There’s an old expression you have heard a lot of times over the years. Your parents may even have told you at least once.

Click here to watch the video on How Long Does A Domestic Violence Charge Stay On Your Record In Michigan?

“To err is human, to forgive, divine.”

People make mistakes but forgiveness is left to higher power.

If you commit a crime like domestic violence how long does it stay in your record.

Misdemeanor like any other misdemeanor is not just going to fall off from your record like some traffic ticket.

It’s going to stay on your record forever, unless steps are taken to remove it from your record. There are some kinds of cases that can be removed, some not.

In your jurisdiction, you’ll have to find out whether or not a domestic violence case can even be removed from your record. In many jurisdiction it cannot

The logic to this is if you remove domestic violence from your record then the second or third offense would have no meaning if the first one falls off automatically.

So it’s really a question of what jurisdiction you’re in and what exactly are the offenses

But don’t be surprised if domestic violence is the kind of charge not subject to removal.

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.

People tend to look at lawyers like somebody they can pay to pick a fight for them. They go around calling people trying to find a lawyer who is aggressive.

Click here to watch the video on Do You Need An Aggressive Divorce Lawyer In Michigan?

Are you one of those? Are you one of those going around saying ”I want an aggressive lawyer.”

I want a lawyer who’s a fighter

I want a lawyer who will go to battle for me

People tend to express themselves in military terms when they talk about lawyers.

There’s one lawyer whose letterhead had a shark on top of it as if to say he is a shark of a lawyer. Why would someone put an image of a shark on their letterhead?

They may be doing this because of client issues or catering to client perceptions. In other words, the client wants to be made to feel like “this is my lawyer”. 

“I need an aggressive lawyer!”

The question is, do you really need an aggressive lawyer?

Is that what you truly want?

We’ve seen shows like LA Law, you’ve watched Boston Legal, MCI and all those legal slash police programs on TV.  A lot of people watched the trials of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp.

People watch actors playing lawyers, and think “oh that is what I need”.

“I need an aggressive lawyer.”

Here’s the thing about aggression. It’s a very poor substitute for intellect.

So when you look for a lawyer don’t look for somebody who’s a hothead. Who’s gonna scream at everybody. This is the kind of aggression that may well turn against you as a client during trial. That’s really something that you don’t want.

Here’s something you do want.

Obviously you want somebody who has a reputation for knowledge of the law. You want somebody who you identify with. Somebody who you have a rapport with. He should be someone you can work with on this project successfully. A case by definition is a project. You need to work successfully with your lawyer on this project.

The more important thing is not about having an aggressive lawyer. It’s about an attorney whose vision of the case is the same as yours.

If you both have the same vision of where your case is going to go, then it’s simple to map out the steps necessary to get from point A to point B. Point B being the desired place. Your point B can be an acquittal, the custody of your kids, more parenting time or a successful resolution of your divorce.

Aggressive doesn’t mean anything. 

The court has seen all the lawyers. The guys and the ladies who do this for a living are before the court all the time. The court is very familiar with these lawyers’ style and their tactics. The court is not easily impressed with a lawyer barking over another.

The loudest guy in the room is usually not the smartest guy. What you really want to do is make sure you have somebody you have a rapport with? Someone who shares your vision and has a plan on how to get there. It’s really the key.

If you get that, you can trump any aggressive lawyers around.

At the end of the day that is what will carry you across the finish line.

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.

Divorce comes at a price. Lawyers have fees. Courts have processes. Would you like to do your divorce yourself? Let���s review your paperwork first at no cost before you do.

Click here to watch the video on Do It Yourself Divorce In Michigan? We���ll review your paperwork at no cost

Can you really do a divorce yourself?

In some cases you probably can. There are certain areas of the law for which the court does not permit self-representation.�� Divorce is not one of them.

So technically, you could represent yourself

You could get the papers. You could fill them out. You have to understand certain things though. If you do your own divorce, there are certain designations the court requires. There are requirements in the filing of divorce paperwork in order for the court to channel documents in the right way.

If you have no children the court gives the case a shorter life cycle than if you have children. The court gives more time in cases with children because there are more things going on in a divorce with children. In these cases, you will find the court is involved. There is the matter of determination for custody, parenting time, and child support. All of these things you don���t have when there���s no children involved.

When you file your case, you have to properly designate it as a case with or without children.

How do you do that?��

There���s a sort of a suffix that���s put on all papers during filing. There���s a case number you need to get. The clerk of court designates a case number and stamps it with an appropriate suffix .

The suffix is DM which is divorce for children or DO a divorce with no children.

Let���s break it down more clearly.

DM is designated Divorce, Minor Children. Any and all requests for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment that involve young children. Additionally used for intrastate custody, maintenance, and divorce, custody, and post-judgment transfers when young children are involved.

DO is Divorce, No Children. Any and all requests for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment in the absence of young children. When there are no young children involved, it is also used for intrastate transfers of post-judgment divorce complaints.

If you write and designate DO and you have children in your case, you will be in the Bermuda Triangle in the clerk of court���s office. The clerk of court will spit your papers�� back. They���ll say it���s no good. They���ll catch up on you three months down the road and make you sign the papers all over again.

All these crazy things can happen. All because you got the wrong suffix.

Here���s a piece of advice:

Number one. You have to appropriately designate your case.��

Number two. You have to realize you may or may not need a divorce depending on your situation. When we say divorce, It means there���s a legal marriage that precedes it

You���re living with someone and you never had the benefit of marriage. In other words, you never actually had a ceremony. You may be living with your family in your property with your children. Such a situation does not qualify for a divorce.

In Michigan living with someone doesn���t count. It doesn���t count for the purposes of marriage and for the purposes of divorce. So you always have to ask yourself, do I need a divorce in the first place?

You have to look at your life situation and make that determination

Here���s another issue.

You have children. The children are now grown and they are above the age of majority. You���re thinking this could be DM. Even though you had children, the case is not a DM. The court won���t need to decide anything about the kids. They���re adults. Your situation will be designated as a DO case.

The point is you have to be careful about all of these things

There���s another issue with people when they do divorces. There are certain things that have to be in there, if you���re going to allege opportunity to get those things

For example, you���re somebody who wants to get alimony or what we call spousal support. You are obligated to put appropriate provisions in your complaint for divorce seeking with the alimony. If you fail to do so, you may be barred from ever getting it, even if otherwise you deserve the alimony.

You can do these things yourself but there are pitfalls associated with doing it yourself.

You have to be very very careful.

If you want to do it yourself, here’s some suggestions.

Put the paperwork together based on your forms or whatever documents you have. Send it to your lawyer. Law firms can give you an opinion about this. Goldman and Associates offers a review of these divorce documents at no cost. Try it out.

The law firm can take a look at your documents. By availing of this service, you will have another set of eyes. These fresh sets of eyes will at least help you get it right. It will ensure the right things are alleged. You get the right suffix, DM or DO. You get the right court you���re supposed to send it to. There are rules about that too.��

If you���re going to do this on your own, better not mess it up so badly. You shouldn���t put yourself in a situation where your mess results in something not retrievable and not salvageable.

Goldman and Associates can provide you assistance at no cost. The firm���s counselors can take a look at what you have put together. At least you���ll be able to get guidance.

Check if you���re going down the right direction.��

If you do that, it will save yourself a lot of aggravation in the long run.

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.

Divorce comes at a price. Lawyers have fees. Courts have processes. Would you like to do your divorce yourself? Lets review your paperwork first at no cost before you do.

Click here to watch the video on Do It Yourself Divorce In Michigan? Well review your paperwork at no cost

Can you really do a divorce yourself?

In some cases you probably can. There are certain areas of the law for which the court does not permit self-representation. Divorce is not one of them.

So technically, you could represent yourself

You could get the papers. You could fill them out. You have to understand certain things though. If you do your own divorce, there are certain designations the court requires. There are requirements in the filing of divorce paperwork in order for the court to channel documents in the right way.

If you have no children the court gives the case a shorter life cycle than if you have children. The court gives more time in cases with children because there are more things going on in a divorce with children. In these cases, you will find the court is involved. There is the matter of determination for custody, parenting time, and child support. All of these things you dont have when theres no children involved.

When you file your case, you have to properly designate it as a case with or without children.

How do you do that?

Theres a sort of a suffix thats put on all papers during filing. Theres a case number you need to get. The clerk of court designates a case number and stamps it with an appropriate suffix .

The suffix is DM which is divorce for children or DO a divorce with no children.

Lets break it down more clearly.

DM is designated Divorce, Minor Children. Any and all requests for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment that involve young children. Additionally used for intrastate custody, maintenance, and divorce, custody, and post-judgment transfers when young children are involved.

DO is Divorce, No Children. Any and all requests for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment in the absence of young children. When there are no young children involved, it is also used for intrastate transfers of post-judgment divorce complaints.

If you write and designate DO and you have children in your case, you will be in the Bermuda Triangle in the clerk of courts office. The clerk of court will spit your papers back. Theyll say its no good. Theyll catch up on you three months down the road and make you sign the papers all over again.

All these crazy things can happen. All because you got the wrong suffix.

Heres a piece of advice:

Number one. You have to appropriately designate your case.

Number two. You have to realize you may or may not need a divorce depending on your situation. When we say divorce, It means theres a legal marriage that precedes it

Youre living with someone and you never had the benefit of marriage. In other words, you never actually had a ceremony. You may be living with your family in your property with your children. Such a situation does not qualify for a divorce.

In Michigan living with someone doesnt count. It doesnt count for the purposes of marriage and for the purposes of divorce. So you always have to ask yourself, do I need a divorce in the first place?

You have to look at your life situation and make that determination

Heres another issue.

You have children. The children are now grown and they are above the age of majority. Youre thinking this could be DM. Even though you had children, the case is not a DM. The court wont need to decide anything about the kids. Theyre adults. Your situation will be designated as a DO case.

The point is you have to be careful about all of these things

Theres another issue with people when they do divorces. There are certain things that have to be in there, if youre going to allege opportunity to get those things

For example, youre somebody who wants to get alimony or what we call spousal support. You are obligated to put appropriate provisions in your complaint for divorce seeking with the alimony. If you fail to do so, you may be barred from ever getting it, even if otherwise you deserve the alimony.

You can do these things yourself but there are pitfalls associated with doing it yourself.

You have to be very very careful.

If you want to do it yourself, here’s some suggestions.

Put the paperwork together based on your forms or whatever documents you have. Send it to your lawyer. Law firms can give you an opinion about this. Goldman and Associates offers a review of these divorce documents at no cost. Try it out.

The law firm can take a look at your documents. By availing of this service, you will have another set of eyes. These fresh sets of eyes will at least help you get it right. It will ensure the right things are alleged. You get the right suffix, DM or DO. You get the right court youre supposed to send it to. There are rules about that too.

If youre going to do this on your own, better not mess it up so badly. You shouldnt put yourself in a situation where your mess results in something not retrievable and not salvageable.

Goldman and Associates can provide you assistance at no cost. The firms counselors can take a look at what you have put together. At least youll be able to get guidance.

Check if youre going down the right direction.

If you do that, it will save yourself a lot of aggravation in the long run.

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.

Divorce comes at a price. Lawyers have fees. Courts have processes. Would you like to do your divorce yourself? Let’s review your paperwork first at no cost before you do.

Click here to watch the video on Do It Yourself Divorce In Michigan? We’ll review your paperwork at no cost

Can you really do a divorce yourself?

In some cases you probably can. There are certain areas of the law for which the court does not permit self-representation.  Divorce is not one of them.

So technically, you could represent yourself

You could get the papers. You could fill them out. You have to understand certain things though. If you do your own divorce, there are certain designations the court requires. There are requirements in the filing of divorce paperwork in order for the court to channel documents in the right way.

If you have no children the court gives the case a shorter life cycle than if you have children. The court gives more time in cases with children because there are more things going on in a divorce with children. In these cases, you will find the court is involved. There is the matter of determination for custody, parenting time, and child support. All of these things you don’t have when there’s no children involved.

When you file your case, you have to properly designate it as a case with or without children.

How do you do that? 

There’s a sort of a suffix that’s put on all papers during filing. There’s a case number you need to get. The clerk of court designates a case number and stamps it with an appropriate suffix .

The suffix is DM which is divorce for children or DO a divorce with no children.

Let’s break it down more clearly.

DM is designated Divorce, Minor Children. Any and all requests for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment that involve young children. Additionally used for intrastate custody, maintenance, and divorce, custody, and post-judgment transfers when young children are involved.

DO is Divorce, No Children. Any and all requests for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment in the absence of young children. When there are no young children involved, it is also used for intrastate transfers of post-judgment divorce complaints.

If you write and designate DO and you have children in your case, you will be in the Bermuda Triangle in the clerk of court’s office. The clerk of court will spit your papers  back. They’ll say it’s no good. They’ll catch up on you three months down the road and make you sign the papers all over again.

All these crazy things can happen. All because you got the wrong suffix.

Here’s a piece of advice:

Number one. You have to appropriately designate your case. 

Number two. You have to realize you may or may not need a divorce depending on your situation. When we say divorce, It means there’s a legal marriage that precedes it

You’re living with someone and you never had the benefit of marriage. In other words, you never actually had a ceremony. You may be living with your family in your property with your children. Such a situation does not qualify for a divorce.

In Michigan living with someone doesn’t count. It doesn’t count for the purposes of marriage and for the purposes of divorce. So you always have to ask yourself, do I need a divorce in the first place?

You have to look at your life situation and make that determination

Here’s another issue.

You have children. The children are now grown and they are above the age of majority. You’re thinking this could be DM. Even though you had children, the case is not a DM. The court won’t need to decide anything about the kids. They’re adults. Your situation will be designated as a DO case.

The point is you have to be careful about all of these things

There’s another issue with people when they do divorces. There are certain things that have to be in there, if you’re going to allege opportunity to get those things

For example, you’re somebody who wants to get alimony or what we call spousal support. You are obligated to put appropriate provisions in your complaint for divorce seeking with the alimony. If you fail to do so, you may be barred from ever getting it, even if otherwise you deserve the alimony.

You can do these things yourself but there are pitfalls associated with doing it yourself.

You have to be very very careful.

If you want to do it yourself, here’s some suggestions.

Put the paperwork together based on your forms or whatever documents you have. Send it to your lawyer. Law firms can give you an opinion about this. Goldman and Associates offers a review of these divorce documents at no cost. Try it out.

The law firm can take a look at your documents. By availing of this service, you will have another set of eyes. These fresh sets of eyes will at least help you get it right. It will ensure the right things are alleged. You get the right suffix, DM or DO. You get the right court you’re supposed to send it to. There are rules about that too. 

If you’re going to do this on your own, better not mess it up so badly. You shouldn’t put yourself in a situation where your mess results in something not retrievable and not salvageable.

Goldman and Associates can provide you assistance at no cost. The firm’s counselors can take a look at what you have put together. At least you’ll be able to get guidance.

Check if you’re going down the right direction. 

If you do that, it will save yourself a lot of aggravation in the long run.

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.

Lawyers play a very crucial role in the divorce process but they don’t begin to play that role until you decide that you want to get divorce. 

Click here to watch the video on What To Do After You Decide To File For Divorce in Michigan?

Lawyers are not part of the decision-making process to divorce or not to divorce. 

When people are considering divorce, they start thinking a certain way. They’re thinking of doing this and  thinking of doing that. They vacillate between questions of, should I do this? Should I do that? They’re wondering how to handle their husband, how to handle their wife.  Not really deciding to get divorce.

While lawyers are also called counselors and they have the ability to give certain advice, most divorce lawyers don’t want the responsibility of coaxing someone one way or another. 

They don’t want an appearance that would seem like they’re trying to convince you to get divorce so you’ll buy their firm’s products so to speak.  Hire us to represent you.

Lawyers avoid such conflicts of interest by telling you to speak to a marriage counselor, speak to your mom, speak to a priest, speak to your girlfriends, boyfriends, and your social circle. Figure it out already.

By the time you get to your lawyer’s office and seat in chairs across his table, that decision is already made

Your lawyer is not  part of that process. What lawyers can do is wait until you make your decision. After that decision is made, here’s what you will do.

Once you decide to get divorce, your lawyer will give you some advice on how best to protect your assets between now and the time the court freezes everything.

Your lawyer will get you up to speed on what you should or should not do to avoid having your spouse for example liquidate the bank accounts, or run up the charge cards.

You will get appropriate advice on how you can better put yourself in a position with respect to custody issues. These are important advice family law firms can give

You can have all the advice you need, once the decision has been made to get divorce. Until you made that decision you really shouldn’t be seeking divorce advice.  It somewhat taints your process.

Your process should be toward making your marriage salvageable. Is your marriage salvageable?

If the answer is still yes.

Don’t have divorce lawyers whispering in your ears. Work on salvaging your marriage. Can your marriage be saved? Maybe it can be. Maybe it’s just something that needs to be tweaked. Some small thing that you can do to put it back on course.

When you’re flying an airplane, pilots will tell you that if you’re just off by a little bit in terms of your pathway, you can end up thousands of miles off course.

The same is true with your marriage.

You can end up way off course from where you want to be if there’s some adjustment you failed to make. Pilots in the sky are always making adjustments to make sure they’re back on course. And you might have to do too in your marriage.

It may be something you can tweak. Maybe your situation is salvageable.

Or, maybe it is not.

There is nothing left to save, the fabric of your marriage is worn through and through, and there’s nothing left.Then of course you can contact your lawyer. 

Your lawyer will help you along the way as it relates to the legalities of protecting your rights.

The decision to divorce or not to divorce is yours and yours alone.

Let’s hope those decisions are made wisely and judiciously.

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.