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Nobody ever said marriage was easy, and raising children can be even more difficult. While children bring joy and wonder to our lives, parenting is undertaking fraught with uncertainty and fear. The responsibility of keeping kids safe and raising them to be capable and confident adults is a heavy burden. It becomes even more difficult when you’re going through a ...

Up until 1995, adopting a child in Michigan required a legal termination of the rights of birth parents before the adoption process could even begin and the child could be placed with adoptive parents. Further, adoptions could only take place through the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) or state-licensed child-placement agencies. Thanks to changes in state laws, the situation ...

For some individuals and couples, adopting may turn out to be the best path for starting a family. For others, it is a way to expand an already-established family while also helping abandoned or otherwise needy children in search of a loving home. Adoption may be done domestically or on an international level. Children may come from a parent or ...

During the course of a marriage, even a relatively short one, you and your spouse might accumulate a lot. Not only could you build a life that includes homes, cars, furniture, bank accounts, and a lot of other assets, but you might also rack up quite a bit of debt in the process, including a mortgage and any number of ...

There is a growing culture of blended families that feature children from multiple unions, or children being raised by one natural parent and his/her new spouse. It’s not surprising in such situations that stepparents would become interested in adopting the children they’re helping to raise. Being a good parent doesn’t necessarily require you to share DNA with a child – ...

When adults enter into the contract of marriage, it is generally with the knowledge that “mine” now becomes “ours”. Shared finances mean that anything one spouse owns becomes the property of both, unless otherwise stated via prenuptial agreement, and even prenups have some limits concerning what is considered reasonable. Going into a divorce, then, you’re probably aware of the fact ...

Ending relationships is never easy, but time and distance help to heal the wounds that precipitated the break-up. The process is made a lot more difficult when you have to continue interacting with the person you’ve recently split from. Unfortunately, this is exactly what divorced parents have to deal with. This can put a lot of stress on parents trying ...

There are both benefits and drawbacks associated with social media. On the one hand, these platforms allow you to connect with family and friends, to share the events of your daily life, and to express yourself in new and creative ways. Then there is the flipside, whereby knee-jerk reactions can live in infamy and virtual unfriending can lead to real-world ...

Children are a blessing, not only to their parents, but to the many relatives who experience the joy they bring and who come to love them as they grow. In an ideal world, everyone would get along and children and adults alike could benefit from loving and supportive familial relationships that include extended family members like grandparents. Unfortunately, parents and ...

Many modern households require two incomes, which can leave parents with a tough choice – what to do with young children during the day. Daycare is an expensive and often undesirable option, but grandparents may provide an alternative solution. Naturally, family situations differ, but with many grandparents enjoying free time and good health well into retirement, helping out with childcare ...