Convicting the Child Support Payor for Non-Payment

In June, the Oakland County Bar Association has asked me to present to fellow lawyers on the topic of felony child support cases.   Like any area of the law, what at first appears simple, really a matter of strict liability, takes on complexity once you start looking at the details.Over the past ten years, prosecutors began addressing the problem of unpaid child support in Michigan, taking cases from the family courts, and charging the errant payors with felonies in the circuit trial courts.  As a result, millions of dollars have been collected that otherwise would not have been paid.  Also, dozens of payors, both Fathers and Mothers, have gone to jail; some to prison.During this wave of prosecutions, many delinquent payors have...

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Posted in: child support,debtor's prison,Louis Meldman,Michigan Supreme Court,Oakland Circuit Court,Oakland County Bar Association,OCBA,SCOTUS,Selesa Likine

Your Digital Estate Plan

Do you ever wonder what becomes of a deceased person's Facebook profile?Increasingly, folks are compiling several digital profiles on the ever-popular social media sites now embedded into the Internet.  Many of us have thoroughly fleshed-out these electronic profiles.Well, what happens to your digital persona when you die?  How do we assist our family members with the dismantling of these often extensive robust electronic profiles?Below are examples of typical digital "assets" contained in an average modern person's legacy:Social media profiles such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and a host of othersProfessional profiles [I maintain at least a half dozen and counting]Bank accounts, loan accounts, mortgage accountsInvestment accounts...

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Posted in: digital assets,digital inventory,digital legacy,estate planning,Facebook,Linked In,YouTube

Boyfriend's Background Check Refusal is Just Cause for Custody Modification

In this modern day, it is very important to know with whom your children are associating.  Danger lurks everywhere, including in the home next door, down the street, across town, or across the country.Earlier this week, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued an opinion for publication [meaning that it now binds all lower courts] in a case from the Newago County Family Court.  The case, Mitchell v Mitchell, holds that a Mother's refusal to abide by a family court's ruling to provide a background check on her live-in boyfriend is "just cause" to modify custody. In Mitchell, the parents divorced and Mother eventually moved to Texas.  Apparently, Mom's boyfriend was instrumental in the all-too-common process of alienation directed...

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Posted in: child custody,Daniel Victor,domicile,family court,family law lawyer,John Mitchell,Kate Mitchell,Michigan Court of Appeals,Newago County,relocation

POTUS and Same-Sex Marriage

This week, President Obama [POTUS] grabbed big headlines by endorsing same-sex marriage as a personally held belief.  He admitted to changing his views on the subject [again] after discussing this issue with his wife and daughters, and perhaps, after Vice President Biden threw down the gauntlet, esssentially forcing the issue by asking, publicly, "what's wrong with it?" Another Biden gaffe; or a script from the West Wing?  Hard to tell when the Chief keeps changing his position on the issue...Meanwhile, as this post is being written, the GOP nominee for November's presidential election, Mitt Romney, is preparing to give 39th commencement address at Liberty University; the Lynchburg, VA, conservative Christian college founded by the...

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Posted in: Defense of Marriage Act,DOMA,Jerry Falwell,Liberty University,Mitt Romney,POTUS,President Obama,same-sex marriage,SCOTUS

Medical Marijuana: The Feds Strike Back

Even as Connecticut became the 17th state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes last week, the DEA continues to bring the heat on some of the more visible pot crusaders across the country.  The latest to be busted is Richard Lee of Oaksterdam University fame in Oakland, California.Despite assurances from the U.S. Department of Justice early in the Obama administration that enforcement of the federal Controlled Substances Act would not be a law-enforcement priority, in April the DEA capped a mounting campaign to arrest dispensary owners across California, Colorado, and Montana.  Many dispensary owners claim to have received letters from the DEA threatening criminal prosecution if the businesses do not cease and desist.What has...

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Posted in: California,Cole memo,Colorado,Connecticut,medical marijuana,Oaksterdam University,Ogden memo,President Obama,The Economist

When Dementia Renders Your Spouse a Stranger

Richard Webber & Adele of Grey's AnatomyDementia, always a sad development for any family, is particularly cruel in long-term marriages where one spouse is afflicted, and the other is left to pick-up the pieces.  In such cases, marriages are often stressed to the break-point.This issue has received national attention lately, courtesy of the hit television series, Grey's Anatomy, where Dr. Webber's character is losing his wife, Adele, to Alzheimer's.Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of progressive dementia.  Recent scientific findings, however, suggest that there may be many sub-types of dementia. For example, frontotemporal degeneration [also known as Pick's disease] manifests itself much earlier than Alzheimer's and...

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Posted in: Alzheimer's disease,conservatorship,dementia,divorce,elder law,estate planning,frontotemporal degeneration,Grey's Anatomy,guardianship,Pick's disease,Richard Webber

Practicing Lawyers Embrace Social Media

This Thursday, I will be presenting in Seattle, WA to a group of lawyers from around the country on the topic of social media.  Not considering myself an expert in the field, I was surprised to get the invitation to join an esteemed panel.Here's the catch; the good folks at Avvo.com, a website designed to interface consumers of legal [and health care] services with the providers of those services, wanted a panel made of practicing attorneys; not just the usual "social media marketing" consultants.Lawyers are not just dabbling in social media these days.  For most, getting connected and developing a robust electronic profile is now a "catch-up" exercise.So I will be addressing conference attendees on how, as a busy practicing attorney,...

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Posted in: Avvo,Avvocating 2012,Colin O'Keefe,lawyer,Oakland County,Seattle,social media