We get it—divorce is stressful. And sometimes, we find ourselves behaving in ways we wouldn’t normally.

However, remaining calm and collected is more important now than ever before. If you can get through your divorce with grace and poise, believe us when we say that you can get through anything!

To help you keep your affairs in order and continue to move forward with the process, here are a few things to look out for that you should never do during divorce.

1. Don’t neglect your finances. It’s no secret that divorce can be expensive, so you may need to re-organize your budget to accommodate for this new, short-term expense. This isn’t the time for lavish spending sprees—save that for post-divorce!

2. Don’t bash your ex on social media. We understand that you might want to, and that you’ve got a lot of emotions to let out. Instead, consider going to therapy or talking with friends in a safe, supportive environment. Remember, anything shared online lasts forever!

3. Don’t argue just for the sake of arguing. Choose your battles wisely so that the divorce can move forward and not get hung up on small, irrelevant things just because one of you is upset. Remember, this will also help you both save money and time.

4. Don’t try to handle things without expert legal counsel. It may be tempting to go at it yourself, especially in this current age of DIY, but you don’t want to find yourself in a court of law alone.

Need Help? We’re Here for You

If you’re struggling with what to do first, we can help you keep your affairs in order during a divorce. In fact, we’re happy to offer a no-obligation, free consultation for Michigan residents who’d like to learn more about their options.

You can schedule your consultation by giving us a call today. We can’t wait to learn more about your needs.

When divorce happens to your family, children should always be the first priority when it comes to maintaining their best interests. When both parents are of healthy, sound, financial mind, that often means sharing custody evenly.

However, we understand that life happens, and careers take you elsewhere. Sometimes, what’s best for your children is moving out of state for work or school so that you can provide them with the best possible future.

They may not understand that now, but we know they will later in life.

Does this situation sound familiar? If so, here are a few long-distance parenting tips that could improve your situation.

1. Schedule plenty of trips in advance. This will help you and your children look forward to seeing one another again.

2. Get on a school-centric schedule. Depending on how far away you live from your children, it may not be possible to see them every week, or even every month. However, kids do have long holiday breaks and summer vacations. Work out a custody arrangement that allows you to see them during this time for an extended period of time—perhaps even for an entire month at once!

3. Go to them if they can’t always come to you. Consider making a monthly trip to see your kids instead of them coming to you. It’s often easier for the parent to travel than the children.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

If you want to re-work your child visitation or custody schedule, we’re happy to help you. We urge you to contact our law firm today to speak with a Michigan attorney at no cost to you—we happily offer no obligation consultations.

We’d love to learn more about your needs and discuss how we can help you achieve your outcomes you desire.

Your kids are worth it!

As parents ourselves, we know that you want the best for your children—no matter how young or old they may be. We never like to see our children struggle at any age, which is why when adult children go through a divorce, it’s easy for parents to feel lost and helpless.

But don’t worry—there are a few things you can do to help your child get through this difficult time without overstepping your boundaries.

If you need help during this time, or want your child to speak with an experienced Michigan lawyer, we’re here for you—simply give us a call to schedule your free consultation.

1. Don’t encourage decisions either way. Be there as a listening ear. We know that when your child is hurting, it’s easy to take their side and gang up on their ex—especially if it seems that the ex is the one in the wrong, and not your child. However, you don’t want to encourage estrangement as that may encourage your child to make rash decisions they aren’t truly ready for.

2. Be respectful and don’t pry for information. Offer your emotional support and let them know you’re available to talk whenever they need it. It’s also important that you don’t go behind your child’s back and reach out to their ex without letting them know first.

3. Offer any financial support cautiously and respectfully. It’s no secret that divorce can be costly, and we understand you may want to help your child—but don’t assume they need it. Your child is an adult who can make their own financial decisions, and it’s important that you don’t push them.

4. Be there for your grand kids. With your child occupied with other things, your grand kids need a strong support system and the opportunity to get away from stress that may be weighing on them—that’s where you come in!

Schedule Your Free Michigan Legal Consultation

Do you need legal advice? Our experienced Michigan attorneys have more than four decades of knowledge in family law, and we can’t wait to help you achieve your goals.

We’re proud to offer free consultations for those in need—please give us a call today to schedule yours without any obligation.

We’ll talk with you soon.

In our practice, we’ve heard this question many times—can alimony payments be reduced?

The short answer: Yes. The longer, more appropriate answer: It depends on your unique situation.

Let’s take a step back and understand alimony to begin with before diving into how alimony payments can be reduced in Michigan.

Alimony: What Is It?

Alimony is a set amount of money paid to a spouse after a marriage ends. Alimony is also known as spousal support or spousal maintenance. One of the most common reasons for paying alimony includes a scenario where a spouse didn’t work during the marriage, therefore having no way to support themselves outside of the union. This is most likely a choice made in agreement between spouses during the time of the marriage.

Therefore, if the marriage ends, the ex is likely entitled to support.

So, what can be done to lower alimony payments?

To lower alimony payments in Michigan, there are a few considerations that would need to go into effect, including:

• The spouse paying alimony becomes unemployed or experiences a dramatic reduction in salary at a new job
• The paying spouse may become ill or disabled
• The supported spouse becomes remarried or is living with a new partner
• The supported spouse has an increase in income

It’s important to remember that just because one of the above items may apply to your situation, the change must be significant in order to adjust alimony.

Get Help Modifying Alimony

If you’d like to learn more about how you can modify your alimony payments or stop them all together, we’d love to learn more about your case.

Contact our team today to get started by scheduling a free, no obligation consultation. We look forward to working with you and helping you achieve your goals.

You’ve decided to go through with a separation or divorce—and you have kids. So, what can you do to make it easy on both them and yourself?

When it comes to making joint custody work, it’s best to have certain rules in place that both partners agree not to stray from.

Here are a few you should consider.

1. Remember who’s really important—your children. It’s important to remember that joint custody isn’t about you or your ex—it’s about your kids. Creating an environment when they’re with you that’s positive and uplifting should be your top priority.

2. Never speak badly about the other parent. It doesn’t matter how bad your divorce was—you should never speak ill of your ex in front of the children.

3. Be realistic about time. Don’t go after the majority of custody time just to spite your ex if you have a busy schedule and won’t be able to be there for the children when they need it. It’s important to check any feelings of anxiety or insecurity at the door when it comes to custody grabs.

4. Remember that just because your marriage ended badly, your ex isn’t necessarily a bad person. It may be difficult to come to terms with this, but the sooner you do, the easier it will be to co-parent with your ex.

5. Learn to communicate. Co-parenting requires contact with one another. This doesn’t mean that you have to have lengthily phone chats with your ex every evening—some people find that texting, communicating through Google Calendars, or emailing works best. Figure out whatever it is for you and stick to it.

Schedule Your Free Consultation With Us

We’d love to learn more about your needs if you’re going through a divorce or child custody arrangement. Contact our law firm today to work with one of Michigan’s most experienced family law attorneys.

We look forward to helping you.

Considering a divorce naturally brings out a lot of stress. You’ll wonder if you’re making the right decision for yourself and your family, and whether or not you’re ready to start over.

While many find divorce frightening, eventually, it becomes a positive thing.

Here are several ways people just like you have found divorce to end up being a positive force in their life.

1. You have time for ‘you’ again. After divorce, you’ll be able to put yourself first and figure out what you really want for yourself and your next relationship.

2. You’ll rediscover your own needs. Sometimes in a marriage, we put ourselves second, gradually losing a sense of who we are. It’s important to know what we want out of life, and after a divorce, you’ll have time to make the right decisions for yourself.

3. You’ll be more productive. How? You’ll have one less person to worry about!

4. You’ll realize how strong you are. Getting through a divorce takes strength. You’ll realize that you can get through, and accomplish anything life throws your way.

5. You’ll have less stress. After you’re divorced, you won’t have to worry about the stressors that occurred during your marriage or in your bad relationship.

6. You’ll find happiness again. It may take time, but so do all good things.

7. You’ll discover new hobbies. It’s great to stay busy after a divorce. Now is the time to put yourself out there and meet new people while trying new things—like an exercise or cooking class.

Considering Divorce?

We’d love to speak with you about your rights and options. To learn more, contact Goldman & Associates law firm today to schedule your FREE consultation with an experienced Michigan attorney. We look forward to learning more about you and your unique needs.

Get started today.

When you’re newly married, dividing property isn’t even a thought—instead, you’re focusing on combining your property for a long, healthy, happy marriage.

Unfortunately, sometimes life has other plans.

At Goldman & Associates law firm, our team of legal experts has over 40 years of experience helping clients just like you achieve their legal goals. If you’re going through a divorce and think it’s best to have a legal expert on your side, you’re right.

Here are a few things you should consider when dividing property during a Michigan divorce.

1. Which type of divorce do you have? There are two kinds—uncontested divorce and contested. During an uncontested divorce, both parties agree to the divorce. During a contested divorce, one party disagrees, which generally makes property division more difficult.

2. What kind of property do you own? If you haven’t purchased a house, car, or have a joint bank account, property division may be easier than normal. However, every marriage has ‘community’ property, or things you acquired during the marriage—no matter how big or small. In addition, every marriage also has ‘separate’ property, also known as property that you brought into the marriage owning yourself. This could be a gift, inheritance or something similar that belongs to you and you only.

3. Are you able to divvy up anything yourself? This can save you a lot of time and money if so. Here are a few tips for accomplishing property division outside of the courtroom:

• List all of your belongings together that you jointly own.
• Go through the list one by one and agree upon a value for reach item.
• If there’s a logical owner without argument, agree to which spouse should own the property.
• Get approval by a judge. If you agree and make decisions together on property division, a judge will typically grant your wishes.

Discover Your Options Today

If you’re wondering how we can help you, we’d love to speak about your case. Contact an experienced Michigan family law attorney today at our firm to schedule your hassle free, no obligation consultation at no cost to you.

We look forward to learning more about how we can help.

The Basics of Child Custody

Divorce brings out a multitude of other things you need to consider—and if you have children, it’s important to consider child custody from the beginning.

Here are a few basics you should understand about child custody in Michigan. If you’d like to schedule your free legal consultation with us, we’re happy to go into further detail and learn more about your case.

The Types of Custody

Legal Custody: Legal custody is the parent’s right to make choices or decisions for their child while having access to private information. An example of this is choosing which school they might attend or what medical care they receive.

Physical Custody: This refers to the right the parent has to be around their child and present in their life. If you have physical custody, you are allowed to see your child and have them present in your home.

Sole Custody: This means that one parent has full custody of a child. The other parent may have visitations determined by the court, but is not allowed to spend time in their home with the child. The following may be considered when sole custody is decided upon: One parent has a drug problem or history of abuse, the parent hasn’t been around in the child’s life, the parent suffers from a mental or physical disability that makes it hard to properly care for the child.

Shared Custody: Shared custody is when both parents have parenting time for the child or children. It can be hard to divide it completely equally, though it can be done. The factors considered when determining shared custody include the best interest of the child, finances, and more.

Schedule Your Consult

If you’re wondering about how your child custody arrangement will play out, or if you’re not pleased with your current arrangement, please contact us today to book your appointment with us. We’re happy to offer new clients a free, no obligation consultation so that we can better understand your legal troubles.

We can’t wait to welcome you to our law firm.

Get started today!

Tips for Sharing a Home During Divorce

When divorce happens to you, it can take time to figure out what your next move is—literally. Sometimes, it can mean maintaining the same residence as your spouse for a number of reasons. As you might imagine, this is no easy task.

If you’re going through a divorce and find yourself in a position where you still need to live with your future-ex during the process, here are a few helpful tips to follow.

Maintain and Establish Your Boundaries

Your living environment won’t be new, but it will be different. Establishing clear boundaries is a must from the start. You’ll need to decide which rooms you’ll be staying in and ensure that common areas are not off limits to anyone. It’s also important to schedule time when each spouse can have their own time in the home alone.

You’ll also want to consider dividing up household chores.

Figure Out Finances

Though it may be similar as to when you were happily married, you’ll want to touch base on your finances and see if there is any need to re-figure the splitting of bills, the mortgage and even your cell phones. You might want to consider putting bills in each of your names, so they don’t remain a joint account.

Don’t Expect Child Custody to Be Easy

If you expect a child custody dispute, you’ll be better prepared for when it happens. Even if it’s not major, things come up during a divorce when it comes to your children. Sharing parenting duties will change drastically—for you and your children. If you can talk about your child custody arrangement and figure it out before going to court, the process can be much smoother than a grueling battle.

Are you about to enter the divorce process and are unsure of where to begin? Contact our legal practice today to speak with Michigan’s best divorce attorney. We’ll be here for you every step of the way and fight to get you the legal outcomes you’re seeking.

Get started today by calling us to schedule your free consultation.

10 Crazy Divorce Statistics

Even though divorce rates have been steadily dropping over the past two decades, it’s important to consider the numbers before making the decision to enter a marriage.

Here are 10 crazy divorce statistics you probably weren’t aware of.

1. The state with the lowest divorce rate is Iowa, and the highest divorce rate can be found in Arkansas.

2. Did you know? When you don’t marry someone your own age, your risk of divorce is higher.

3. If your parents are happily married and have never been divorced, your risk of divorce actually decreases by 14%.

4. When it comes to third marriages, roughly 73% will end in divorce.

5. For every three divorces, one starts out with an online affair.

6. “Gray divorce” has quadrupled over the past 30 years. A “Gray Divorce” involves spouses who are between the ages of 54-64.

7. Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor holds the record for most divorced celebrity, having been married and divorced nine times.

8. Individuals who have attended college have a lower risk of being divorced—some studies indicate by as much as 13%.

9. Annual income can be an indicator of divorce—those who make a larger salary than $25,000 are less likely to be divorced.

10. Lastly, the more money spent on an engagement ring and wedding can be indicative of a shorter marriage.

If you’re going through a divorce, we’re here for you. Our team has more than 30 years of experience helping people exactly like you get the outcomes they’re seeking in a family legal matter.

To learn more about how we can help, contact our firm today to schedule your free, no obligation consultation. We can’t wait to help you with your legal needs.

Call today!