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DIVORCE 70: Plaintiff filed an ex parte motion for temporary custody of the marital home and children.

The parties married in 2007 and have two minor children. There were numerous confrontations when defendant would allegedly become physical and violent. There was also an argument between the parties in August 2020, at which time defendant cut his hand on a glass candle he broke. In September 2020, plaintiff discovered a second affair between defendant and a woman he is now dating.

Separation

In early October 2020, defendant left the marital home. At the time, the parties agreed that defendant would still get the children for three afternoons per week and every other weekend. Though defendant provided substantial assistance in caring for the children during the parties’ marriage, this changed once he left the marital home. Plaintiff solely handled the children’s morning and evening routines, took them to all doctor’s visits, and attended school conferences, though defendant still attended the children’s dentist appointments and select after-school activities, and regularly spoke with them over the phone.

Ex Parte Motion

Plaintiff filed for divorce on October 15, 2020. With respect to custody of the children, plaintiff alleged that it was in the children’s best interests for the trial court to grant her physical custody and grant joint legal custody with defendant. Defendant filed an answer, countering that it was in the children’s best interests for the parties to share joint legal and joint physical custody. During the divorce proceedings, plaintiff filed an ex parte motion for temporary custody of the marital home and children, which the trial court granted.

Referee Report

A hearing before a referee was conducted, after which the referee entered a report and recommendation concluding that clear and convincing evidence supported plaintiff having primary physical custody of the children. Following the de novo hearing before the trial court, the trial court rendered an opinion regarding its judgment of divorce.

Trial Court

The trial court determined that the children had an established custodial relationship with plaintiff. And after evaluating each best interest factor, the trial court concluded that defendant failed to demonstrate that modification of the ex parte order to equal physical custodial time was warranted. Therefore, the trial court awarded the parties joint legal custody, with plaintiff having primary physical custody and defendant having parenting time per the order.

Assistance With Custody

If you are going through a divorce or are separating from the mother or father of your children, it is important to protect your custodial rights. If the divorce or separation process does not turn out like you thought it would, you may not have the custody you deserve.

Contact Aldrich Legal Services

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MICHIGAN WILLS/TRUSTS 33: Trustees required to provide notice informing recipients that they may challenge the validity of a trust and the period allowed for bringing such a challenge.

The notice sent clearly advised her that if she wanted to contest the validity of the Trust in a judicial proceeding, the law required her to do so within six months from the date of the letter. Nothing in the statute requires a trustee to inform the recipients of the specific legal consequences of not acting during the time allowed.

MICHIGAN REAL ESTATE 97: The court imposed a constructive trust on defendant’s one-half interest in the property in favor of plaintiff.

The trial court found that plaintiff sustained her burden of establishing that a constructive trust was necessary to prevent defendant from being unjustly enriched. Accordingly, the court imposed a constructive trust on defendant’s one-half interest in the property in favor of plaintiff and ordered defendant to convey his interest in the property to plaintiff.

MICHIGAN REAL ESTATE 95: Property owners did not place a condition upon the delivery of the deed; rather, they delivered the deed to themselves.

When the delivery of a deed is contingent upon the happening of some future event, title to the subject property will not transfer to the grantee until the event has occurred. However, in this case A and J did not place a condition upon the delivery of the deed; rather, they delivered the deed to themselves, then deposited the deed with their attorney with the instruction to record the deed only upon the happening of a future event, thereby placing a condition only upon the recording of the deed.

MICHIGAN PROBATE 57: Brother granted permanent guardianship of siblings.

At a multiday hearing to address the extension of the guardianship, the eldest children, the mother’s relatives and friends, and school personnel testified regarding the mother’s care of the children, appellant’s treatment of and interaction with the children, and the eldest siblings’ role in aiding the mother to raise the children.

FAMILY LAW 88: The trial court found that the children did not have an established custodial environment with defendant because, before the separation, he did not have a large role in the children’s lives.

The trial court credited plaintiff’s testimony that, before the parties’ separation, defendant spent minimal time helping to care for the children, so its finding that the children would not have looked to defendant for guidance, discipline, the necessities of life, and parental comfort during that time was not against the great weight of the evidence.

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