Michigan Military Divorce

Should a trial court restrict overnight guests of the opposite sex?

On October 27, 2005, in an unpublished opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision that the father (non-custodial parent) could not have his co-habiting girlfriend stay overnight during his parenting time. Muller v Muller, Docket No. 259271, arising in the Oakland County Circuit Court, Family Division.

First, the Court said that "The social policy of the state of Michigan is established by the Legislature, not the courts, and we note that MCL 750.335 prohibits lewd and lascivious cohabitation1. The Legislature has not repealed this statute." Since only the mother had argued against cohabitation, and the father had expressed no opinion about whether it was in the best interests of the children, the COA said it was reasonable for the court to honor her request.

Next, the Court addressed the father's argument that the court was interfering with his free exercise of his religion.

Child Support in Paternity Actions

In McLaren v Miller, Docket No. 260868 Decided on October 13, 2005, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the amendment to Michigan’s Paternity Act, effective on October 1, 2004. operated prospectively only. Because the mother’s two complaints for paternity were filed prior to October 1, 2004, she was entitled to child support as prescribed under the former statute, retroactive to the date of birth of the children, not child support commencing only at the date of filing of the complaint.

The specific facts of this case are as follows:

Stepparents and Deployments: What About the Children?

Deployments of military personnel can mean that various new tasks, responsibilities and challenges are faced. To learn more about how stepparents remaining at home can cope with ambiguity in legal authority and help their stepchildren stay in touch with parents, read this article prepared by members of the Stepfamily Association of America. Advice for Stepparents When Their Spouse is Being Deployed.

To contact Jeanne Hannah with your questions or to view her Family Law website, click here.

Reporting Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Protection Act: “Child Abuse” and “Child Neglect” Defined

Section 2 of Michigan's Child Protection Act, MCL 722.622, defines "child abuse" and "child neglect" as follows:

(f) "Child abuse" means harm or threatened harm to a child's health or welfare that occurs through nonaccidental physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or maltreatment, by a parent, a legal guardian, or any other person responsible for the child's health or welfare or by a teacher, a teacher's aide, or a member of the clergy. 

(j) "Child neglect" means harm or threatened harm to a child's health or welfare by a parent, legal guardian, or any other person responsible for the child's health or welfare that occurs through either of the following:(i) Negligent treatment, including the failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care.(ii) Placing a child at an unreasonable risk to the child's health or welfare by failure of the parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for the child's health or welfare to intervene to eliminate that risk when that person is able to do so and has, or should have, knowledge of the risk. 

Contact Information: Children’s Protective Services

Typepad, the Internet Blogging service used to produce this Blog, does not support extended posts of complicated html material. Therefore, I've published this contact  Information for all Michigan Counties on my website, arranged alphabetically. The contact numbers for Adult protective services are also included.

To access these numbers, click on this link, then scroll to "Links to Information about Michigan Family Law" where you will find both Word and PDF files that you can read online or download to your computer.

To contact Jeanne Hannah with your questions or to view her Family Law website, click here.