Speaker Law
Blog
Posted: May 27, 2020, 12:25 PM
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, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.
Posted: May 20, 2020, 9:40 AM
A consent judgment of divorce 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, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.
Posted: May 13, 2020, 10:25 AM
The defendant, Anne Jones-Von Greiff, was married to the decedent, Hermann Von Greiff. After 15 years of marriage, the defendant filed for divorce on June 1, 2017. Hermann stipulated that Anne could live in the marital home, to which he never returned, while the divorce was pending. Hermann died on June 17, 2018, just before the divorce judgment was signed and slightly more than a year after the parties had separated.
Posted: May 6, 2020, 12:45 PM
The trial court in this custody action erroneously discounted the role of the parent who worked outside the home and, as a result, improperly ruled that the child only had an established custodial environment with the stay-at-home parent, the Michigan Court of Appeals has decided.
Posted: Apr 29, 2020, 10:50 AM
A father’s use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary method constituted domestic violence and, as a result, the trial court properly modified custody to give the mother sole legal and physical custody of the children, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.
Social Workers Violated Fourth Amendment By Conducting In-School, Warrantless Interviews Of Children
Posted: Apr 22, 2020, 10:40 AM
Social workers who conducted in-school interviews of the plaintiffs’ children as part of a child-abuse investigation violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights because the social workers did not have a “reasonable suspicion” of abuse, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Schulkers v Kammer.
Posted: Apr 15, 2020, 10:30 AM
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 Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.
Posted: Apr 8, 2020, 9:35 AM
The Oakland County Circuit Court in Jacob had issued numerous orders, most of which were related to custody and parenting time. One order also denied the plaintiff-father’s request to remove the L-GAL from the case and ordered him to pay the L-GAL more than $22,000 in fees.
Posted: Mar 25, 2020, 10:05 AM
On appeal, the defendant claimed the trial court’s decision regarding proper cause or change in circumstances was erroneous. Among other things, he challenged the timeliness of the evidence considered by the trial court
Posted: Mar 18, 2020, 9:15 AM
The plaintiff-mother and the defendant-father were married in 2013. They child was born in 2015. A judgment of divorce was entered by the Oakland County Circuit Court in April 2016. The divorce judgment provided that the parties shared joint legal custody of the child and the plaintiff had primary physical custody.
Posted: Mar 11, 2020, 1:15 PM
The plaintiff and the defendant are the parents of twins. The parties were never married or in a romantic relationship. The parties shared legal custody and the defendant had physical custody of the children. The parties were able to effectively co-parent throughout much of the children’s adolescence.
Posted: Mar 4, 2020, 11:25 AM
In this case seeking relief under the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act, the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear the plaintiff’s appeal, thereby affirming that the plaintiff was not entitled to compensation for the nine years he spent in prison before being acquitted of sexual assault.
Posted: Feb 26, 2020, 10:50 AM
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, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in People v Tomasik.
Posted: Feb 19, 2020, 2:15 PM
A settlement agreement signed by the parties in this divorce action was valid and enforceable, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled, even though the mediator did not conduct any domestic violence screening pursuant to the Michigan court rules.
Posted: Feb 12, 2020, 10:40 AM
The plaintiff and the defendant divorced in 2013. Pursuant to a consent judgment, the plaintiff was awarded “sole care, custody and control” of the parties three children and the defendant was ordered to pay child and spousal support.
Posted: Feb 5, 2020, 11:10 AM
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, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.
Posted: Jan 29, 2020, 10:55 AM
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 for two of the children, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.
Posted: Jan 22, 2020, 10:50 AM
In Demski (Docket No. 322193), the defendant mother gave birth to the child, MP, shortly after she married another man, Jeffrey Petlick, who was the child’s presumed father under Michigan law. After paternity testing determined that MP was the plaintiff’s biological daughter, the plaintiff filed a custody and parenting time action in the Berrien County Circuit Court.
Posted: Jan 15, 2020, 9:35 AM
Detroit attorney Robyn Frankel was appointed appellate counsel for the defendant, who was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Frankel filed a motion for appellate attorney fees, asking the Macomb County Circuit Court to exceed the presumptive maximum of $3,375 and award her $5,445.
Posted: Jan 8, 2020, 1:30 PM
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) sought temporary jurisdiction of the respondent-father’s children after the mother, who was the custodial parent, was found dead. The DHHS asserted various reasons why it was improper to place the children with the respondent, including that he had been ordered not to have unsupervised contact with the children.
Content © 2020 Speaker Law Firm, PLLC | Website designed by AE Lansing Web Design
All major credit cards accepted.
All major credit cards accepted.