On the night of October 21, 2018, a Grand Traverse County Deputy Sheriff initiated a traffic stop on the basis that defendant’s vehicle had an expired license place. He confirmed this by means of a LEIN check and also discovered...
How much should you tell your lawyer?
The fifth amendment protects U.S. citizens from incriminating themselves, but how does that work with your attorney. We get this question all the time. Many people have heard about attorney confidentiality,...
Plaintiff and defendant were married in 1990 and divorced in 2013. The parties’ consent judgment of divorce provided, among other things, that defendant would pay plaintiff modifiable spousal support in the amount of $3,200 per...
BACKGROUND
This case arises out of the divorce of the parties. The parties mediated a settlement and the Court entered a Judgment of Divorce based on that agreement. The provision of the judgment on appeal concerns plaintiff’s...
Plaintiff’s father and plaintiff’s stepmother (defendant) married around 1981. In 2002, the two executed an “Agreement of Trust” prepared by their estate planning attorney. The Agreement of Trust created a Trust...
Plaintiffs/counterdefendants (plaintiffs), and third-party defendants were neighbors from approximately 1996 until 2015. Plaintiffs and the third-party defendants never had any disputes regarding the boundary line between their...
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Plaintiff and defendant have twin sons, but never married. On August 13, 2008, the Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Division in Montgomery County, Ohio established plaintiff as the legal father of the children and...
You create and execute contracts daily, most of the time, without realizing you’re doing it. These common, easily completed contracts mostly go through without a problem. For example, when you go to the barber or hair salon, you and the...
Plaintiff suffers from mental illnesses, the most significant of which are bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder, which have affected her throughout her life. Plaintiff’s grandmother conveyed the farmland to plaintiff in...
BACKGROUND
Plaintiff and defendant, the parents of a minor child, never married. Over a year after the minor child’s birth, plaintiff filed a paternity action against defendant. Thereafter, the parties agreed upon a final...
In 1987, plaintiff borrowed $20,000 from defendant’s predecessor in interest. Plaintiff secured the debt with a mortgage on plaintiff’s land. In 1994, the parties signed an extension of the mortgage agreement, and in 1999,...
Wills usually go through without a problem. Well over 90% of wills have no issue making it through probate. However, there are several grounds you may have to contest a will. As a beneficiary, or someone who would gain from a will, there are legal...
The child was born to defendant in April 2018. The birth certificate did not identify the father, nor was an affidavit or acknowledgment of paternity executed. After various legal troubles and intervention by the Department of Health and...
This case arises from an Adult Protective Services (APS) petition for guardianship of the ward. The ward lived with her son and his wife. APS’s petition filed in June 2018 claimed that the ward had dementia, was being left...
This divorce action commenced in 2011 and the parties reached a settlement in 2013. Plaintiff submitted a proposed judgment under the seven-day rule, MCR 2.602(B)(3). Defendant filed objections.
Judgment of Divorce Entered
Ultimately, at an...
Plaintiff, defendant’s former employer, filed a complaint alleging, that defendant breached the parties’ Confidentiality Agreement. Specifically, plaintiff alleged that around the time defendant resigned from his position, he...
When a relationship just isn’t working, there is power in ending a bad situation. Many people rush to get a divorce, but there are other options for couples to explore. Legal separation is another avenue people use to gain distance from each...
Though never married, the parties in this case share a son. On November 10, 2014, plaintiff filed a paternity complaint, claiming defendant as the child’s father, and alleging that defendant was of sufficient ability to provide support. On...
The decedent died intestate in 2017, leaving eight children as his descendants. The probate court appointed a personal representative (PR) of the estate.
Intestate
If you die without a will then you died intestate. Without a validly executed...
A great U.S. freedom is the ability to drive the open roads. However, every year there are more than 20,000 car accidents in Michigan. Many of these accidents come from distracted driving and could have been avoided. Distracted driving is such a...
This case arises from two incidents of domestic violence between defendant and the victim when they were alone in the victim’s home in Michigan. In September, the victim got away from defendant and ran to the home of a neighbor, who called the...
In this case, the parties divorced by consent judgment in February 2018. Under the divorce judgment, the parties shared joint legal custody and plaintiff had primary physical custody of their minor child, who has special needs.
In the divorce...
In July 2017, the parties entered into an agreement for plaintiff to purchase the assets of defendant, C Corp. The Asset Purchase Agreement stated: On the Effective Date, Plaintiff will submit to C Corp by wire transfer the sum of twenty-two...
D and C married on October 4, 2008. The couple has no children together. During the marriage, the parties lived together in a home purchased by D before the marriage that had become marital property through C’s financial investments. They each...
In this case, B and S’s relationship began to deteriorate after AB’s birth. Money was tight and B claimed that S rejected B’s requests that she return to work. S, on the other hand, accused B of belittling her role as a...
The parties, R, B, and F are siblings whose father, the testator M, devised for the assets of his trust to be distributed among them. R was appointed Personal Representative of the estate and successor trustee of the trust.
Petition for Removal...
Everyone reacts in their own way when a family member passes away. Emotions can run high, and people can react more strongly than they normally would. Some family members may feel cheated by what a will or trust grants them leading them to contest...
In June 2012, plaintiff purchased real property in Michigan. Over a year later plaintiff was arrested on federal charges related to drug trafficking. Since his arrest, plaintiff has remained incarcerated.
During his first week in jail, he was...
More and more people are conducting personal business and their social life through online applications. Email, banking, bill payment, investments, credit cards, social media and photo sharing are all types of digital assets.
Digital Assets...
During their marriage, the parties had eight children, five of whom are still minors. In the parties’ 2014 consent judgment of divorce, plaintiff was awarded primary physical custody of the children, and the parties were awarded joint...
We live in uncertain times. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a disruption to normal life and a real danger to many people, especially those who are ill or elderly.
While you take steps to protect yourself, your family, and your community,...
This action for breach of contract, negligence, and abuse of process arises from the construction of a home.
Failure to Pay Property Taxes
During the construction, plaintiff failed to pay the property taxes, and the county foreclosed on the...
The parties were never married, but they have a five-year-old daughter (ES). At the time the child was born, the parties lived in Colorado. When the child was approximately six months old, the parties agreed to a Parenting Plan in the District Court...
This case arises from decedent’s sister paying bills on his behalf before his death and requesting reimbursement from his estate on the basis of either a contractual or unjust enrichment basis.
Unjust Enrichment Basis
The sister...
This case concerns the enforceability of an amended condominium bylaw prohibiting short-term rentals where such rentals had been expressly contemplated and allowed under an existing 15-year contract between the owner of a condominium unit and a...
Getting into a car and going for a drive isn’t perfectly safe. Driving on the Michigan roads can be dangerous. Driving those same roads becomes financially dangerous if you drive without car insurance. Between fees, charges, and possible...
This probate dispute between siblings arises out of the death of their father.
Their father lived alone. In 2013, however, he asked appellee to live with him. She agreed, moving into the home in August 2013. Appellants allege that in the years...
This action involves an alleged joint venture agreement between plaintiff, defendant, and non-party R with regard to commercial real property in Detroit.
Quitclaim Deed
Plaintiff learned from a friend that a large commercial property in...
This case arises from a son’s (T) attempt to probate the estate of his mother.
Informal Probate
His mother executed a will designating T as personal representative. She later executed an amendment to her revocable trust naming T as...
