December 5, 2004The 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 award� when the arbitrator used a caucus method, meeting with the parties, ex parte, in an effort to [...]
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November 2, 2004The 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 to revisit a doctrine articulated by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in a well-known case from 1989, [...]
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October 25, 2004 The recently-issued McGregor case (unpublished per curiam decision of the Court of Appeals, issued September 30, 2004, Docket No. 247257) proved to be an interesting read.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 I have been under the (mis)impression that most appeals emanated from Wayne/Oakland counties.
The main [...]
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October 23, 2004The 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 (2) judgments must be written to conform to the actual settlement.
The court stated (excerpt):
The [...]
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October 21, 2004Findlaw 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 direction (returning to fault-based divorce or making divorces more time-consuming and costly).
Joanna Grossman [...]
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October 12, 2004The 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 [...]
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October 3, 2004The 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 decision dealt with what has been a problem for me on occasion, in that [...]
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September 27, 2004The 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 Chen Copper, amounts she was awarded under the parties’ divorce decree. The bankruptcy court’s Memorandum Order outlines [...]
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September 18, 2004validity in Michigan of same-sex marriages performed in other states
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September 5, 2004legislative changes approaching
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August 14, 2004divorced parents moving and custody issues going back to court
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July 28, 2004evidentiary hearing regarding the qualifications and theories propounded by one of the plaintiff’s expert witnesses
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July 27, 2004pursuit of a divorce from his father
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July 26, 2004parental alienation
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June 29, 2004Remarks of Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Maura D. Corrigan
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June 28, 2004the need for parents to know about personal protection orders as a means of protecting children
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June 25, 2004stepfather did not qualify as a “custodian” under MCL 712A.18(2), so it required him to reimburse the County of Van Buren for the cost of the child’s care
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June 24, 2004why the ways in which you live your life and handle your divorce matter
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June 23, 2004lengths that divorcing New Yorkers will go to hang on to real estate
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June 16, 2004Since the California paternity court had not awarded him decision-making responsibility, the father lacked the power to veto the decision of the mother, who was awarded “what we understand amounts to a tiebreaking vote.”
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