international environmental advocacy group, has named Apple the "least green" company on the planet. Apple received the unwanted award because of the company's heavy reliance on coal power at the sites that house its banks and servers.

Virginia enacts an International Child Abduction Law

Karl Hindle writes today to say that Virginia Governor McDonnell signed HB2361 into law last week. This bill was drafted by the VA legislature based on a summary of international child abduction points gleaned from a variety of sources encountered over the last 8 years. Karl says Virginia is the first state in the country to enact a state international child abduction law. The new law provides for the lawful seizure and forfeiture of the assets of abductors and their accomplices involved in the international abduction of children. This applies whether children are abducted out of the US or into the Commonwealth of Virginia.

How to Avoid Refinancing Costs After Divorce

Lynnley Browning wrote in the New York Times on April 7, 2011 about a way to avoid refinancing costs after a divorce where one party is to get the house, buy out the other and/or indemnify the other against the existing mortgage. In this economic climate, many homeowners experience difficulty with removing a former spouse’s name from the mortgage after buying out his or her equity stake in the marital house. Many may think that refinancing is the only choice.

As Browning points out, "[t]here is another, little-known option that can avoid refinancing and its costs, which generally run 3 to 6 percent of the outstanding loan principal," citing LendingTree. Browning says that the borrower must "simply ask" the lender to remove the former spouse’s name from the mortgage, leaving the loan note in the "buying" spouse's name only.

Jeff Zoeller: Wikipedia Cited in Courts Around the World

Jeffrey Zoeller of Witzell & Zoeller, P.C. in Lansing, Michigan, send out to the family law listserv this marvelous link to a Wikipedia page that is "sortable" showing cases around the world in which Wikipedia has been cited as legal authority. He remarked: "I can't keep a straight face." Funny. And of course, Jeff is right. It was the failure to give attribution about which the court complained--not once, but twice.

Jeffrey is a Mac lawyer, and his website is www.virtual-lawyer.net  Addendum: I'm letting Jeffrey, who has a dry and delightful sense of humor, have the last word here: Properly attributed to Escher as "Drawing Hands," he sent the discussion group this "comment" about creating and then disseminating your own authority:

Milestone | 700th Post on Updates in Michigan Family Law

 Today is a day for celebration! This marks the date upon which the 700th post to this Blog was made. Of course, if I lit all those candles, I'd have to call out the fire department!

Thanks, first, to my son, John T. Unger, artist extraordinaire, who kept after me about the importance of blogging. [One of my posts, about leaving kids home alone--a very popular topic for readers--was ranked #1 and #2 of 122 million returns on Google today!]

Thank you to subscribers, fellow family lawyers around the country, and faithful lay readers for your kind words of encouragement and also for your frequent suggestions of topics helpful to families and to family lawyers assisting them through troubled times.

Jeanne M. Hannah

Traverse City, Michigan

Citing Wikipedia as Authority? What was Counsel Thinking?

According to Judith D. Fischer, Associate Professor of Law, University of Louisville, writing for the Legal Writing Prof Blog on April 5, 2011, a U.S. District Court in Kentucky recently criticized a lawyer for both plagiarism and citing Wikipedia as authority. See U.S. v. Sypher, Criminal Action No. 3:09-CR-00085, 2011 WL 579156 (W.D. Ky. Feb. 9, 2011). Good grief, a lawyer's discussion of the law in a brief submitted was copied and pasted verbatim from the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia. Imagine having to be reminded by a court that copying another's writing without attribution is unethical and professional misconduct. Worse yet, the lawyer had to be reminded that "Wikipedia is not appropriate legal authority." See Court Condemns Copying from Wikipedia by Associate Professor Fischer.

Divorce after 50 | Rights to Social Security, Insurance Coverage, etc.

Phoenix, Arizona, divorce attorney Scott D Stewart, who writes an Arizona Divorce Attorney Blog,  recently published an article on the issues faced by older couples, usually where one or both of the spouses are over 50.  He notes that Al and Tipper Gore's divorce has caused many Baby Boomers to examine their own marriages and has many of them wondering how this could happen. But it does happen, and for many different reasons. I, too, am seeing an increase in the number of my cases involving Baby Boomers.

Social Security benefits cannot be divided in a divorce, but rules about them can affect post-divorce income and standard of living. For example, if a wife is over age 62, and the couple’s marriage lasted for over 10 years, she can collect benefits after the divorce on her former husband’s earnings record without a reduction in benefits to the husband.

If the former husband dies, the wife may be entitled to survivor benefits - 100 percent of the former husband’s Social Security benefit. To qualify, the marriage must have lasted 10 years, the surviving spouse must be at least 60, and that spouse cannot already be entitled to benefits that are equal to or greater than those of the former spouse.