Social Security Benefits In A Michigan Divorce

Prenuptial agreements are valid and enforceable under current Michigan law.  However, this hasn’t always been the case.  Traditionally, the courts viewed such agreements as contracts that were being made in contemplation of divorce.  The courts believed that such an agreement was essentially encouraging the divorce and separation of married couples and that such a concept was against public policy and unenforceable at law.  Today’s courts recognize that our society has evolved over the years and that prenuptial agreements might actually promote the institution of marriage in circumstances where people might not otherwise enter into the risk that comes inherent with marriage without the capability to safeguard their personal assets.  As a result of this more modern view, prenuptial agreements are valid and enforceable as long as certain standards of fairness are met. 

            The concept of a person entering into a second or third marriage during his or her lifetime has become a very prevalent reality in these modern times.  People who have been married before have a greater tendency to have acquired considerably more assets in their lifetime than those entering into a first marriage.  It is also highly probable that someone who has been married before will have had children during his or her prior marriage.  Both of these facts of life lend support towards the idea that it makes good sense for a person in this situation to execute a prenuptial agreement before entering into a new marriage. 

            A prenuptial agreement allows both parties involved to maintain control over their individually owned assets and property which they are bringing into the marriage.  A person with substantial personal assets who is engaged to be married might be concerned about providing for his or her children from a prior marriage.  Maybe the engaged parties have never been married before but they are just interested in keeping their own individual premarital property separate from any future acquired marital property.  The inheritance rights that would otherwise attach to a spouse by operation of law can be redirected according to an individual’s personal wishes and desires by drafting a prenuptial agreement prior to the impending marriage.  A prenuptial agreement is a valid and common way for people to maintain ultimate control over the disposition of their property the way they see fit, without the rules of law deciding for them, no matter what the outcome of the marriage may be. 

Life has a way of presenting people with difficult times that they never anticipated would happen to them.  While marriage is presumably entered into with the utmost optimism, the protection that a prenuptial agreement could provide might prove priceless in the event of an unexpected divorce or death.   

A postnuptial agreement is essentially the same this as a prenuptial agreement except that instead of being entered into before the marriage, the parties enter a postnuptial agreement after they have been marriage. The typical postnuptial agreement puts into writing a division of property and earnings should a separation occur. In general, so long as certain conditions are met, Michigan courts recognize such agreements.

However, in the 2008 case Wright v. Wright, the Michigan Court of Appeals the court held that a postnuptial agreement that encourages a separation is void. In this case, both parties had consented to the agreement as prepared by the husband’s attorney. Although at the time of the signing the couple was still together, the husband filed for divorce shortly after. In its ruling, the Court held that according to Michigan Family Law, parties to a marriage may not enter into an enforceable contract that anticipates and encourages a future separation or divorce.

When entering into either a Michigan prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, it is essential to first consult your Michigan Family Law attorney. Your Michigan Family Law lawyer will be able to draft an agreement that satisfies all legal requirements for validity.  

It is quite common for a non-married couple to have a child out of wedlock. Yet this situation often raises complex questions when it comes to child custody and Michigan child support. In Michigan, according to the Acknowledgment of Parentage Act, the mother will always be awarded initial custody when the parents are unmarried. According to the Act, this means the mother has the right to remove the child from the home and the right to leave the state.

In a recent Michigan appellate court decision, one party excluded his partnership interest in a family business that was owned and operated by him and several other family members. The wife challenged this exclusion and the court held that the property in question was a pre-inheritance transfer from the husband’s parents to their children and thus should be treated as a regular inheritance. Accordingly, the interest in the family business was separate property and should not be included in the marital estate in a Michigan divorce.

When deciding whether such pre-inheritance property interests are part of the marital estate or not, your Michigan Divorce attorney will look to such points as whether or not:

• There are non-party co-owners
• Development restrictions on the property exists
• Which party is responsible for the breakdown of the marriage

Economic hardships propel change in a variety of ways. The pursuit of a better quality of life will sometimes lead parents to where opportunities are available. But for a divorced couple who share physical and legal custody of a child, a change of residence by the relocating parent might affect the child’s established custodial environment.  Under Michigan Family Law [MCL 722.31(1)] the parental custody is governed by court order and the legal residence of a child cannot be changed, except as otherwise permitted in the statute. The law restricts a parent from relocating to more than 100-miles away from his/her residence recognized under a custody order, as any changes to the rule would affect parenting time and the court ordered custody arrangement. 

A parent wanting to overcome economic hardships but unable to relocate outside of the 100-mile rule find themselves facing a child custody dilemma. Indeed, the impact of custodial arrangement modification could bring enormous changes into the lives of both parents and the child. Yet many remain unforeseen.  With several sensitive and legal matters to weigh-in, your Michigan Family Law Lawyer is able to offer legal insights to anyone confronting this problem.

Internet portals have increasingly offered greater access and liberty to all people. With virtual communities, social networks and public forums, cyberspace is home to massive expressions in different forms:  texts, documents, pictures, sounds, videos, etc. Some will post messages and materials intended to threaten, harass, and intimidate another - particularly in the realm of a pending divorce action. 

For whatever reason some people have for doing this, according to Michigan law, a person shall not post a message on the internet or send emails if the person knows that the conduct causes the victim to suffer emotional distress and to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested. In fact, Michigan Law provides criminal penalties of felony for cyber-harassment and, depending on the age of the victim and aggravating circumstances, it could be either felony or misdemeanor for cyber-stalking. The State encourages victims to exercise their rights including but not limited to the following: notifying the police; getting an anti-stalking restraining order from the circuit court and filing civil lawsuit against the offender.  

If you are facing a pending Michigan divorce action, it is essential that any damaging material on the Internet be kept off the record. Since it can be nearly impossible to have material removed from the Internet, the best way to ensure your family law case is not harmed by this material is to work with your Michigan Family Law Lawyer to bring the necessary criminal action against the offending party.  

During a marriage a couple often accumulate debt – from credit cards to cars and mortgages. When the couple divorces, sometimes the debt is assigned to a particular spouse while other times the debt is considered to be joint, meaning that it is the responsibility of both spouses. So what happens when the ex fails to make their car payments as ordered in the divorce decree? Often times you may be stuck with the bill.

For this reason, your Michigan Family Law Attorney should work out a debt dividing and debt responsibility proposal before your Michigan divorce is finalized. This is important because a Court actually has no authority to modify the terms of a contract between your creditor and you and your spouse. However, they can approve of a debt dividing agreement between you and your spouse. In other words, your Michigan Family Law Attorney will draft a separate debt-contract that outlines what spouse is responsible for what debt.

When drafting a modification of alimony order, the key is to use precise language. In a recent Michigan Alimony case, the court denied a divorce petition that included conditions not included in the original divorce decree. When the party tried to modify the alimony, arguing that the requirement terminated due to the occurrence of various conditions, the court denied the motion on the grounds that the conditions were not specified in the original decree.

Your Michigan Family Law attorney will work with you to draft a divorce decree that precisely outlines all conditions. Working with your Michigan Alimony Lawyer, you will work through a checklist of conditions and terms that must be included in the original decree in order to protect one in the future in case of modifications. In light of this most recent decision, it is imperative that when alimony is an issue, that specific conditions for its termination are listed – including the most obvious conditions like death!