How Does Michigan Establish Custody When Parents Are Unwed?
When married parents divorce, there is an obvious time (during the divorce process) for the law to establish which should have custody of the child, and which should have visitation — or, put another way, how much parenting time each one should have. But what happens when unwed parents have a child? How and when does […]
How to Get More Parenting Time Under Michigan Law
There\’s no better way to bond with someone than by simply spending time with them — and when that \’someone\’ is a child you love, there\’s no such thing as \’enough time.\’ That\’s one of the most painful aspects of divorce — losing access to your child for half or more of their lives. Any […]
What Happens to my Spousal/Child Support if I Remarry?
When you divorce, if you lack the means to support yourself because you\’ve been dependent on your ex-, it\’s common for the court to set up a spousal support (alimony) payment from your ex- to you every month. Similarly, if you lack the means to support a minor child you have custody of, child support […]
Can A Family Attorney Get Kids Back From CPS? – Part III
So, CPS has decided you\’re a horrible parent, and despite all of your efforts, you ended up getting served papers: they\’ve got a court date, and they\’re suing for custody. It\’s all on the line now — this is your last-ditch effort to keep your children, so put everything on hold and pour your life […]
Can A Family Attorney Get Kids Back From CPS? – Part II
In Part I, we discussed the first part of any CPS investigation — the part where they do their best to prove that you\’re a horrible parent, potentially using all kinds of tricks that would get the police in huge trouble if they did the same thing. But what if it\’s too late, and you\’ve […]
Can A Family Attorney Get Kids Back From CPS? – Part I
When Child Protective Services (CPS) takes your children away from you, it\’s always because there\’s a suspicion of abuse or neglect. No matter how unlikely the facts, CPS is obligated to investigate every complaint they receive about abuse or neglect, and if they have any reason to believe it would be better for the children, […]
Does Child Support Change When Child Custody Changes?
One of the more commonplace activities for a Michigan family law office is helping divorced parents who have had significant life changes get their child custody orders modified. For example, a divorced father who was denied custody due to alcoholism may ask the court to reconsider after staying sober for 2 years — that\’s a […]
Alternative Custody Arrangements 101, Pt II
(Continued from this post about alternative custody arrangements.) As useful as custom custody arrangements are, they do have issues all their own. We try to ensure that all of our clients understand these dangers before they put their name on a custom custody agreement. Everything Changes The biggest hiccup with custom custody is that your child […]
Alternative Custody Arrangements 101, Pt 1
We put up an article a couple weeks back about \’nesting,\’ an alternative custody arrangement in which the kids remain in one home while the parents move in and out. That got us a small flurry of questions about other alternative custody arrangements, so we figured we should just put up another couple of posts […]
Alternative Custody Arrangements: Nesting
\’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 […]
How to Accept Losing Custody Of Your Child
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 […]
Move Fast If Your Baby’s Momma Is Putting Him Up
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 […]