Michigan Military Divorce

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.

Paternity fraud | "Duped Dads" | What's the answer?

 What's the right answer to paternity fraud? ["Paternity fraud" means that Mom has
not told her husband or the biological father that he is the father of her child. Instead, she's chosen to live a lie - one that deprives a biological father of his right to be a parent and keeps a husband or former husband on the hook for support even though the child is not his.]

The answer is not easy or predictable: There is no right answer. Every case is dependent upon its own unique set of facts and also upon the specific law of the state in the US having jurisdiction over the issues. These are tough questions; they are often expensive and complicated to resolve.

Fathers awarded custody more often

A New York Times Blog called my attention to Working Mother Magazine on Tuesday called “Custody Lost ,” about the new reality of divorce and child custody for working mothers.

According to articles in this magazine, many women who are the primary wage earners in a marriage are losing custody of their children to their husbands when the marriage ends. Working Mother Magazine says that there are now 2.2 million divorced women in the United States who do not have primary physical custody of their children, and that an estimated 50 percent of fathers who seek such custody in a disputed divorce are granted it.

Michigan child support pleas flood courts

According to a Detroit News article today, requests for modification of child support orders are flooding Michigan's court system. And many of those requests are being granted. Couple the lowering of child support with a loss of health care benefits where jobs and insurance plans have evaporated . . . and it's clearly creating hardship all around. The article offers access to information and resources especially useful to parents who have no attorney access to guide them.  Read Michigan child support pleas flood courts here.

Continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under UIFSA | Modification of support

The Indiana Supreme Court recently reversed a ruling by the court of appeals that the Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act preempted UIFSA. The issue before the court concerned when continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify a prior child support order may be lost by a state. The basis for the Supreme Court’s decision was an interpretation of the federal and state laws that eliminated conflict between them. The Court cited similar results in cases decided in Arizona, Oklahoma, Delaware and Kansas. The Court held that where no party or related child continues to reside in the issuing state, the issuing state may lose continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify a child support order despite the fact that one party refuses consent to transfer or release of jurisdiction to another state.

Child support | No future adjustment of agreed amount exceeding MCSF

The Michigan Court of Appeals ["COA"] affirmed the trial court's ruling refusing to lower payor Mark Foster's child support to an amount consistent with the Michigan Child Support Formula ["MCSF"] yesterday. In this case, at the time the judgment of divorce was entered, the parties placed on the record their agreement that the support would exceed the MCSF by $450/month a factor of their negotiated property settlement. The judgment also clearly stated their agreement.

Abatement of medicaid reimbursement if father marries mother

Whenever the prosecuting attorney files to establish support on behalf of a child born to an unmarried mother, and medicaid has paid the expenses of the birth and confinement, the court will order that those costs should be reimbursed. This law, MCL 722.712(5) was amended effective October 1, 2004. The amendment, in an effort to promote marriage, allows for those expenses to be abated (erased) if the parents marry.

The importance of being earnest | Custody & parenting time de novo reviews

It is very important that lawyers and laypersons filing objections to a referee's decision and recommendation for order and asking for a de novo review follow the procedures dictated by Michigan court rules.

The Michigan court of appeals recently released an unpublished decision affirming in part and reversing in part an award of sanctions under MCR 2.114 for bad faith pleading. The issue arose when the litigant filed a defective objection to a referee’s decision and recommendation for order, requesting a de novo hearing.

Michigan's court rules are very clear about the procedure for the filing of objections and the request of a de novo hearing. The procedure is set out clearly in Michigan Court Rule 3.215.

Note that it is well-established that sanctions are mandatory for violation of MCR 2.114, as the COA reiterates.

This opinion is well worth reviewing for its analysis of the issue so that you can avoid sanctions for filing objections that are non-conforming. The case is Salmon v Smith, Docket number 277752; the lower court is in Kent County. Read it here.

For another lower court opinion awarding sanctions for a lawyer’s failure to properly investigate existence of custody determinations in other courts prior to filing registration and enforcement papers in a court, see this opinion out of the Emmet County Circuit Court, Family Division. There is some good law cited in the opinion as well, and see the footnotes.

Should you opt out of Friend of the Court services?

Several regular contributors to the State Bar of Michigan's online discussion group have made some acute observations about requests to opt out of Friend of the Court services. These observations are crucial for men and women who are considering such an opt out. They are also food for thought for family lawyers faced with such a request from a client:

Jeffrey Zoeller, an experienced family lawyer from Lansing, Michigan said:

I am always suspicious when a client asks me about about a request from the other parent to opt out of FOC services. That raises a red flag.