Blog
Similar Murders of Children Highlight the Intensity of Child Custody Disputes This past week, in Lowell, Michigan, Derek Thebo, shot his three year old son during his scheduled parenting time and subsequently shot and killed himself. Dylan’s mother had requested and received a Personal Protection Order, but then agreed to terminate the Order when a […]
Judges routinely are tasked with the decision whether a child should be vaccinated. When parents can’t agree whether to vaccinate, then a judge will decide the issue. When parents share joint legal custody, they must reach an agreement regarding major medical decisions or alternatively the judge will decide the issue. Such a decision is not made lightly; […]
There are several reasons why anyone considering a divorce in Michigan or elsewhere across the country should talk with an experienced family law attorney. A new study from Harvard Law School highlights one reason: Those who do not consult a lawyer are more likely to stay in unhappy marriages. The researchers studied a group of […]
A Michigan woman who gave birth to twins while in a same-sex relationship is considered the girls’ parent for custody purposes, even though she does not have any genetic ties to them, a federal appeals court recently ruled. Lanesha Matthews gave birth to the twins after her partner Kyresha LeFever’s eggs were fertilized by a […]
A new survey highlights some of the financial benefits that single mothers get from parenting time arrangements in which the schedule is split 50/50 with a child’s other parent. The study also shows that those arrangements remain relatively rare. Women with a 50/50 parenting time schedule are more than three times more likely (325%) to […]
New research shows that many parents are hesitant about getting their children vaccinated for COVID-19, a development that highlights some of the difficult questions that the pandemic has raised for divorced parents in Michigan and across the country. Less than one-third (29%) of parents of kids under the age of 18 who the Kaiser Family […]
Divorce can be a challenging, confusing, and emotionally draining experience for everyone involved, especially when the spouses going their own ways have kids. In addition to legally untangling the marriage, parents have to decide (or let a judge decide for them) how their children will be cared for and where the kids will live, among other […]
The federal government recently sent another round of stimulus checks to many families across the country to help ease some of the financial burdens of the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Tax Day (now pushed back a month) is looming. What does all of this mean for parents waiting on overdue child support payments and those who owe […]
When an attorney and the client discuss the client’s case, the conversation between the attorney and client is attorney-client privileged, which means it is confidential. Logically, this makes sense. An attorney needs his or her client to be honest about the situation so that the attorney can anticipate responses or prepare a defense when bad […]
Recently, I read a Facebook post of a mom whose child was alienated from her, and she was ready to give up. Dad had been alienating her daughter from her for years. The alienation had reached the point that her daughter had refused to visit her for nearly two years, and texting had been a […]