Oakland County Family Law Blog

Family law is an area of law that really focuses on the big picture, and tries to determine the best possible outcomes for families, especially the children involved. Unmarried parents and teens mothers face big challenges when it comes to raising a child. Often, family court is involved to settle child custody matters between the unmarried parents or allocate child support payments.

Recent statistics out of Michigan show, however, that the number of repeat teen mothers dropped. This means that there may be fewer incidents of child custody disputes, and less of a need for the courts to step in and make determinations on legal custody and visitation rights for parents. Michigan's overall teen birth rate also dropped. On the other hand, the number of adult unmarried mothers increased in Michigan.

When married couples split, the legal proceeding that follow can easily turn contentious. Especially when large amounts of assets are involved, greed can make any divorce ugly. The important thing for Michigan couples to remember is that honesty is always the best policy.

Parties themselves can determine division of assets during settlement talks or if parties can't come to an agreement, a judge may determine how to divide the marital property. The parties and attorneys involved need to be aware of each other's financial assets in order to divide those assets accordingly. Unfortunately for some there may be a perceived incentive to undervalue or hide their assets to avoid sharing them with their ex-spouse.

When parents go through a divorce, many different issues need to be discussed and sorted out. Whether or not the parents choose to get a judge or court involved, or reach an agreement on their own, the important point is to simply agree on the outcome. Reaching a consensus on child support or custody matters may seem impossible but the more that parties can come to terms with the arrangement, the more likely each side is to follow through with the plan.

A man from West Michigan recently made a major mistake by taking his children before the court reached an agreement on legal custody during a divorce proceeding. The man two his two children to Florida last year in absence of their mother's consent.

When parents separate, there are many financial and support decisions that must be made. Minor children have a right to the financial support of a parent. Courts are often involved in these determinations and a judge may decide which parent will pay child support and how much that parent will pay. Sometimes making consistent payments is easier said than done. For this reason, both the person paying support and the recipient can seek legal help if there are issues with the payments.

One county in Michigan is taking a new approach to child support enforcement. The programs aims to help slacking parents instead of punishing them for non-payment. The program promises no arrest for those who seek help to resolve their outstanding Friend of the Court warrants.