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For two years, and across hundreds of marriage therapy sessions, researchers recorded. They created a computer algorithm that examined dozens of features of the recordings, but the words and meanings were not among them. The algorithm instead focused strictly on the sonic features of the recordings, such as pitch, volume, and pacing. Then, after recording several sessions for each couple, ...

‘Nesting’ or ‘Bird’s-Nest Parenting’ is an unusual custody arrangement that is uniquely focused on the good of the children, and involves some extraordinary sacrifice on the part of the separated parents. In short, the children stay in one home, and the parents move in and out when their custody schedule dictates a shift in parenting time. A nesting arrangement is ...

To someone who is recently divorced, broken up, or lost their spouse, Valentine’s Day can seem cruelly ironic. All conversation turns to romance, and every storefront is bedecked in roses, hearts, and lace. It’s like the world stops caring about you unless you’re part of a couple. For those of us who have recently split up — doubly for those ...

There’s a lot of advice about getting divorced out there, but it’s almost all focused on the financial and emotional aspects of getting divorced. There is, however, more to life than money and fear, and we should spend some time talking about the impact of divorce on other areas of your life. So today, we’re going to talk about faith. ...

Custody battles are often very challenging, not because they are difficult (though they are), but because they literally challenge our views of ourselves and our lives. We tell ourselves a story about how our live is and how it is going, and we argue vehemently against any narrative that portrays us in a less positive light. But losing custody of ...

A fascinating news story came up a few weeks ago: a woman in New York is filing a suit against her husband for having secretly divorced her four months after their marriage…which was 20 years ago…and she claims she had no idea that they weren’t legally married that whole time. She found out, she says, because of tax paperwork that ...

In our last post, we talked a bit about what spousal support (alimony), and how in many cases it is paid out until the receiving spouse marries or begins cohabitating with a new partner. We got a few emails in asking “What ‘cohabitating’ mean, precisely?” and “How do I know if my spouse is cohabitating?” The legal standards for cohabitation ...

In the state of Michigan, spousal support payments (a.k.a. alimony payments) are set up when the court deems it appropriate that, upon a divorce, one spouse should make payments to the other spouse in order to allow them the opportunity to reestablish themselves financially. The statue limits spousal support payments to an amount that is “just and reasonable,” but what ...

A Court of Appeals upheld a trial court’s decision to deny a father the right to deny his child’s adoption on the 5th of this month. The father had filed a motion to stay his child’s adoption by a couple — an adoption the mother filed for upon the child’s birth. The motion was denied by a trial court because: ...

We recently had lunch with a few of our associates, and as usual we talked shop while we hit up the coffee and sandwiches. One of the interesting questions that came up: “A client of mine recently came to me with a written letter from his son’s teacher saying that his son had started failing multiple classes and was caught ...