We Can Help With Your Family Law Cases
The area of family law is a diverse area that covers adoption, annulment, divorce, paternity, separate maintenance, custody, spousal support, child support, medical reimbursement, medical insurance, and post-judgment issues. However, the area of family law does not occur in a vacuum. Because of our lengthy and divergent experience, we at FREERS, FREERS & FREERS are uniquely positioned to handle family law cases. We have extensive experience in the collateral issues that may come up such as real estate, business, and even criminal. For example in a divorce, how are assets divided? What happens when your spouse accuses you of domestic violence? Do you know whether it matters who files first? Does it matter if you move out of the marital home? How are child custody and support determined? Can you get spousal support? These are all important questions, some have simple answers, but often divorce is a complex maze through which we can guide and advise you. We have the expertise and experience to make an incredibly difficult and painful process a little less painful and difficult.
One question that comes up frequently is whether or not the parties can have a “legal separation”. There is no such thing in Michigan; the closest thing to it is what is called an action for separate maintenance. This is an action that results in the court allowing the parties to remain married, but requiring one party to support the other and maintain the other person’s lifestyle; however, most people opt for divorce as they wish to terminate the relationship and not maintain it.
Another issue that comes up is the difference between an annulment and a divorce. An annulment when granted, legally abolishes the marriage and makes it like it never happened, whereas a divorce acknowledges that the marriage happened but is terminated. An annulment in Michigan requires very specific grounds and is very rarely granted.
The issue of spousal support is driven by the party’s relative income, the length of the marriage, and the party’s ability to maintain a lifestyle and earn income in the future.
The issue of child custody is decided based on 12 specific statutory factors known as the best interest of the child factors with the court evaluating each factor and determining whether it favors one over the other or no preference. Some of the factors include the capacity to provide love and affection; capacity to provide for the financial needs; the reasonable preference of the children; and other specific matters.
On the other hand, child support is based solely on a comparison of the party’s income and the number of overnights that each parent has with the child or children.
The purpose of property division in a divorce case is to divide the property equitably between the two parties. Normally in a marriage of short duration, the court attempts to restore the parties to their pre-marital position whereas in a longer marriage, the court seeks to divide the property equitably, which usually, although not always, means evenly between the parties. Obviously, this is an over-simplified view as there are many subtle complications in unraveling a relationship that requires that we give each case our individual attention.
If you have extensive property and are not yet married but contemplating such, you may want to consider a pre-nuptial agreement. These agreements are geared toward protecting the separate assets of one or both individuals. Even if you don’t have extensive property but have children from a prior marriage or relationship, this is an agreement you may want to consider to make some assets are preserved for those children. This can also be done via estate planning which we can also assist with. We have drafted many such agreements protecting the assets of our clients. If you are already wed and you think this is something you should have done, Michigan also recognizes ante or post nuptial agreements which are essentially the same as pre-nuptial, except they are executed after the marriage.
While it is acknowledged that most paternity actions are resolved with the results of DNA testing, there are still issues that must be addressed such as if necessary, altering the child’s birth certificate, establishing the amount of support and the like.
We can also assist with any post judgment issues. Whenever there are children involved, invariably issues come up after a judgment is entered, whether it is a divorce judgment or a custody and support judgment, the only difference between the two is whether the parties were married when the child was born. Whether you want a change in custody, a change in child support, or any other issue related to the physical and/or emotional well-being of your child, you want an experienced tough litigator on your side.
Because of our extensive and diverse experience, we are in a unique position to provide our clients with an insightful and aggressive representation protecting your rights and interests.
