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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.
Posted: Dec 25, 2019, 6:20 PM
The Jackson County Circuit Court in Patterson v Patterson (Docket No. 347415), issued a judgment of divorce and a custody determination following a bench trial. The plaintiff was awarded primary physical custody of the parties’ minor children.
Posted: Dec 18, 2019, 9:35 AM
The plaintiff and the defendant, who were married for 29 years, entered into a consent judgment of divorce in 2014. The judgment included a spousal support provision that said the plaintiff would receive spousal support for 10 years, until the plaintiff’s death or until she remarried, whichever occurred first
Posted: Dec 11, 2019, 11:50 AM
The ex-wife in Ripley (Docket No. 327285) argued the trial court wrongly allocated two assets to the defendant – the accounts receivable at his law firm and a GTO – without first including their value in the marital estate. The ex-wife also claimed the trial court’s overall division of the marital estate was inequitable.
Posted: Dec 4, 2019, 10:45 AM
The plaintiff and the defendant were married in October 1995. When the couple divorced in 2018, the plaintiff was 58 years old and the defendant was 65 years old. The parties have two children, one of whom was a minor at the time of the divorce.
Posted: Nov 27, 2019, 9:35 AM
Adoption appeals frequently involve situations that require immediate action by the courts, which means emergency motions must be filed. Two recent adoption cases exemplify when such emergency motions are necessary: In re MGR and In re LMB.
Posted: Nov 20, 2019, 12:20 PM
The father in Blakeman was being kept out of his home and away from his four children pursuant to an Ingham County trial court order, which was contrary to the recommendations of Children’s Protective Services (CPS) case workers.
Posted: Nov 13, 2019, 2:30 PM
Child custody cases regularly require the filing of an emergency motion – which is what happened in Brenner v Kerkstra (Docket No. 346078). In Brenner, the appeal by right deadline had been missed, leaving an application for leave to appeal as the only option for appellate review.
Posted: Nov 6, 2019, 11:35 AM
In Palmer, the plaintiff and the defendant were never married and had one child together, AP. The Gratiot County Circuit Court had previously granted the plaintiff sole legal and physical custody of AP; had granted the defendant reasonable supervised parenting time with no overnights; and had permitted the plaintiff to move with AP to North Dakota, where he had secured a higher-paying job.
Posted: Oct 30, 2019, 9:30 AM
In 2015, the parties entered into a consent judgment of divorce. They had one child together during their marriage. The judgment set forth the agreed-upon custody and parenting time schedule. Because both parties were nurses who worked 8-to-12-hour shifts, the judgment included an RFR provision.
Posted: Oct 23, 2019, 10:40 AM
The parties were divorced and had two children, AAM and MCM, during their marriage. The divorce judgment, entered by the Ionia County Circuit Court, awarded joint legal custody of the children to both parties and primary physical custody to the plaintiff. The defendant, who served in the military, accepted a job in Virginia in 2013. He returned to Michigan in 2016 and filed a motion for parenting time, which the trial court granted.
Posted: Oct 16, 2019, 11:15 AM
In Slocum v Floyd, the defendant was divorced from the plaintiffs’ son. After the divorce, the plaintiffs’ son had primary physical custody of the children and both parents shared legal custody. The plaintiffs’ son later remarried but died in a motorcycle accident. After their son’s death, the plaintiffs filed emergency petitions seeking a temporary guardianship over the children.
Posted: Oct 11, 2019, 3:05 PM
In August 2014, Dr. El-Khalil had sued Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., alleging racial discrimination in violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), as well as tortious interference with an advantageous business relationship and defamation.
Posted: Oct 9, 2019, 10:55 AM
In Luna v Regnier, the Tuscola County Circuit Court completely suspended the mother’s parenting time with her children, finding there was clear and convincing evidence the children’s mental and emotional health was endangered by allowing her to visit with them.
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