Respondent-mother admitted that her son (WB) sexually abused the children at issue in this case (her daughters, AT and HK), but asserted that there was no evidence she "had an opportunity to prevent the abuse." The court found her argument...
The children "were placed in protective custody after respondent used inappropriate physical discipline on her son and authorities discovered that respondent's home lacked food and sleeping accommodations for the children." The trial court ordered...
As the mother's case proceeded, the circuit court placed the child in the father's custody, and instead of continuing the matter so respondent could engage in services and work toward reunification, it completely dismissed the child protective...
Plaintiff was awarded 50% of defendant's retirement pay, or "disposable military retired pay," as calculated based on his creditable military service during the marriage. They also agreed to an "offset provision," which was designed to "address a...
Intervening plaintiff-Badgett was entitled to no-fault benefits from Allstate. After a "jury trial involving a dispute over Ruben's charges to Allstate for medical services and products provided to Badgett, the parties entered into a final judgment...
Petitioner, the decedent's son, asserted that the decedent executed a will leaving almost the whole estate to him. Respondent, the decedent's daughter, contended that he "forged the document he wished to enter into probate, and thus that the...
Plaintiffs filed suit to quiet title to a circular driveway that runs through property owned by one of the defendants and provides access to property currently owned by the trust. On appeal, the court agreed with plaintiffs that by virtue of...
On appeal, the respondent offered two claims of error as to the trial court's decision to terminate respondent's parental rights to CC and AC. First, respondent argued that the trial court clearly erred by finding that termination was appropriate...
Plaintiff was seriously injured when she and the defendant collided while skiing. The jury declined to award either economic or noneconomic damages, even though it found defendant 50% negligent. The trial court found that the verdict as to economic...
Plaintiff-mother appealed a final order closing the case in this child support and parenting time dispute. However, her issues on appeal related to the trial court's prior order granting the defendant-father out-of-state parenting time. Plaintiff...
The parties had a child together, but never married. They entered into a mediated parenting time and custody agreement. Defendant later objected to the agreement and requested a best interests hearing, which the trial court denied. On appeal, the...
Prior to her death in 1/14, Angeline LaMarche received $107,310.76 in Medicaid benefits. After she passed away, the DHHS pursued recovery in that amount against the estate. On appeal, the estate again argued that allowing the DHHS to recover for...
The trial court assumed jurisdiction because she was mentally unstable and unable to provide consistent care. She failed to benefit from mental health services. Although respondent's case manager (R) gave generally favorable testimony, he also...
Respondent's argument focused on the fact that he was released from prison prior to the termination hearing. He claimed he was now prepared to parent the children, or would be prepared to do so soon. The record indicated otherwise. As it related to...
Thus, it vacated the order awarding attorney fees and remanded for further proceedings on this issue, but otherwise affirmed. As to the application of the Sparks factors, while "defendant received significantly more property than plaintiff" under...
On remand, the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing and "provided a clear ruling explaining why it found termination" was in the children's best interests. It considered the appropriate factors and found that respondent "was not compliant...
The trial court terminated their rights based on their abuse of the child's sibling and/or failure to protect her from the other parent's abuse. On appeal, the court rejected respondent-mother's argument that termination was inappropriate because...
Plaintiff sued defendant for injuries he sustained when he was struck by an automobile as he was removing groceries from the trunk of another automobile. The trial court ruled for defendant, finding that because plaintiff "was not 'occupying' the...
Defendant was convicted of OWI causing death and sentenced to one year in the county jail for killing a bicyclist with his car. The prosecution argued that the trial court erred in imposing an unreasonable sentence of a year in the county jail...
The Court of Appeals affirmed the order terminating her parental rights. It was undisputed that more than 182 days passed between the initial dispositional order and the termination order. "During that time, respondent did not comply with any...
Given the length of the case and his "noncompliance, lack of accountability, and his substance abuse issues-including multiple relapses when he was close to reunification- there was not a reasonable expectation that he would be able to provide...
Norman argued that the trial court's finding of an ECE with Curtis was against the great weight of the evidence, meaning that the trial court erred by applying a clear and convincing standard as opposed to a preponderance of the evidence standard....
The decedent maintained checking and savings accounts. Shortly before his death, while he was hospitalized and unable to communicate, appellant-Claudette Greenhoe deposited an inheritance check that the decedent received in his savings account. The...
She agreed that the DHHS was not required to provide services because termination was sought in the initial petition. However, she contended that she should have been provided with services toward reunification because she "seemed ready, willing,...
Before the child was born, respondent (at the age of 18) pleaded guilty to CSC I. The victim was his nine-year-old cousin. Petitioner testified that she learned the facts of respondent's conviction after she gave birth to the child, and broke off...
After being arrested during a traffic stop, defendant-Calvetti signed her Miranda warnings, acknowledging that she knew her rights and indicating that she "did not want to answer questions." She argued that the DEA agent's continued questioning...
He argued that the court should "dispense with" the Strickland prejudice inquiry and "presume prejudice" under Cronic, which provides an exception to a prejudice inquiry "where 'the likelihood that any lawyer, even a fully competent one, could...
In the divorce judgment, plaintiff was awarded the home, and defendant was awarded a 50% equity interest in the home. The judgment also covered the parties' various other obligations. Shortly before the divorce, defendant entered into a written fee...
The case involved plaintiff's challenge to an amendment of the Trust that disinherited him. Both plaintiff and defendant-Paul M. Lubienski (secondary successor trustee) jointly argued that the circuit court erred in concluding that it lacked...
Concluding that the trial court should have applied Haab as clarified by Widmayer, the court reversed the grant of the defendants' summary disposition motion and denial of the plaintiffs' motion for partial summary disposition on the issue of the...
The legally incapacitated person at issue, Mary Janet, was the parties' mother. Appellee, her son, was appointed her guardian and conservator. Appellant, her daughter, sought to modify the conservatorship by removing appellee as conservator and...
The plaintiff-wife challenged the trial court's order finding her in contempt on two grounds. First, she contended that the trial court clearly erred in concluding that she willfully disobeyed its orders requiring that her children be afforded...
It also held that the trial court did not err in refusing to suppress the evidence merely because the affidavit did not establish that defendant was not entitled to the immunity defense. He was convicted of possession with intent to deliver...
Plaintiff was a passenger in defendant's truck when defendant lost control of it and crashed into a median, causing plaintiff to suffer serious injuries. He sued defendant for failure to maintain equipment and negligent driving. He later amended...
Defendant argued that the trial court erred when it made its threshold determination that proper cause or a Change Of Circumstance did not exist to warrant revisiting the issue of custody. The last custody order was entered on 10/8/14 by consent of...
Also, it did not err by excluding evidence that Detective M presented a marijuana patient card. It did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of marijuana, scales, and packaging found at defendants' house. Further, there was sufficient...
The court held that the plaintiff-mother failed to establish grounds to change the child's domicile pursuant to MCL 722.31(4). Thus, the trial court did not have to reach her motion to take primary physical custody or analyze the statutory best...
The court held that the trial court did not err by allocating two assets to the defendant-ex-husband without including their value in the marital estate. However, it noted that based on the trial court's failure to make findings on the Sparks...
