Domestic Diversions

Michigan’s Child Support Amnesty Program will run from October 1, 2005, through December 31, 2005 and seeks to collect past-due support by stopping criminal or civil child support enforcement penalties during the program (excerpt): * To be eligible for the…

The ABA’s Litigation News features “Change in Deposition Testimony Leads to Preclusion,” by Joseph Beckman. The article links to two additional articles: E. Phelps Gay, Professionalism in Depositions: The Sound of Silence, Louisiana State Bar Ass’n, Professionalism and Quality of…

The AP is reporting on developments in Lebanon, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, where a family court judge ordered a Mexican immigrant mother to learn English at risk of losing her child (excerpt): [Felipa Barrera] said she loves her daughter…

Findlaw covers the issue of fault (adultery) and alimony (spousal support), as raised before the New Jersey Supreme Court. Joanna Grossman writes (excerpt): Courts and legislators also developed a particularized dislike for fault considerations in alimony awards, given the development…

The United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Roper v. Simmons (March 1, 2005). The Court held, in a 5-4 ruling, that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the…

Michigan’s newly enacted grandparentting time statute is 2004 Public Act 542, amending MCL 722.22 and 722.27b. A grandparent involved in such a dispute will be required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the parent’s decision to deny…

Here’s an example of how not practice law, folks. The recent case of Robert J. Blaha, Jr. v Faupel & Associates, P.C., unpublished per curiam opinion of the Court of Appeals, issued December 2, 2004 (Docket No. 250241) is a…

The Sixth Circuit issued a 2-1 decision in Barrett v Steubenville City Schools (No. 03-4373; November 15, 2004). The panel–faced with a challenge by a public school teacher who sent his children to Catholic schools–reaffirmed that parents have a constitutionally…

The Michigan Court of Appeals is publishing Miller v Miller, a 2-1 decision on domestic relations arbitration (Case No. 242470; November 30, 2004). The issue was whether a domestic relations litigant was bound by an “arbitral awardâ€? when the arbitrator…

The New York Times covers the Supreme Court’s acceptance of a case challenging a police failure to enforce a protective order (Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales, No. 04-278). Linda Greenhouse writes (excerpt): The case will require the Supreme Court…

The recently-issued McGregor case (unpublished per curiam decision of the Court of Appeals, issued September 30, 2004, Docket No. 247257) proved to be an interesting read. It was yet another case from Kent County, which was surprising to me, as…

The Michigan Supreme Court vacated the court of appeals decision in Zak v. Zak (Case No. SC: 126023-4; September 24, 2004). The court determined that: (1) in settlement, the parties could treat the severance payment as income, not property; and…

Findlaw includes an update on the movement in New York toward “true no-fault divorce,” noting the practical effects of making divorces hard to get (out-of-state divorces, dishonesty, perjury, fraud). In Michigan, we see legislative efforts every year in the opposite…

The Family Law Section posts its positions on various legislative efforts on the web. The recent positions include: SB0702 Children, adoption SB0935 Family law, marriage & divorce SB0960 Pre-divorce Program SB0961 Marriage Preservation Tax Credit SB0962 Tax Credit for Marriage…

The court of appeals issued an unpublished opinion on September 23, 2004 entitled Carlson v Abbgy, Docket No. 252861. The decision affirmed the trial court, held in Kent County, the very county in which our Blog Originator, Dave Sarncki, practices.…

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued In re: Copper, 2004 Fed App. 0007P (6th Cir. 2004)(File Name: 04b0007p.06). Judge Aug writes (excerpt): Over the past nine years, the Debtor has taken evasive action to avoid paying his ex-wife, Athena…

validity in Michigan of same-sex marriages performed in other states

legislative changes approaching

divorced parents moving and custody issues going back to court

evidentiary hearing regarding the qualifications and theories propounded by one of the plaintiff’s expert witnesses