Common Misconceptions in Michigan Divorce Law, Part II

Michigan divorce law isn’t exactly easy to wrap your mind around, which is a good part of why family lawyers like the ones at Gucciardo Family Law hear so many misconceptions about how the law works. We did 3 earlier this week — let’s do 3 more and call it good.

Once My Son is (13, 14, 15, 16) He’s Allows to Choose Which Parent to Live With
Sorry, there’s only one age at which a child is given the legal authority to decide where to live: 18. That said, the more mature a child is (which is only partially related to their age), the more likely the court is to take the child’s “reasonable preference” into account when making a determination about custody. But their preference is just one of 12 factors the court is required to consider. The others are:

• The two child-parent relationships,
• Each parent’s ability to provide love, guidance, and support,
• Each parent’s ability to provide economically for the child’s needs,
• The child’s current living arrangement and its effects on the child,
• The stability of each parent’s household,
• Each parent’s moral fitness,
• The child’s current level of success in the home, school, and community,
• Each parent’s willingness to encourage a close relationship with the other parent,
• Any domestic violence involved in the broader family unit, and
• Any other factor the judge deems relevant and brings into evidence.

Filing For Divorce Requires Living Separately
There are two versions of this we here: the first is “you have to be living separately in order to file for divorce,” and the second is “once you’re divorced, you have to live separately.” Both of these are incorrect; it’s actually getting to be relatively common for exes to live together for a few months after a divorce is filed so that they can sell their martial home effectively. The court will look at whether or not you’re already separated and take that fact into account in making their decisions, but there’s no ‘penalty’ for being together or separated.

Once the Divorce is Filed, If Everything Goes Perfectly, We Can be Separated In No Time
Nope — even under the most ideal circumstances, there is a mandatory 60-day waiting period between when a divorce is filed and when the final divorce decree can be put into effect. If you have a child with your spouse, that waiting period extends out to 180 days unless circumstances are so bad that the judge decides your child is better off with the divorce going through immediately. Even in that circumstance, however, the 60-day waiting period is still in full effect.

I Don’t Need a Lawyer to File for Divorce
In the most technical sense, this is correct — you can walk into most courthouses and grab the forms, fill them out, and submit them yourself. But doing so is profoundly unwise: there are innumerable ways in which you can completely screw up your divorce if you file incorrectly. Court personnel and paralegals aren’t allowed to dispense legal advice, which includes telling you how to fill out the forms correctly; your only option for doing it right the first time is to get a lawyer. And to top it all off, those courthouses that provide divorce papers still won’t give you the paperwork you need to file for custody of a child — you absolutely have to have a lawyer to do that part.

If you’re in that situation and you need a family law attorney to help you get your divorce underway — or you just need to ask some questions and make sure that you understand the law as well as you think you do  — call Gucciardo Family Law at 248-723-5190. We’re here to help.