Child Custody And Divorce Free Legal Advice. Attorney, Advice, Support, Visitation, Alimony, Michigan

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Child Custody And Divorce: Table of Contents

There will be about 100 titles, as I write them: a simple explanation, in plain [non-lawyer] English as to how it all works. I've added chapters from time to time, and I am likely to add a few more. Any suggestions as to subjects that you think ought to be covered will be appreciated.

In addition, I have answered several hundred personal questions from various people. None of those questions, or those answers, will appear here.(Confidentiality, you know.) But from 1995, when this project started, to early in 2001, when it stopped, I invited people to email me, and I did my best to answer their questions. It's not as selfless as it sounds: I wanted to learn just what it was that people wanted to know, and I believe I have done that. But the personal answers that I provided to people started falling into the same categories, over and over again. The same problems, it appears, are happening all over the country. People have the same concerns and worries, all over this land. This is not particularly surprising, when you think about it. Every divorce case is a reflection of the fact that a marriage, a lifetime partnership, has failed. At that point, people start asking themselves questions that they have never had to ask themselves before. Those questions need to be answered, both quickly, and accurately. Some things need to be done, and some things need very much NOT to be done. I've tried to discuss both in the chapters that follow.

I've also attempted to take advantage of web technology. That format has some advantages, but it also has some limitations. It's very helpful to be able to put an "optional" link on a webpage, and invite the reader to either click, or don't, depending on that reader's level of interest, such as when we discuss how to compute the actual cash value of an asset such as a pension. A general discussion of value is helpful to some, perhaps most, but not all readers. "If you want to see how the experts actually do the math, click HERE" is a very convenient way to offer supplemental information, and to recognize that only some of the readers will actually want or need the additional material. The limitation, the disadvantage, is that this material is, in essence, a book. When you are holding a book, you know, from long practice, that you should start at the beginning, and proceed through, page by page, to the end. The format of web pages, indeed, of the internet itself, invites skipping around. You can miss things that perhaps you shouldn't have skipped. That having been said, I should advise you that gaining an understanding of the law is not easy, but it can be done. There are a lot of things you need to know, and you won't achieve full understanding with just one or two or ten bits of information. Which is, I suppose, another way of saying "a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing". You can, however, decide that you will accumulate information, and then more information, and then more, again, with the expectation that at some point it will all fall together, and you will have achieved a meaningful overview, an understanding, of the subject. Like many things in life, there aren't any shortcuts.

These chapters are pretty much in order of what happens in a divorce case (so you might want to read them in order), from beginning to end. After discussing divorce, we'll move into the child custody area. I think it's important, when discussing (or even trying to understand) child custody law, to remember that it fits into, and is related to, divorce law generally. Divorce law fits into the larger, more broad subject of "The Law" generally, and there are reasons why certain things are done and not done.

There are several levels of links: after discussing things generally, there are examples, from the "Jenny Jones" divorce case (and guess who her brother is: you have to follow the links to find out...). We have a proper complaint, and an answer, and various motions to hold the other party in contempt, all in the links, and after the examples, another example, such as "What happened in court?" (the transcript of what 'really' happened), so you may want to follow each underlined link/example from a chapter.