Many couples hope for a peaceful separation but find themselves in a dispute over key aspects of their lives. A contested divorce arises when spouses cannot agree on crucial issues such as property division, financial support or child custody. While you may feel the...
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Grand Rapids Family Law And Estate Planning Blog
How can you defend against a child custody modification request?
When your divorce is finalized, it's likely that you and your spouse ended up with a child custody order that, at the time, supported your child’s best interests. What happens, though, if something changes? With so much at stake, what can you do when you’re...
Tips for keeping your sanity during divorce
There’s no doubt that getting through divorce can be tough. As a result, you might feel like you’re going to lose your mind as you deal with a difficult spouse and challenging legal issues. But there’s a way to keep your sanity during the marriage dissolution process....
What are the advantages and drawbacks of mediation?
Mediation and collaborative divorce have become popular ways for Michigan residents to resolve their family law cases. To review, in a divorce mediation, the couple will discuss their unresolved issues with a trained professional called a mediator. Usually, the...
Should you use AI in preparing your divorce case?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is invading nearly every aspect of our lives. Some people turn to AI engines like ChatGPT to help them create vacation itineraries while others use AI to assist them in generating work materials. Given AI’s versatility, you might be...
Child support is not always a routine legal matter
Like other states, Michigan has a formula that its judges use to calculate child support. In many situations, this formula makes calculating child support relatively simple. For example, if both parents earn income through a regular paycheck and their parenting...
Dealing with witness credibility in a divorce case
If it looks like your divorce is headed to trial, then you have to be prepared to counter your spouse’s assertions and their legal arguments. There are many ways to do this, including gathering contradictory evidence and relying on expert opinions. However, one of the...
Should I try to keep the family home?
Often, a Michigan couple’s family home is among their most valuable pieces of property. If they are divorcing, there might also be a lot of emotions surrounding the home, particularly when the couple raised children in it or have lived there for a long time. Like...
Costly financial mistakes to avoid during and after divorce
Divorce isn’t just an emotional rollercoaster—it’s a financial minefield. When you’re navigating the end of a marriage, it’s easy to make financial mistakes that can haunt you long after the dust settles. If you want to avoid common pitfalls and set yourself up for a...
What does it mean to live in a no-fault divorce state?
Until you are thinking about a divorce, you likely have not thought about the fact that Michigan is a no-fault divorce state. But, when it does come up, future divorcees wonder what it actually means, in practice. Michigan law allows a divorce without proving...
