Post-nuptial Agreements

In Hodge v. Parks, the Michigan Court of Appeals looked at post-nuptial agreements, which are a source of (contention? debate?) here in Michigan.  Generally courts will not enforce post-nuptial agreements as against public policy because they're made in contemplation of divorce.  In the Hodge v. Parkes case, the parties signed a post-nuptial agreement after filing for divorce and then reconciling.  The agreement was geared toward saving their marriage; it treated both parties relatively equally by treating "both defendant's premarital boat and plaintiff's premarital house as marital assets" and requiring "both parties to work together to improve their relationship, marriage, and finances .. On balance, far from being inequitable, the overall property division seems quite fair."  Here's a link to the case: http://www.michbar.org/opinions/appeals/2014/010214/56153.pdf

A Sad Case

When one parent asks the court to change a custody arrangement that has already been decided, the first thing the court looks at is where the children have an "established custodial environment" (ECE).  The ECE exists with the parent or parents to whom the children look for love, guidance, comfort, and care.  In this case (view the opinion here: http://www.michbar.org/opinions/appeals/2013/120513/55947.pdf), the court found that the children didn't have an ECE with either parent.  It sounds like the children stayed primarily with the mother, and she had been leaving them with a babysitter more and more until (according to the dad), the babysitter had become the primary caregiver.  The babysitter testified that "[s]he watched [the kids] 12 out of every 14 days and 90% of those times were overnight.  Also, "during one holiday, [the mother] refused to let the children spend extra time with him despite the fact that she had to work; rather than let the children stay with him for a few more days, she had the children spend the remainder of the holiday with a sitter."  I know this makes the mother sound horrible, but why wasn't there an ECE with the father?  Either way, the court found that there was enough evidence to justify a change in custody to make the father the primary custodial parent.

New Mexico legalized same-sex marriage

The seminal quote: "We hold that the State of New Mexico is constitutionally
required to allow same-gender couples to marry and must extend to them the rights,
protections, and responsibilities that derive from civil marriage under New Mexico law."  Here's a link to the case: http://www.nmcompcomm.us/nmcases/nmsc/slips/SC34,306.pdf

Dealing with a fresh divorce

This is a really interesting article published in the Huffington Post; "'Because We Both Love You' - New Year's Resolutions for Divorced Parents." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-scharff/new-years-resolutions-for_4_b_4505703.html?ref=topbar

The Pundit - Friend of the Court Bureau Newsletter

http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/OfficesPrograms/FOC/Pages/Pundit.aspx

Many of these contain very useful information and resources regarding Friend of the Court mediation, paternity actions, how the Affordable Care Act affects child support and child support collection, etc.  Here's a link to the most recent, December 2013 edition: http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/OfficesPrograms/FOC/Documents/Pundits/2013-12-Pundit.pdf

Also,

Here's a link to an announcement re: my appointment to the State Bar Committee: http://www.womenlawyers.org/mid-michigan/blog

Revocation of Paternity Act

I'm working on the final revisions to an article I'm writing for the Libraries, Legal Research, and Legal Publications Committee of the State Bar of Michigan about the Revocation of Paternity Act, which was passed in Michigan last year.  I'll provide a synopsis here, but look for it in the family law edition of the Michigan Bar Journal in February 2014.