Bloomfield Family Law Blog

For many divorcees, moving away from Farmington Hills may seem to be an attractive option. Doing so may help to ease any tension that still exists between them and their ex-spouses. Given that research data shared by Psychology Today shows that 16 percent of Americans move every year (with 43 percent of those completely leaving the metropolitan areas they currently reside in), it may not be unreasonable to assume that parental relocation is an issue that many divorced couples will eventually face. When one parent relocates with the kids, the question of which family court has jurisdiction over their custody case will almost certainly come up. 

Typically, the state that can claim to be a child's "home state" is the one that will have jurisdiction. Per the Michigan Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, the state defines "home state" as being the one in which a child has been living with a parent (or guardian) for at least six months prior to the commencement of custody proceedings. The home state of newborns that are less than six months old is the one in which they have lived from birth. If the law designates Michigan as a child's home state, then the local family court has jurisdiction (this holds true even if a child has moved out of state within the last six months, yet one parent continues to live here). 

If you are a divorced Michigan parent whose foreign-born ex-spouse takes your children overseas for a visit and fails to return them, this obviously is a serious situation. Unfortunately, parental abduction represents a not uncommon phenomenon, and when the abduction is to a foreign country, it makes for an even more serious and complicated situation.

Fortunately, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction may offer you the help you need to get your kids back. As explained by the The Hague Conference on Private International Law, 98 countries, including the United States, signed this international treaty in 1980. In it, the countries agreed to recognize, respect and adhere to each other’s child custody laws. They also agreed to work together to return any internationally abducted child to his or her “habitual residence,” that is, the country in which the child normally resides, as expeditiously as possible.

Many people in Michigan may have been hearing a lot about gray divorce in the past few years. This term refers to a divorce involving spouses who are at least 50 years of age or older. These divorces have actually been on the rise compared to a couple of decades ago.

Some believe that the fact many of the spouses involved in gray divorces had been married and divorced previously was a major contributor to this reality as second marriages statistically have a higher rate of failure than do first marriages. The challenges inherent in blending children and even grandchildren from previous families can add to what is already a major life change in getting married.

As a Michigan resident who is either part of the military or married to a member, there are certain aspects of your divorce that might differ from that of a civilian divorce. Here are a few things that you should be aware of regarding military divorces.

FindLaw takes a look at the requirements and rules that apply to military divorces which may not apply elsewhere. For example, in your divorce, there may be the involvement of military pensions and benefits. Generally speaking, receiving this money requires you to have been married for 10 years, with an overlap of 10 years of service. It's even possible for spouses to get access to commissary, medical and exchange privileges after a divorce as long as you were married for 20 years, with an overlap of 20 years in service.