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Updates in Michigan Family Law

Updates in Michigan Family Law is a blawg written by Traverse City, Michigan family lawyer Jeanne M. Hannah. Jeanne explores developing Michigan law, and also the following topics of interest: divorce, custody, child support, paternity, domestic abuse, and adoption issues.\r\n\r\n

Post Frequency: 4.5/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 12:07:04

Collaborating with your client or risking malpractice?

Posted on January 10, 2011
The Law Trends & News bulletin from the ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division recently published an article cautioning against sending unprotected drafts of documents to clients. In some instances, certainly, sending a draft may make a lawyer dispensable and may, in fact, expose a lawyer to a malpractice suit.

Kids draw their parents' divorce

Posted on January 09, 2011
In one of my first meetings with a new client, we will discuss whether the children have been told that Mommy and Daddy are getting a divorce. If they have not been told, then we talk about how kids pick up on the tension, may overhear arguments, and how children worry about what is going to happen to them (where will they live) and whether or not it was their fault.

Child elopement from foster care and residential settings

Posted on January 05, 2011
The National Runaway Switchboard reports that between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away each year. It also reports that there has been ?a significant increase in the number of crisis calls identifying abuse or neglect as a reason for the call, with abuse calls up 33 percent and neglect calls up 54 percent between 2005-2008...

Woman charged with felony in infant death

Posted on January 01, 2011
The Traverse City Record Eagle published an article today about criminal action against a mother who allegedly gave birth to a baby downstate, dismembered her infant, stuffed it in a backpack, and took it to her home in Boyne City to bury the backpack in the backyard...

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Families Bear Brunt of Deployment Strains

Posted on December 31, 2010
The New York Times, in a series of articles titled "A Year at War," addresses issues related to the personal impact of deployment into war zones upon American service members. Today's article takes a look at the toll upon families--left-behind...

Reading your spouse's email | A crime? | He said, she said?

Posted on December 28, 2010
A lot of attention is focused these days in family courts around the country on text messages, voice mails, emails, and various social media that spouses use against each other in divorce and custody matters. In fact, protecting yourself from intrusion upon your Internet security has been a frequent topic on this blog...

Falling home prices complicate divorce

Posted on December 28, 2010
All family lawyers face the same issue today when helping clients fashion an appropriate property settlements. The value of the family home has declined so much that many, if not most, homes are under water. From the Washington Post today comes this article, confirming what family lawyers all know and what clients are facing...

Daddy, Read for me

Posted on December 26, 2010
Connecting--perhaps for the first time?with their children, eight men at the Eric M. Taylor Center ? one of nine jails on Rikers Island ? completed a five-week literacy course this fall called "Daddy and Me." They learned to read with expression, to fine-tune their voice to the story and then, satisfied with their story-reading skills, they recorded themselves.

House foreclosures | Break-ins by banks?

Posted on December 22, 2010
The New York Times published an article about cases around the country involving banks sending contractors to houses when the homeowner is in default. There were some horror stories about contents being thrown away, utilities being shut off, causing food spoilage and other damage to the house...

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook | Hype or not?

Posted on December 21, 2010
The latest ABA Journal talks about use of social media for lawyers. The journal says that there?s a growing consensus that it is overhyped, arguing that no credible ways to measure return on investment are available and that no data exists showing that social media has the capacity to create business or that the number of followers you have on Twitter or friends on FaceBook means that you are increasing your earning potential.

Drinking and driving PSA | Powerful | Share it

Posted on December 19, 2010
This Australian PSA about drinking and driving is the most powerful I've ever seen. Please share it with your spouse, your children, friends, classmates, and anyone else you think should see it. Have a safe holiday season. Don't drink, smoke grass or use drugs and drive.

Archiving text messages and emails on iPhones and Blackberry phones

Posted on December 17, 2010
Archiving emails and test messages is helpful to attorneys and also to litigants involved in family law cases. There are many free or commercial Apps available to help you do that, whether you are using an iPhone or a Blackberry.

Family court judge ridicules divorce litigants' rage

Posted on December 17, 2010
The Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, which I read online, published an account of a family court judge's frustration with the unsolvable and intractible rage and outrageous conduct of two parents having serious deficits in their parenting capacity and access to socially acceptable behavior...

How divorced parents can help children survive the holidays

Posted on December 15, 2010
The holiday season may be more difficult than usual for children of divorced or separated families. The excess chaos may cause children to feel anxious. Children may feel caught in the middle if their parents fight about who spends what time where. They may feel resentful when they must leave friends and family to stay with a non-custodial parent.

Why you want to teach your kids to talk to 911

Posted on December 06, 2010
"Stay calm, Dad," says little Savannah. You'll not only find this video poignant, but it may convince you to explain to your children or grandchildren (or even do a little role-playing) to teach a child how to call 911 and how to handle emergencies.

Five easy steps: Erase a hard drive to preserve privacy when discarding

Posted on December 06, 2010
From time to time, all family lawyers buy a new computer. Sometimes I give an old computer to a family member or friend. I've given one to a senior center. But first, I have my IT guy erase the hard drive. Today I learned how I can do this safely myself...

Financing your divorce

Posted on December 05, 2010
The New York Times, exploring a concept new to divorce law, discussed niche firms emerging that will invest in divorce cases to help a spouse who has little or no control over family finances identify marital assets, pay for litigation to get a fair property settlement and fair support.

PDF Creator - Copy webpages - free

Posted on December 04, 2010
OK. So you have access to a MySpace page or Facebook page. How do you show it off to the Court? If you have a PDF "printer" on your computer, you can go to the upper lefthand corner of your browser page, click on Print, then choose PDF Creator if you install a free PDF printer.

Birth Order: Shaping children's lives or not?

Posted on December 03, 2010
If you have siblings, you've probably heard it all. "Spoiled baby!" "That *&!@! middle kid." "Oh, you're the eldest--over-achieving, bossy kid." Does birth order make kids into the people they grow up to be? It was great, for example, to be the eldest son in England in the olden days (1540 and forward) because the eldest son inherited the whole ball of wax, unless, of course, you aggravated your father and were disinherited.

Siblings Share Genes, But Rarely Personalities NPR Part 1

Posted on December 02, 2010
This NPR story caught my eye today: "Breakthrough In Sibling Research." Alex Spiegel talks about differences in sibling personality, and his ideas are of major importance to parents who are divorced and divorcing. All of a sudden, these children, all born into the same environment, will not experience that same environment after the divorce, particularly if there are major age differences between them.

Facebook | May lawyers ethically "friend" to gather information?

Posted on December 01, 2010
May a family lawyer use deception or have a paralegal or other third party use deception to "friend" an opposing party or potential witness (a "best friend," a daycare provider, etc.) to gain access to social media pages that are "private" and available only to "friends?"

Servicemembers & International Parental Abduction | Part 2

Posted on November 30, 2010
In my last post, I described some activity in the US House of Represenratives to help servicemembers who marry in a foreign country and upon divorce often encounter insurmountable problems with custody and parenting time. Some, like Navy Commander Paul Toland, whose child was abducted in Japan in 2003, haven't seen their children in many years...

Servicemembers & International Parental Abduction | Part I

Posted on November 28, 2010
Servicemembers who marry foreign nationals while stationed overseas have been promised more advice about the child custody issues that can complicate dissolution of international marriages. The Defense Department has promised more information about the family court systems in countries such as Japan and Germany, where servicemembers have become entangled in complicated court battles to see their children, according to a report recently released by the Pentagon.

Federal judge | Celebration of boys and girls

Posted on November 22, 2010
As Jeff Goldberg wrote in The Atlantic this week, Judge Kimba Wood granted a lawyer's unusual request in a manner that was charming and progressive. She was persuaded by a letter from a lawyer litigating a trial in her courtroom that was very unique and tongue-in-cheek, heart-on-sleeve.

Unemployment | Relocation tools

Posted on November 21, 2010
Mich You'll find a wealth of information on the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics website to help you show the dismal state of the economy in Michigan (or other states) as opposed to the state of economy in the prospective relocation state...

Michigan Court of Appeals decides important military pension case

Posted on November 17, 2010
The Michigan Court of Appeals decided an important case involving division of military disability pay, allowing enforcement of a judgment of divorce that divided the ex-husband's military retirement 50/50 between the spouses. The ex-husband's election of disability pay had reduced his disposable retired pay, resulting in ex-wife being deprived of her share of the retirement.

One brave 14-year-old takes on the school board in Howell, Michigan

Posted on November 15, 2010
Oh, what he said. At a school-board meeting last Friday, openly gay 14-year-old high-school student Graeme Taylor came to the defense of Jay McDowell, a teacher in Howell, Michigan.

Race to Nowhere

Posted on November 14, 2010
Carolyn Elefant writes as guest blogger today: If you have kids, particularly in public high school, I recommend that you see the movie, Race to Nowhere if it is ever shown in your area. My daughter's high school held a screening last night. Essentially, the movie is about how we are forcing our kids to become little professionals - we expect them to perform not only in class, but also in extra-curriculars like sports, theatre and music to the point where no one has the time or inclination to just do this stuff for fun.

Important information in recovery of kidnapped children withheld by I.R.S.

Posted on November 13, 2010
Imagine having your children kidnapped by their other parent. Imagine them missing for years. And then imagine finding a tiny bit of information that could lead to their recovery. You file a tax return, claiming the child as a dependent--and the I.R.S...

Important information in recovery of kidnapped children withheld by I.R.S.

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