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9. How specific a schedule do you need for parenting time/visitation? The better your communication and the older your children, the less specificity that you need.
8. What is the typical schedule? The typical, traditional schedule has been alternate weekends from Friday until Sunday, along with alternate holidays consisting of Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Easter, sometimes New Years, Mother's Day with mom and Father's Day with dad, sometimes alternating or sharing the children's birthdays and the children having the parent's birthday with each parent, along with any other visitation/parenting time that is agreed to between the parties.
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Read more... [Nine Key Parenting Time/Visitation Issues in 2009]
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9. Call your attorney, but not every day.
8. Communicate with your attorney by e-mail, but don't abuse it.
7. Of course you can communicate with your attorney by fax.
6. Communicate by snail-mail. Bear in mind that this is a good way to communicate if there are several issues to be raised, but it is also a slow way to do so.
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Read more... [Nine Ways To Communicate WIth Your Michigan Family Law Attorney]
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I have found over the years that divorces are both legal and psychological. The legal divorce is the part handled by an attorney where we handle issues including child custody, parenting time, child support, medical expenses, spousal support, property issues such as a home, savings, investments, debts, pensions, and 401Ks, along with tax issues.
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Read more... [Psychological Issues in a Divorce]
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9. In many cases, especially where there are not a lot of complicated assets, parties will avoid formal discovery and just exchange affidavits, listing assets and liabilities with documentation. This is under oath, and does provide some protection.
8. In most divorces, interrogatories are filed. These are questions covering assets, liabilities, and any other issues such as employment, health, and anything that is relevant to the case. In Michigan, these must be answered within 28 days under oath.
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Read more... [Nine Divorce Discovery Tips for 2009]
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Change of domicile is a matter that the courts in Michigan take very seriously. This is where one parent – normally the custodial parent – is seeking permission to leave the state and move to another state. In the past, it was very difficult to change domicile because the court’s want to keep both parents as close as possible to the children, even after a divorce. This blog is to raise the issue of whether or not, in view of the economy, judges are taking a more liberal approach and granting changes of domicile more easily than they might have a couple of years ago.
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Read more... [Issues in Change of Domicile in Michigan]
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The laws in the State of Michigan do not recognize either common law marriage or commitment ceremonies as same sex couples are not allowed to legally marry in Michigan. What happens when the couples who have lived together and co-mingled property without being marriaged, breakup? I have handled both types of situations in my practice.
Even though they are not divorce actions, and are not part of the family court, in certain situations there are legal remedies. I have had cases where people have co-mingled assets, have shared investments and have purchased real estate together. I have had other cases where there have been promises made but not kept. In these situations, there may be an action, based upon fraud or unjust enrichments, which are tort actions. They are based upon promises that are not kept or based upon situations where one person has invested a lot of money into real estate and the other person is saying, "forget it – you are entitled to little or nothing".
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Read more... [Unmarried Couples Living Together in Michigan]
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In these tough economic time, it is critical to remember that if you have a judgment with non-modifiable spousal support, it means what it says. If you are in the midst of a divorce, and you have any type of job situation where there is a possibility of a reduction in pay or a loss of a job, do not agree to non-modifiable spousal support. By law, non-modifiable means non-modifiable. What can you do if you have entered into a judgment of divorce or settlement agreement where there is non-modifiable spousal support, and there has been a job loss, and you no longer have the ability to pay?
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Read more... [Michigan Family Law Issues in Tough Economic Times: Spousal Support – Alimony]
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More and more cases involve marital homes that have negative equity. If your home has little or no equity, there are several decisions that have to be made in the divorce. First of all, do you keep the home? If there is the cash flow to do so, it may be wise to keep the home until the economy turns around. If you or your spouse cannot afford to keep the home, and are forced to sell it, try to work out a walk-away with the bank.
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Read more... [Michigan Family Law Issues in Tough Economic Times: The Marital Home]
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These are rapidly decreasing in value. In some cases where there are a lot of debts, and people want to avoid bankruptcy, it may make sense to take the husband's 401K and/or IRA and roll it over to the wife, if she has an income. This way there are no penalties. She can then take the money out for payment of marital debts, and her taxes will be at a lower rate. These are things to carefully scrutinize in a divorce where there are substantial debts and it may be necessary to go into 401Ks or IRAs to pay them.
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Read more... [Michigan Family Law Issues in Tough Economic Times:401Ks, IRAs and Pensions]
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