5-Things to Know About Your Marital Home in a Divorce

This is the first of two guest blog posts by Natalie DeLeo on the subject of your marital home in the divorce context.  Ms. DeLeo has been serving Michigan's homeowner's for over 25-years.  Her background in real estate sales, relocation, and new construction set the stage for a clear understanding of potential pit-falls in this rough economy.  For the past 22-years, Ms. DeLeo has been with Mortgage Resource Plus in Birmingham, MI.  She is a mortgage consultant and the marketing director for the firm.This is what Ms. DeLeo has to say about your martial home...1. The Martial HomeWhen a martial home is involved in a divorce, you should think, “What is my objective for this crucial asset?” Will it be sold, refinanced, or retained...

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Posted in: divorce,FHA,marital home,mortgage,Mortgage Resource Plus,Natalie DeLeo,refinance

Military Divorce: Part II

This is the second post in our series on the topic of military divorce.JurisdictionEvery court in the United States has its own laws about jurisdiction meaning rules regarding what cases the court is allowed to hear. One form of jurisdiction is personal jurisdiction—does the court have the right to compel a person or organization to appear before it and pass judgment? Another form is subject matter jurisdiction—does the court have the right to hear this particular case about this particular topic?A court of a state where either spouse legally resides, or where the service member is stationed, can have jurisdiction over the divorce.Retirement Pay/BenefitsAs was discussed before, the state court is what decides the extent of benefits the former...

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Posted in: court martial,divorce lawyer,family court,family law,military divorce,Uniform Code of Military Justice

Michigan's Paternity Act Revoked to Provide Rights to Putative [Biological] Fathers

Daniel QuinnThis story flew under the radar for most media, and even some attorneys.  That is, unless you knew Daniel Quinn's sad story out of the Livingston County Family Court.Yesterday, Governor Rick Snyder signed Senate Bill 557 and Senate Bill 558 into law, revoking our 1956 Paternity Act to allow claims to be filed by a putative [biological] fathers, even when the mother is a married woman; married, that is, to someone other than the putative father. The original paternity law, that presumes that a married woman's husband is the father of any child born during a marriage, was considered by many family law practitioners to be a throwback from a lost society; a law [poorly] designed to protect the sanctity of the marriage institution....

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Posted in: Daniel Quinn,family law lawyer,Governor Rick Snyder,Livingston County Family Court,Maeleigh,paternity act,Senator Steven Bieda

A Tale of Two Designer Drugs

There are a pair of designer drugs ripping through our youth and thus our very homes.  There are two groups of abusers that bring vastly different mindsets to the consumption of these drugs.Spice, K2, synthetic marijuana; this drug has been grabbing all the headlines lately, particularly here in Oakland County.  Also known by a variety of street names [Blaze, Dream, Aroma, Eclipse, and Red Dawn] this still-legal substance is ubiquitous; sold over-the-counter at gas stations and party stores.What is spice?  Mostly natural organics [vanilla, lotus and blue rose] mixed with a laboratory compound designed to duplicate THC.  The drug is particularly dangerous to our youth because the primary ingredient binds tightly with the...

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Posted in: Adderall,attention deficit disorder,K2,Oakland County Board of Commissioners,spice,synthetic marijuana

Oakland Circuit's Spousal Computer Privacy Case Rejected by Supreme Court

Leon Walker with his former spouse in happier timesThere is an interesting privacy law criminal case percolating through the appeals courts that originated here in Oakland County.  The case involves the alleged hacking access by a husband of his former wife's computer. Last Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court denied Leon Walker's application for leave to further appeal from a Michigan Court of Appeals order that similarly rejected his effort to quash the criminal information filed in his case. On appeal, Walker's lawyers have asserted that the legislature did not intend to criminalize the domestic relations nature of his conduct.  Also, although Walker did not challenge the constitutionality of the statute, he simply asserted...

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Posted in: computer hacking,Justice Marilyn Kelly,Leon Walker,Michigan Court of Appeals,Michigan Supreme Court,Oakland Circuit Judge Martha Anderson,Oakland County Prosecutor,privacy law

Michigan Supreme Court Rules on Medical Marijuana

This is a tale of one statute and two defendants.  One defendant will be sporting a conviction for marijuana possession, while the other defendant's charges are now dismissed.This week, the Michigan Supreme Court decided an important case involving Michigan's Medical Marijuana Act.  The case, People v Kolanek, consolidated the separate convictions of Alexander Kolanek, and Larry King; the former an Oakland County case, the latter from Shiawassee County.As detailed by this blog over the past three years, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act has had a brief and tortured existence.  Prosecutors, law enforcement and even judges have taken a restrictive view of the use and immunities provided by the Act.  With much success, until...

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Posted in: affirmative defense,medical marijuana,Michigan Court of Appeals,Michigan Medical Marihuana Act,Michigan Medical Marijuana Act,Michigan Supreme Court,Oakland Circuit Court

Oakland County Business Court

Recently, the Oakland County Circuit Court announced the creation of a business court similar to those implemented by Kent and Macomb Counties over the past year.  The business court here in Oakland County has been "operational" since April 1, 2012, and is slated to continue as a pilot program through 2014.The business court's "pilot" status was created by an administrative order issuing from the Oakland County Circuit Court.  The business court is designed to study the effectiveness of implementing a specialized case management system to handle specified business-related litigation.Judges sitting on the Oakland Circuit's court of general jurisdiction (i.e. civil-criminal dockets) will all receive cases on the business court docket....

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Posted in: business court,Oakland County,Oakland County Circuit Court

Military Divorce: Part 1

This post is the first in a three-part series addressing divorce in the context where one or both spouses are in the military.  With so many returning servicemembers, our hope is to provide some guidance for those who find that their pre-deployment marriage is no longer tenable.Divorce is a painful enough when it’s relatively straightforward—a couple living in the same state, no children, pre-nuptial agreements, etc. However, when one of the divorcing spouses is a member of the armed services, a series of other complications exist. Laws, codes and manuals all contain regulations intended to protect both service members and their soon-to-be former spouses. Generally, the various branches of the armed services view divorce as a civil...

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Posted in: adultery,divorce,military divorce,Servicemembers Civil Relief Act,UCMJ,Uniform Code of Military Justice