You’re a couple who are professionals or in business. You kept a bank account separate and under each other’s name. Are those bank accounts part of your marital estate? Are separate bank accounts considered marital property?

Click here to watch the video on Are Separate Bank Accounts Considered Marital Property

Married people wonder if their bank accounts they have kept separate are considered marital assets.

Here’s the scenario: you’ve been married for eight years.

Both couples work. He works, and she works. Each keeps their money in separate accounts in their respective names. Each to their own. This is what is meant by the term separate bank account. Separate to each of you. Not a joint account. If you get a divorce, is that money part of the marital estate or is it separate?

The answer is, it’s part of the marital estate.

It doesn’t matter whose name the account is. it matters when it was accumulated. Even if it’s in your own name. If you accumulated it during the marriage, it’s a marital asset when it comes time for divorce.

What Does Marital Asset Mean?

In a nutshell, marital property is the collection of assets that a couple has amassed over the duration of their marriage. This can include a range of possessions like a house, a car, particular joint bank accounts, family antiques, and more. These assets, as opposed to those acquired previous to marriage, can be divided between the partners in a divorce.

Any asset or debt accumulated during the course of the marriage, from the wedding day until the divorce decree is issued. The parties will decide how to divide the marital estate.

The purchase of a home is common during a marriage. In accordance with the house’s status as marital property, it would be divided. Occasionally, divorcing couples decide to sell their home and divide the proceeds. Another option is for one spouse to keep the house while the other receives other assets, including money in joint bank accounts, in order to maintain an equal property division.

The majority of states view funds held in separate bank accounts as marital property, or things obtained during a marriage. Community property rules are in place in about 10 states, which means that both spouses are entitled to any assets — including cash, vehicles, homes, and other possessions — amassed throughout the marriage. But in the rest of the nation, anything gained by a spouse during the marriage remains that spouse’s property because equitable distribution statutes are followed.

Even while equitable distribution rules may appear straightforward, it can become challenging if the divorce is litigated in court. Attorneys should be able to make the case that this property should be treated as “marital property” and that the spouses should divide it equally. 

The only way to prevent this is if the couple signed a prenuptial agreement outlining the ownership of any assets obtained by a spouse during the marriage.

Are Separate Bank Accounts Separate Property?

In the hopes that they will retain ownership of their assets, several people have kept their funds apart from their spouses throughout their marriage. Contrary to popular belief, however, just because someone’s name appears on a bank account does not imply that all the money in it is theirs alone. You are not guaranteed to get all or any of the money in the account, even if your name is on it and your spouse’s money has never touched it.

Separate bank accounts may be regarded as separate property under the following circumstances, but there may be exceptions that can be argued in court:

[ a]  The bank account did not receive any funds during the marriage. Any income received during the marriage that is deposited into this account is regarded as commingled income.

[ b ]  No money from the other spouse’s income was ever deposited, and their name was never added to the account.

[ c ]  No monetary gifts in the names of both spouses were deposited in the account. Any inheritance or gifts must only be in the account holder’s name; otherwise, the funds are deemed to have been commingled.

Having a separate account in your own name is only advantageous if it was already established before the marriage and you don’t intend to add any more money to it or use it to make purchases.

If you have a separate bank account when you get married, it will only be treated as separate property and not marital property if neither you nor your spouse uses it during the marriage. A judge will deem the account to be commingled and will therefore designate the account as community property if you want to put money into the account or utilize the money for something like paying bills.

How Does Commingling Affect Separate Bank Accounts?

To combine funds or properties into a common fund or stock is referred to as commingling. When separate and community property are combined, the major problem of property commingling arises. The separate property will thereafter be divided equally between the divorcing parties as community property.

Commingling can take place in a number of ways. When you add your spouse’s name to a bank account, one typical occurrence takes place.

[ a ]  You opened a $75,000 bank account in the name of your husband, and the two of you use it to deposit checks and pay bills. The initial sum has been mixed with other funds. The $75,000 would presumably be viewed as community property by a family court judge.

[ b ]  Commingling can also happen if your spouse’s name isn’t put in the bank account but you both use it to deposit cheques and pay bills. If your divorce lawyer presented a strong case, the court might view the initial sum as separate property. Your case may be strengthened by thorough records. If the marriage has lasted for a substantial amount of time, this might be valuable.

Keeping it in your own name does accomplish one thing. It doesn’t allow your spouse to invade your account and take your money. That’s very important. There have been a lot of situations where money is in both names. A day before the divorce the spouse comes in and clears out all of the accounts. It happens.

So keeping it in your own name protects you from that. The money in that account is still subject to division in a divorce. 

So money in your spouse’s name or in an account in your name alone is still subject to division. It belongs half to you and half to your spouse. Similarly, when your name in your account specifies you and only you, the proceeds to that account accumulating during the marriage are half to you and half to your spouse.

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This is the situation. There is the judgment, which separates everything. It divides the assets and liabilities and deals with child custody, parenting, support, and other issues. Can I modify my alimony post-judgment?

Yes, it can be modified.

Before you can change it, a number of conditions must be satisfied. As a result, if you file this motion to modify and decide that you do not want to pay the fee. The court might not find such adjustments acceptable. You don’t want to pay alimony, and the court already knows that. When the order was made, the court was aware of this.

You will discover that your condition has significantly changed, and your motion must demonstrate these significant changes. These determinations will be made by the court, which may also recognize that circumstances have altered since the order.

Click here to watch the video on Can I Modify My Alimony Post Judgment in Michigan

Now, the likelihood that the court will amend a judgment is higher if major changes in circumstances occur years after the ruling than if they occur a month after it. The court can presume that the parties should have known about a situation that occurred a month later.

In other words, although your job loss may have been unexpected, it was probably anticipated when the terms were agreed upon.

The likelihood that conditions might change increases the further away from the divorce ruling you are. Life might interfere. The court could decide to adjust the alimony in that case.

What Is Alimony?

If you’re thinking about getting a divorce or your spouse has already filed, you probably want to know how to reduce your financial stress. If one spouse can show a financial need and the other spouse has the means to pay, Michigan allows that spouse to obtain spousal support commonly known as alimony.

The overall property division in a divorce includes spousal support. A property settlement can be negotiated between you and your spouse. This includes spousal support obligations, such as who will pay it and how much.

Spousal support’s goal is to make sure that both spouses can meet their financial obligations during and after a divorce. Your unique situation will determine the quantity, regularity, and length of the support. If you and your spouse agree on an amount and duration for spousal support, the court will uphold that decision as long as it is fair to both parties. This is true for the majority of divorce-related concerns.

The court might not be inclined to award alimony if the marriage only lasts for less than 20 years. By doing this, a certain level of life is preserved for both couples. If a substantial income was generated during the marriage but there was also a sizable debt load, the sustainability of alimony may be put in jeopardy.

There is no set formula that will determine whether you will receive spousal support or how much, unlike child support. Case-by-case considerations go into determining spousal support.

When Can You Modify Spousal Support?

As long as you haven’t given up the option to request a change, alimony can always be changed. A clause stating that the spousal support provision is legally enforceable and thus unmodifiable might be included in a divorce ruling.

Alimony can be classified as either modifiable or non-modifiable. Spousal support is modifiable if the case is not settled before trial and goes before a court, who awards spousal support. Only with the parties’ consent can a judge impose modifiable alimony. Basically, following the divorce, alimony that is modifiable may be changed if circumstances change. 

The court may order support that must be paid in a predetermined sum for a defined number of years or months and cannot be adjusted under any circumstances if the divorcing spouse agrees to non-modifiable alimony during mediation or settlement proceedings.

Unfortunately, if you have non-modifiable alimony and want to change what you are paying or getting, non-modifiable alimony implies that you cannot change it and are stuck with it no matter how many changes may have happened since the divorce. 

If you have alimony that is modifiable, there may be events like retirement or other major life changes that meet the criteria for the court to immediately consider adjusting the amount of support.

You must first persuade the court that there has been a material change in circumstances that justifies reevaluating the alimony or spousal support order if your decision does not specify specific events. If you can convince the court that such a change has taken place, the court may reevaluate the amount of alimony and may change it to a larger monthly payment or a lower monthly payment depending on the parties’ current circumstances.

How Can You Modify Spousal Support?

The judge issues a special order known as a Uniform Spousal Support Order (USSO) whenever spousal support is granted. The conditions of the spousal support award are stated in the USSO. This covers the amount to be paid, the duration, and the method of payment. You might be able to get the initial court ruling modified if you think you are paying too much spousal support or receiving too little.

You must first submit to the court what is known as a “post-judgment” motion. If everything in your motion is factual, the court will decide at the first scheduled hearing if there is enough justification to hold an evidentiary hearing on the topic. If the motion is approved, this hearing will normally take place one to two months following the initial hearing. Prior to the day of the evidentiary hearing, parties will occasionally try to mediate the situation.

What must you claim for the court to even consider changing the amount of support? The major goal of alimony, according to case law on altering the amount, is to strike a balance between the parties’ requirements and earnings in a way that won’t leave either party in financial ruin. Based on the facts of the case, alimony should be determined according to what is fair and reasonable. Changing circumstances must be demonstrated in order to alter an alimony award. 

An alimony award cannot be altered unless there is new information or circumstances that have changed since the divorce decree.

What Happens if You Fail to Pay Spousal Support?

You can’t just decide to stop paying and declare that something has changed. For instance, you cannot retire and anticipate that your alimony obligations should end; rather, you must file a petition with the court, obtain its permission, or obtain a court order changing the alimony obligations; otherwise, arrears will continue to accumulate. This is crucial because once alimony is owed and due, it is impossible to go back and cancel the accumulated arrears. Spousal support cannot be modified retroactively.

In Michigan, it is illegal to fail to pay spousal support. It is a felony that carries a maximum four-year prison sentence, a maximum $2,000 fine, or both. Due to these severe consequences, it is wise to attempt to change your alimony payments rather than simply refusing to make them or electing to make less of them on your own. 

If you anticipate missing an alimony payment, let your ex-spouse know right away. You might be able to change your payments for one or two months without incurring late fees. To avoid going to court as well, you might be able to come to an informal agreement.

Including an attorney to communicate on your behalf may be a good option if you and your ex-spouse do not get along on the issue of spousal support modification.

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Can I modify my child support post-judgment? In Michigan, the answer will be yes!

There are a number of things that cannot be changed following judgment. There are some things that are always open to change. One of them is child support. As soon as you receive a 15-cent raise, the court won’t immediately change anything. That won’t actually take place. The court may review and modify the child support order if there has been a material change in circumstances.

Click here to watch the video Can I Modify My Child Support Post Judgment? 

The support should be changed for reasons related to parenting time. There may be several children. One of them leaves the system after graduating and is now an adult. Of course, child support needs to be adjusted.

The court should ideally decide to change child support on its own. However, occasionally something slips between the cracks, and the court keeps the number even if one of them has graduated from the program. You need to contact your attorney if that occurs.

What Is Child Support?

Child support is the circuit court-ordered payment of money for a child. The expense of child care, education, and medical, dental, and other health care services may all be covered through support.

A parent must pay child support in order to contribute to the cost of maintaining the quality of life of a child. Up until the child turns 18 or, in some cases, until the child turns 19 and a half, the judge can order the beginning or modification of child support. You can ask the court in your ongoing family law case to begin child support by filing a motion. To initiate a family court case if there isn’t one already, you can apply for child support services or do it yourself. There are numerous ways to modify a child support arrangement.

Legally, parents are required to provide for their children financially. By deciding to forgo parenting time (visitation) or consenting to the termination of their parental rights, a parent cannot get out of paying child support. Even after losing their parental rights, parents occasionally have to keep paying child support. Parenting time cannot be restricted in order to pursue child support if the other parent owes you money.

You can apply for IV-D child support services if you’re a parent or a guardian and you need assistance with determining, obtaining, or paying child support.

What is IV-D about, you might be wondering. When referring to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, the word is pronounced “four-dee”. All state child support programs must abide by the guidelines established by IV-D, which also created the child support program.

The “Title IV-D program” or the “IV-D program” is a common name for the child support program, which assists parents and custodians in determining and enforcing child support and medical assistance. After a child support order is made, court expenses could be associated with the case.

When Can I Modify Child Support?

If your job or the custody arrangement changes, you should file a Motion Regarding Support as soon as possible. Normally, it is not possible to modify past-due child support payments. This means that once child support is due, the judge cannot adjust the amount of the payment. Child support is not modified automatically if the parents formally alter their custody agreement. A motion to modify child support must be filed by the paying parent if they seek to change the amount for any reason.

The Michigan Child Support Formula is used by the courts to calculate child support. The court will utilize the formula to determine the amount of support if either parent requests to begin or modify child support. You can use the MiChildSupport Calculator on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) website to see what the support amount might be in your situation.

The Friend of the Court automatically examines the child support order once every 36 months if the child or custodial parent receives state benefits. If a parent requests a written review of the child support order, the FOC will also review it. Unless the parent can demonstrate that there has been a significant change in circumstances, the parent may only make this request once per 36 months (three years). For instance, a parent could demonstrate that the custody arrangements or either parent’s job have undergone significant change. The FOC may be required by a judge to review support.

The FOC will only request that the judge modify child support if the difference between the old and new amounts is at least 10% of the old amount, or at least $50, whichever is greater. The FOC is not required to request a modification in support orders if there is a small discrepancy between the old and new amounts.

Let’s imagine you presently pay $400 in child support each month, but your income decreased as a result of your reduced work hours. You can submit a written request for a FOC review if it has been more than three years after you first asked for the FOC to evaluate your child support order. The FOC will seek the judge to amend it if it determines that your new child support obligation would be less than $350 per month. The two amounts’ difference is $50 and 12.5%.

Just don’t decide to stop paying or rack up arrears in child support without consulting your attorney.

How Can I Modify Child Support?

If you are involved in a custody or parenting time dispute in family court but do not yet have a child support order, you can ask the judge to establish child support by filing a Motion Regarding Support.

Either party may submit a Motion Regarding Support asking the judge to modify the child support order if one already exists in the matter at hand. The parent who is moving and who is requesting a change in child support must provide the judge with justification for the move.

A new order can increase or decrease the level of help you now receive. The judge will determine the amount of support based on the Michigan Child Support Formula. Unless the outcome would be unfair or improper, the judge must order assistance in accordance with the formula.

The judge may take into consideration any agreement the parents make regarding the amount of child support, but they are not required to do so. You must complete an additional document, the Uniform Child Support Order Deviation Addendum if you have agreed to child support in an amount that deviates from the formula. Your uniform child support order should be filed with this form.

There are two ways to get a child support order in the absence of an active family court case. Applying for child support services online through the Office of Child Support is one alternative (OCS). The OCS will begin your child support case once you’ve submitted your application. Your information will be forwarded by the OCS to the district attorney’s (DA) office. In cases where the father’s legal paternity has not been proved, the PA will organize DNA testing. In addition, the PA will seek the judge to enter a child support order and determine paternity if necessary.

The PA will take care of your case if you submit an OCS application for child support. You can read the MDHHS parent brochure titled Understanding Child Support to learn more about the procedure.

You can submit a complaint for custody, parenting time, and support if the father’s paternity has already been confirmed through an Affidavit of Parentage and you wish to request child support on your own.

You can submit an Application for IV-D Child Support Services we mentioned to your neighborhood Friend of the Court (FOC) office if you file your own case. Although you would still be in charge of advancing your case, requesting child support services guarantees that the FOC would be able to assist you with matters involving child support, parenting time, and custody.

What Happens If I Can’t Pay Child Support?

Before submitting any documents to the court, you might want to speak with an attorney if you are behind on your payments. In the event that you make a Motion Regarding Support, the judge may assess your case and impose sanctions for the unpaid support. Free legal services may be available to you if your income is poor.

You may owe past-due child support payments to a person, the government, or both. These debts are referred to as “arrears.” Usually, you owe money to your child’s other parent or legal guardian. You can be liable for paying your obligation to the State of Michigan if your child receives public benefits or did so while you were obligated to pay child support.

Here are some consequences of evading the payment of child support in the state of Michigan.

[ 1 ]  Income withholding. Your paycheck is deducted for current and past-due child support and medical support payments, which are then sent to the Michigan State

[ 2 ]  Disbursement Unit. Additional sources of income must also have deductions made. 

[ 3 ]  Show Cause/Bench Warrant. If you don’t make timely payments for child support or medical bills, you can be asked to appear in court to justify your actions.

[ 4 ]  Criminal/Felony Charges. It is possible that things will get this bad. It’s possible that your case will be handled by the county prosecutor. It is conceivable to face criminal non-support charges.

[ 5 ]  Lien/levy. A lien or levy could be placed against your real estate, personal property, insurance claims, and other financial assets.

[ 6 ]  Pension account(s). Support orders apply to private pension plans, state and federal pension programs, and both.

[ 7 ]  Tax refund offset.  Once the amount of past-due support reaches a certain threshold, federal and state tax refunds may be withheld to cover the debt.

[ 8 ]  Surcharge. If you are behind on your child support payments, a judge may order that a semi-annual interest surcharge be applied to the amount you presently owe.

[ 9 ]  License suspension. After a two-month payment delay, a number of license types, including driver’s, hunting, fishing, and professional licenses, may be rejected, suspended, or revoked.

[ 10 ]  Credit reporting. If you fall more than two months behind on your payments, which are recorded to a consumer credit reporting service, your credit score may be harmed when you apply for a loan.

[ 11 ]  Passport denial. Your passport might be revoked or rejected if you owe just $2,500 in unpaid support.

You can see how not paying child support can affect almost every aspect of your life. Along with the financial consequences, your ability to legally drive, travel overseas or even go fishing may be affected.

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When you live a married life, you start to acquire things. You acquire what we call assets. Will these things become marital assets? 

What are marital assets? In Michigan, what is considered to be a marital asset as couples divide up a divorce estate? 

Click here to watch the video What Are Marital Assets in Michigan?

Maybe they came to you before the marriage. Or maybe you brought them into the marriage. Maybe they are things actually accumulated during the marriage but are owned by a corporation or some other entity. Just because you happen to have these things now or you happen to have control of it doesn’t necessarily mean they are marital assets for the purposes of divorce. It may be or it may not be.

It’s up to your lawyer to have this discussion with you. You and your lawyer can determine whether or not under the law that particular item or asset falls into the marital asset category.

Obviously, this is something for which there may be questions. A lot of people say well, I inherited something. Is that a marital asset? I brought it into the marriage but it is a family heirloom. It’s been in my family for years. Is that a marital asset?

What Are Marital Assets?

Simply put, marital property refers to the possessions a couple accumulates during the course of their marriage. Various assets, including a home, a car, certain shared bank accounts, heirlooms from the family, and more, may fall under this category. These assets can be shared between the two parties in a divorce while assets obtained prior to marriage are usually not.

Any asset or liability amassed throughout the marriage from the date of the wedding until the judgment of divorce is entered. The division of the marital estate is up to the parties.

In the course of a marriage, houses are frequently bought. The house would be divided in accordance with its status as marital property. Couples who are divorced occasionally decide to sell their house and divide the money. Or, to maintain an equitable property division, one spouse may keep the house while the other obtain other assets, such as money in joint bank accounts.

What Are Separate Assets in Marriage?

Any property possessed by either party previous to the marriage and certain property acquired during the marriage through gifts or inheritance is considered separate property. The party to whom the separate property originally belonged is typically awarded it. Property acquired separately may later be transferred to the marriage. 

For instance, you might have had a luxury automobile before you were married. In most cases, you would keep ownership of the car throughout the property division. However, if you buy a luxury automobile with your spouse, it may be regarded as marital property.

Even if your parents left you the luxury car during your marriage because they passed away, it would probably still be regarded as separate property and you would still be the owner. In Michigan divorces, the source of the property is crucial, and even if you didn’t get it until after you were married, this source would have existed before your union.

If the separate property is combined or blended with marital property, it can be treated as marital property when it comes time to divide the assets. 

Can Separate Assets Become Marital Assets?

From a legal standpoint, separate property may occasionally overlap with or change into the marital property over the course of a marriage. An illustration would be if the independent property was combined or “commingled” with the marital property or used for the family’s advantage.

A share of one spouse’s separate property may be awarded to the receiving spouse if they “contributed to the acquisition, improvement, or accumulation of the property.” 

This exemption may take the form of a vacation home one spouse inherited and greatly increased in value with the assistance of the other spouse. It could also take the form of one partner taking on childcare and housework responsibilities so the other spouse can devote their entire attention to expanding a business they started before getting married. 

 Here are a few more examples of commingling:

After purchasing their new marital house, the couple discovers that it needs a lot of upkeep. For many of the renovations, the pair is dependent on the funds from one spouse’s savings account, which she created before the marriage. The house’s worth rises as a result of the improvements.

One of the partners already had a savings account before they got married. When she marries, she wishes to purchase a home with her spouse. She pays the down payment on the marital home with money from her personal savings account.

The wife sells the stocks she had previously bought to fund a small business venture she and her husband want to launch jointly.

It’s possible for separate property to unintentionally mix with marital property. In Wolcott v. Wolcott, unpublished judgment, COA Number 351918, the woman was given 10% of a family business as a present soon before the pair got married. She was employed by the business as well.

The wife got payments from the corporation related to her stock ownership that was transferred into a bank account that was solely in her name. The pair maintained separate bank accounts throughout the marriage. Following the couple’s 16-year marriage, the trial court ruled that the stock and the bank account belonged to the woman separately.

On March 11, 2021, however, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the stock and bank account had been commingled and were marital assets because of two circumstances:

[ 1 ]  The wife’s earnings from her job, which are normally considered a marital asset, were placed into the same account as her stock distributions; and

[ 2 ]  Throughout the marriage, the wife used distributions from the company stock in addition to her other sources of income to pay for joint costs and household bills.

It is not just everything you have. It’s possible that a person may have some things that are not part of the divorce discussions. They’re not marital assets.

Maybe they came to you before the marriage. Or maybe you brought them into the marriage. Maybe they are things actually accumulated during the marriage but are owned by a corporation or some other entity.

How to Keep Your Personal Assets Separate From Marital Assets

If you know you already have or will inherit sizeable assets you wish to keep out of a divorce, you might benefit from signing a prenuptial agreement before getting married.

Prenuptial agreements offer the opportunity for parties to define what will happen to their assets in the event of their demise or divorce, designating specific item to each spouse. They also outline guidelines for handling domestic business. Because Michigan courts have recently changed how they interpret prenuptial agreements, their ability to protect assets during a divorce is no longer as unquestionably true as it formerly was.

You must maintain the distinction between your own property and the rest of your family’s cash and things. This can call for:

[ a ]  Maintaining an inherited sum in a different bank account.

[ b ]  Keeping your home and car under your sole name.

[ c ]  Not using marital funds to make improvements or repairs to inherited property.

[ d ]  Refusing your spouse’s help in maintaining the inherited property or managing the family business.

[ e ]  Keep up-to-date property records to prove your personal asset qualifies as a distinct piece of property.

[ f ]  Do not add your spouse’s name to your separate property’s certificate of title.

[ g ]  Verify that the funds used to pay real estate taxes and the income from these properties are either credited to your personal account, drawn from sources in your name, or come from checking accounts in your name. To pay the income taxes on the earnings from these different assets, if at all possible, obtain the cash from the gifts or inherited property’s earnings.

If the wife had kept a second, separate account into which she had deposited her paychecks and from which she had paid the marital expenses and household bills, the Court of Appeals most likely would have determined that the stock and the bank account into which stock distributions were deposited were the wife’s separate assets in that particular case.

Even though the Wolcott decision was unpublished and hence not a precedent, it demonstrates that an asset must be maintained as fully different in order to sustain a party’s claim of independent ownership of an asset.

Just because you happen to have these things now or you happen to have control of it doesn’t necessarily mean they are marital assets for the purposes of divorce. It may be or it may not be.

It’s up to your lawyer to have this discussion with you. You and your lawyer can determine whether or not under the law that particular item or asset falls into the marital asset category.

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You’re disenchanted with your lawyer. Should you change your lawyer in the middle of a family law case? Should I change my lawyer during my family law case?

Should you change your lawyer once you become disenchanted with the way your family law case is progressing? Is there a legitimate reason for you to continue to shop even though you already hired a lawyer?

These are questions that come up all the time.

Click here to watch the video Should I Change My Lawyer During My Family Law Case

Once people have gone through those ways they can go with that firm. Those are all legitimate ways of picking your lawyer. Once you have your lawyer, however, you need to understand one thing. Your case is like a baseball game.

Did you do the right thing when you chose your lawyer?

The attorney you hire must have your best interests in mind and be willing to fight for you and a just settlement, so this decision is crucial.

The most common ways that people look for lawyers are as follows:

[ a ]  They might converse with a lot of individuals.

[ b ]  They can consult with several attorneys and decide.

[ c ]  They might read reviews

[ d ]  Seek out a law firm that has a large number of five-star reviews.

Once you get to meet your closest candidate you need to ask very specific and important questions to help you decide:

[ a ]  What is the lawyer’s vision of how the case is going to be pursued?

[ b ]  How much it will cost you to pursue the case?

[ c ]  What kinds of expenses will be in your billing?

[ d ]  How will it likely take to achieve the outcome you desire?

[ e ]  What are the options if the outcome is otherwise?

Just like what we mentioned, your case is like a baseball game. There are nine innings and during that nine innings sometimes one team is up. One team is down. 

There’s a seesaw back and forth. One team is ahead. One team is behind and it flip-flops.

Is that a reason to change your lawyer? No!

Your lawyer can’t predict the future. Your lawyer cannot guarantee what the judge is going to do no matter how good that case is. No matter how prepared the lawyer is. If the judge decides he or she doesn’t believe you and believes the other person to be more credible, you’re probably going to lose that case

What did you expect after you hired your lawyer?

Divorce proceedings can be drawn out, especially when kids are involved. Despite your desire to do tasks quickly, the case must be allowed to proceed at its own pace and frequently cannot be accelerated.

When your spouse’s attorney attempts to take some action, your attorney is required to respond. While this type of labor cannot always be anticipated, it does require time and effort to do. As a result of your spouse’s efforts, be prepared for some expenses.

You have to set very realistic and pragmatic expectations when you are seeking and engaging your lawyer. Here are some expectations you can do right.

Expect steps will be taken on your case.

Every attempt will be made by your attorney to put you back on the correct path. You and your attorney are not in a sprint since a court case is more like a marathon.

A divorce lawyer’s initial consultation usually takes an hour or so. Throughout the discussion, the attorney will ask questions regarding the marriage and its conditions. The length of the partnership, your income and employment history, any assets or debts you both have, whether you have children together, and other factors can be included.

Working with a skilled divorce attorney may help you significantly reduce your anxieties and concerns. You can get legal counsel on what is best for you and your children. They can help you file papers, work with opposing counsel to reach the best settlement, represent you at several hearings and conferences, and make sure your rights are upheld before the divorce is finalized.

Expect a lot of shuttling back and forth to manage your case.

Experience is unrivaled when it comes to litigation. For a sizable portion of their careers, divorce cases have been litigated in court by family law practitioners. Due to their extensive experience, they have unmatched knowledge of the strategies used by opposing counsel and the responses of judges to particular arguments and pieces of evidence.

Your lawyer will make an effort to comprehend your circumstances and the legal background of the case. In most family law disputes, issues like divorce, child custody, support, parenting time, wills, trusts, and other related issues are at stake. Attorneys that specialize in family law can help you manage all the important decisions you need to make, protect your legal rights, and advance your interests in court proceedings and settlement negotiations.

Expect a lot of communication and advice from your lawyer.

You might receive advice from practically everyone if you’re considering seeking a divorce in Michigan. All of a sudden, employees, neighbors, and members of the family are voicing their opinions. Even if you don’t want to hear it, they open up to you about their concerns, horrific stories, and suggestions. The opinions and suggestions you get, though, are probably inaccurate or just partially true.

You win your family law case if you have sound legal counsel. Instead of only helping to resolve conflict, a knowledgeable family law attorney can frequently also help to diffuse it. If you try to resolve a disagreement on your own, it’s probable that the conflict may worsen and the expense of hiring a lawyer to handle it will rise as a result of increased emotional involvement on both sides.

Expect respect from your lawyer.

Expect a timely response from them after they receive your email or phone. The most effective ones even have the opportunity to teach you about family law through a variety of online materials they make available. They use technology to monitor your case so that the lawyers assigned to it are always informed of its progress.

You will receive a callback when you call. Staff will treat you with respect. A suitable timetable for the consultation or meeting will be set up. Most very successful and competent lawyers have excellent office procedures and staff. They use the most up-to-date technology to administer your case, but their greatest strength is their ability to treat their customers with dignity during some of the most trying times in their lives.

Your lawyer is a professional and deserves respect too.

Being a family lawyer is neither cheap nor simple. The Michigan Board of Law Examiners mandates that you complete two years of undergraduate education (60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours) before you may apply to law school. For the most part, law schools accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) require applicants to have a bachelor’s degree before they may even consider applying. After finishing the study, students will need to have a lot of litigation experience in order to put what they have learned in law school into practice.

The retainer you paid does not give you the right to treat others badly. Your lawyer is aware that the situation you are in right now is possibly terrible. If you’re worried, depressed, furious, or bewildered, they’ll understand. However, you must set boundaries because your lawyer is there to guide you through the legal procedure necessary to get rid of your problems. If you are emotionally unable to understand your circumstance and what is necessary to move forward, your attorney simply cannot assist you.

Should you change your lawyer now?

Clients can feel stuck working with the lawyer they first selected while feeling like their case isn’t getting the required attention. Even throughout the course of your case, Michigan allows you to switch divorce attorneys. There are several specific measures you should take if you wish to switch family law attorneys. 

Before you do decide to switch, try to check or look at what you have with your present attorney.

Promptness to action. Bias for action.

There are numerous deadlines in divorce disputes, and failing to meet them could seriously hurt your case. Your entire case is in peril when attorneys fail to meet these deadlines, so you should think about finding a new divorce attorney if your attorney is failing in this part of the job.

Your outcomes and the schedules the court have agreed on is relying on deadlines being met.

Communicating and listening.

You are entitled to regular updates from your attorney about your case. Furthermore, you are entitled to prompt responses to your inquiries. You might wish to switch divorce attorneys if these things don’t happen.

Corollary to communicating to you what’s happening to your case is the lawyer’s ability and willingness to listen. Your lawyer must be sensitive and must listen to the outcome you desire. Your lawyer must appreciate the outcomes most comfortable for you.

When it comes to issues like property division and even child custody, attorneys may put clientele under undue pressure to accept arrangements that are not in their best interests. Divorce attorneys should advise you and walk you through the process, but they should never put pressure on you to accept terms you don’t feel comfortable with.

Organization and professionalism.

The most successful outcomes are delivered consistently by a system that works. Try to understand the process behind your lawyer’s action. Generally, the internal process of a law firm is built around complying with court processes, rules, and procedures. If their internal processes are in sync with court systems, you have a law firm professionally managed and built to win cases.

Just the fact that things may not be going your way is not in itself a reason to show the court you have that level of instability. You’re switching lawyers all of a sudden. You’re not supposed to do that. It doesn’t create a good impression on the court. 

You should switch lawyers if your lawyer becomes disbarred. You should if your lawyer becomes mentally incompetent. If you find out your lawyer has a profound conflict of interest. If you find that your lawyer stole something of course you should switch lawyers.

If your attorney is missing a combination or all of the above, you do need to think about getting another family law attorney.

What are the consequences of changing my lawyer now?

Idealistically, you should discuss any issues that are upsetting you with your attorney so they can attempt to resolve them. You have the right to appoint a new attorney if you and your current one are unable to reach an agreement.

However, there are some repercussions associated with dismissing your attorney and recruiting a replacement.

First off, the attorney you fire is probably entitled to compensation for work already completed. This might not be a problem if your payments are on time. If not, you must decide what is owed to the attorney under your retainer agreement and make those payments.

The lawyer’s hourly rate for time already spent on your case, along with any costs and expenditures incurred thus far, may be demanded from you if your attorney had been compensated on a contingency or percentage basis.

Hiring a new lawyer might occasionally result in increased charges. If you employ a new attorney in the middle of a case, that attorney will need to become familiar with the case, which will probably take extra time and/or money.

Depending on how far along your case is, you might not always be able to switch attorneys. If a case is too far along in the court process for a new individual to be able to take over, judges have the choice to keep the current attorney on the case.

Should you fire your lawyer under limited extenuating circumstances? Yes. 

You are entitled to the legal counsel of your choice. You must also understand the more you exercise that right, the more instability you demonstrate to the court. It creates a scenario where you’re dealing with children and the court realizes you have a certain instability. The court might think this person goes through lawyers like crazy, this person will probably go through girlfriends like crazy

Is that good for the child to be rolling around in instability for the next several years?

Always keep the big picture in mind.

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Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.

One of the most classic family law issues has to deal with abuse in the home. Abuse that sometimes relates to domestic violence charges. If you’re charged with domestic violence how are you going to defend yourself?

How do I get a domestic violence case dismissed?

Click here to watch the video on How Do I Get A Domestic Violence Case Dismissed In Michigan?

Regardless of the individuals involved—spouses or ex-spouses, domestic partners who live together or apart, dating or separated couple, parents, and kids—domestic violence is a crime that can happen to anyone, regardless of their age, color, gender, or social class. Domestic violence is a broad category that includes a variety of crimes. 

A few examples of these are physical or sexual assault, battery, false imprisonment, emotional abuse, stalking, intimidation, possessiveness, controlling conduct, forced isolation, and economic abuse.

If you’re charged with domestic violence how are you going to defend yourself? How are you going to get that charge dismissed?

Here’s some advice you can consider.

Number one. Determine if the party is willing to move forward with the domestic violence complaint.

Look at the state of your current relationship. Is the relationship you are involved in sustainable? If the domestic relationship is between husband and wife, then the question becomes, are they getting divorced? Are they staying married? How’s that gonna work?

The couple has decided they want to work on their marriage. The odds are that domestic violence looming in the background probably is not the most healthy thing for the relationship.

In a lot of cases, the wife decides to save the marriage. She doesn’t want to prosecute her husband. She decides she doesn’t want to appear in court. She’s not testifying against him. She does not want to participate in court proceedings against her husband.

Domestic conflict victims occasionally decide to retract their statements. They can get in touch with the prosecutor’s office and ask for the charges of domestic abuse to be dropped. The prosecution is likely to press the case even if the victim asks to have the domestic abuse charges dropped.

What you need to understand, is even with your spouse dropping the charges, the prosecutor might decide to pursue the case regardless. In a criminal case, the victim is not going to be you accuser in the process. The victim is a witness for the state or the people represented by the prosecutor.

If the accuser is your spouse or wife, as a witness they can be compelled to testify against you in a domestic violence case. 

Someone might be charged with making a false police complaint if the purported victim admits that they lied to the police. For numerous reasons, such as not wanting a significant other to lose their job, get fired, be deported, go to jail, or have a divorce, prosecutors are trained to persuade jurors that victims lie about fabricating charges.

In rare cases, the victim will appear in court and attempt to alter their testimony. The prosecution may now object to the testimony given in court, claiming it is an effort to “rescue” the defendant by distorting the facts or changing the tale.

The victim’s original statement will then be presented to the jury or court as the truth because it was made in an “excited condition,” making it credible because there was no time for them to make up what transpired. Even charges of making a false police report, obstructing the course of justice, or perjury may be brought against the victim in domestic abuse situations.

Number two. Refute witnesses.

The majority of domestic violence accusations are made solely on the basis of the victim’s allegations of assault. Domestic violence is rarely committed in front of witnesses, and the majority of victims do not sustain injuries. This is referred to as “he-said-she-said.” According to Michigan law, a victim’s testimony alone qualifies as evidence and is sufficient for a conviction provided the jury has no reasonable doubts about it.

Your attorney will be focusing on refuting the statement of witnesses if dismissal is the objective. Your attorney will drill down on the motives of the accuser or witnesses. Attacking the false accusations made by the accuser, such as pointing out that the accusations were manufactured to obtain an advantage in a divorce or child custody dispute.

Another way to get a domestic violence case dismissed is for someone to have appropriate witnesses who will basically refute the testimony of the witnesses testifying against you.

So what does that mean?

Maybe there are video cameras or security cameras that caught the event. Or there were neighbors who saw it. Maybe you want to cross-examine the person. Your lawyer can throw questions at witnesses. How come you did not call the police immediately? Why are there no photos?

Every case is different but there are ways to attack the case itself. The best way is to have a no-show, having no witness to testify against you.

Even if the alleged victim decides not to pursue a case and this was just a simple misunderstanding or argument that got out of hand, you could still be charged with a misdemeanor or felony and sentenced to jail or prison if found guilty.

Number three. Attack the evidence.

If there isn’t a no-show possibility then your lawyer can attack the evidence.

In criminal proceedings for domestic abuse crimes, it is essential to preserve all available evidence before it is lost. This can include eyewitness accounts, 911 tapes, and police dispatch tapes. One minor piece of information that undermines the accuser or highlights an irregularity may be all that separates the accused from acquittal or conviction.

You will work closely with your lawyer to record all important information and make sure all required and relevant evidence is preserved and made available for the trial. A competent attorney is familiar with the legal system, has connections with judges and prosecutors, and has a thorough understanding of what it takes to preserve important evidence, build a strong case, and uphold your rights.

Your lawyer is gonna analyze evidence and determine a strategy to approach it, pierce it, and render it useless against you.

Any conviction in a domestic violence case in Michigan might result in severe punishment and could be followed by a two- to a five-year probationary period. While all judges have the authority to impose a range of sanctions, including community work, alcohol or drug testing, and attendance at AA, certain judges may order anger management therapy. 

A person charged with domestic abuse may receive a less sentence by working with a lawyer who is knowledgeable about the Michigan courts and judges.

In Michigan, convictions for domestic abuse are expungable, however, there are more requirements than usual. The prosecution will also make an effort to get in touch with the victim in order to get their feedback on the defendant’s expungement request. Even if the victim opposes, the judge may nonetheless allow the expungement if they are of the opinion that the criminal has been given a second chance and that doing so is best for the community.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more advice on Family Law!

Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.