An automobile liability policy should not be voided on public policy grounds because the policyholder had a “sufficient” insurable interest, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.

A trial court improperly held that the surname of a child born out of wedlock should be changed from the mother’s surname to the biological father’s surname.

A consent JOD under which the parties agreed that the defendant would pay the plaintiff one-half of his military retirement benefits is preempted by federal law and is unenforceable.

A probate judge erroneously applied MCL 700.2801(2)(e)(i) and, as a result, improperly determined that a widow did not qualify as her husband’s surviving spouse for inheritance purposes.

The trial court erroneously discounted the role of the parent who worked outside the home and, improperly ruled that the child only had an ECE with the stay-at-home parent.

A father’s use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary method constituted as domestic violence and, as a result, the trial court properly modified custody.

Social workers who conducted in-school interviews of the plaintiffs’ children violated the plaintiffs’ 4th Amendment rights because the social workers did not have a “reasonable suspicion” of abuse.

A trial court wrongly held that the plaintiff’s motion to enforce the parties’ judgment of divorce was untimely and frivolous, and that it did not have the authority to consider the plaintiff’s motion.

The trial court’s order denying the plaintiff-father’s motion to remove the lawyer-guardian ad litem (L-GAL) from this custody case is reversed and the matter is remanded for an evidentiary hearing.

The plaintiff-mother was properly awarded sole custody of the parties’ child and the defendant-father was correctly ordered to continue supervised parenting time.

A trial court properly issued an order requiring that the parties’ child be vaccinated by a pediatrician and for the parties to select a new, mutually agreeable pediatrician for the child.

In this custody dispute, the trial court properly granted the plaintiff-father sole legal and physical custody of the children and awarded the defendant-mother no parenting time.

The Michigan SCT declined to hear the plaintiff’s appeal, thereby affirming that the plaintiff wasn’t entitled to compensation for the 9 years he spent in prison before being acquitted of sexual assault.

A defendant convicted of criminal sexual conduct was entitled to a new trial because an unredacted recording of the defendant’s police interrogation was improperly admitted into evidence.

A settlement agreement signed by the parties in this divorce action was valid and enforceable, even though the mediator did not conduct any domestic violence screening.

A plaintiff’s request for attorney fees was properly denied by the trial court because, by neglecting the issue for nearly two years, the plaintiff did not pursue the fees within a “reasonable time”.

A 14-year-old’s petition to change his surname was properly granted by the trial court even though the statutory requirements for a name change were not met.

A trial court must examine whether terminating a mother’s parental rights was in the best interests of each child – including whether a guardianship with the maternal grandmother is appropriate.