DIVORCE

Unfortunately, divorce is a reality of life.  When one or both parties come to realize that the marriage is no longer viable, a divorce action usually becomes necessary.  There are many important issues to be resolved - division of marital assets, child support, child custody, parenting time, spousal support where applicable, etc.  There is also the further dimension of the emotional trauma involved in the process of divorce.  A compassionate and skillful divorce lawyer is invaluable.

SEPARATE MAINTENANCE

Sometimes an immediate divorce is not the appropriate remedy but a legal separation is required.  An action for separate maintenance addresses most of the same issues which are addressed in a conventional divorce action.

CHILD CUSTODY

There are a two main types of custody - legal and physical.  In the typical divorce, one parent is given physical custody, i.e., the child will basically reside with that parent, but have visitation with the other parent.  However, the parents are almost always awarded joint legal custody, so that they can both be involved in making the important decisions on behalf of the child, such as health, education, other care issues, etc. 

CHILD SUPPORT

Child support is determined from many factors so as to arrive at an equitable amount to be awarded to the custodial parent - the number of children, the earnings of each parent, the standardized  Michigan Child Support Formulas, etc., are all factors to be considered in determining an appropriate amount.

VISITATION AND PARENTING TIME

Parenting time or visitation time is the right of one parent, usually the non-custodial  to spend time with his or her child.  It is usually mediated between the two parents.  If the parents cannot agree on the details, the family law judge will.

SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Spousal support (alimony) is sometimes appropriate.  There are no fixed rules or regulations to determine if spousal support is to be paid or how much is to be paid.  Typical determining factors are, length of the marriage, relative earning capacity of the parties, health, other unique factors, etc. 

POST JUDGEMENT PROCEEDINGS

Many agreements entered into during a divorce proceeding are subject to later revision based upon a future change in circumstances.  For instance, if one party's income changes significantly, this might make necessary a recalculation of the child support amount - the same would be true of alimony.  Also, depending upon the circumstances, a change in child custody might become appropriate, etc.

PRE-NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

Persons engaged to be married can enter into a pre-nuptial agreement where the parties agree in advance as to how to resolve property division in the event of a future divorce or death of one of the parties.

OTHER DIVORCE/FAMILY LAW ISSUES

There are many other issues which are addressed by the Divorce/Family Law Attorney such as -  adoption, paternity, personal protection orders, domestic partnership agreements, etc.