Divorce Without Children

Michigan Requirements

The complaintant or defendant must reside in the state of Michigan at least 180 days prior to filing the complaint, and 

The complaintant or defendant must reside in the county where the complaint is filed for at least 10 days.

 Grounds for Divorce

Michigan is a no fault divorse state, in which residents of Michigan can obtain a divorce without establishing that the other party did something wrong.  

A complaint for divorce may be filed in the circuit court upon the allegation that there has been a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved. (Michigan Compiled Laws – Section: 552.6)

Distribution of Property

Michigan is an “equitable distribution” state and the marital property shall be divided in an equitable fasioin.  Equitbale distribution does not mean equal division, but rather it means “fair” division.  So, instead of a strict 50-50 split, the doctrine of equitable distribution is used to look at the future financial situation of each spouse after the termination of the marriage.

The court may award to a party all or a portioin of the property, either real or personal, owned by his or her spouse if it appears from the evidence in the case that the party contributed to the acquisitioin, improvement, or accumulation of the property.

 Change of Name

The circuit courts of this state, whenever a decree of divorce is granted, may, at the instance of the woman, whether complainant or defendant, decree to restore to her her birth name, or the surname she legally bore prior to her marriage to the husband in the divorce action, or allow her to adopt another surname if the change is not sought with any fraudulent or evil intent.

 Divorce With Children

It is possible for the parents to come to an agreement regarding the issues involoving the children and the court will most likely honor this agreement.  When an agreement cannot be reached, the court will establish the custody order at its descretion.

 The court will take into account the “best interests of the child”.  There are 12 factors that the court considers”:

 (1) The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the parties involved and the child.

 (2) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to give the child love, affection, and guidance and to continue the education and raising of the child in his or her religion or creed, if any.

 (3) The capacity and disposition of the parties involved to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care or other remedial care recognized and permitted under the laws of this state in place of medical care, and other material needs.

 (4) The length of time the child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity.

(5) The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes.

(6) The moral fitness of the parties involved.

(7) The mental and physical health of the parties involved.

 (8) The home, school, and community record of the child.

 (9) The reasonable preference of the child, if the court considers the child to be of sufficient age to express preference.

(10) The willingness and ability of each of the parties to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing parent-child relationship between the child and the other parent or the child and the parents.

 (11) Domestic violence, regardless of whether the violence was directed against or witnessed by the child.

 (12) Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to a particular child custody dispute.

Spousal Support

 There are two kinds of spousal support, Rehabilitative and Permanant.  Spousal support is difficult to obtain in Michigan and success will depend on the facts of the case.

Rehabilitative Spousal Support

Temporary spousal support is awarded to a financially dependent spouse to help make the transition to self support. Examples are:

• encourage a spouse to seek full-time employment and self sufficiency,;
• allow a spouse to complete an advanced degree where he or she had worked while the other spouse attained a degree;
• allow a spouse to adjust to a lifestyle not based on combined incomes; or
• allow a spouse time to acquire new job skills and enter the workforce. 

Rehabilitative support can either be a weekly payment or it can be reduced to a cash value and distributed in other ways  that may be of greater value or worth to the recipient spouse. 

Permanent Spousal Support

This type of support continues until death or remarriage. Examples are:

• a long-term marriage with a spouse who has little or no career or marketable skills;
• a long-term marriage, one spouse with far superior earnings, and the other spouse with a questionable earning potential;
• great discrepancy between incomes and the wife had devoted most of her adult life to the traditional role of wife and homemaker; or
• a serious doubt that a spouse would be able to fully support himself or herself because of schizophrenia or other mental illness.

 Factors That The Court Will Consider

• past relations and the conduct of the parties,
• the length of the marriage,
• the parties’ ability to work,
• the source and amount of property awarded to the parties,
• the age of the parties,
• the ability to pay spousal support,
• the parties’ present situation,
• the parties’ needs,
• the parties’ health,
• the prior standard of living of the parties and whether the parties support others, and
• general equity principles.

 When Fault Matters

While fault does not matter in a divorse, it might come into play during the property division.  Michigan law requires that any marital assets be split as close to equal as possible, however this can change under certain circumstances if one spouse is the cause of the breakdown in the marriage.

Take the cheating spouse, for example.  If one spouse is cheating on the other spouse (adultry), which caused the marriage to end, but also depleated the marital estate by spending lavish sums on gifts for an extramarital lover, then the judge can consider this evidence when deciding the amount a nd duration of alimony or whether alimony should be awarded at all.  

As a general rule of thumb, the court cannot tip the scales too much when deciding alimony.  In one Court of Appeals case, the Court indicated that a 60/40 split was too extreme.

Other types of fault that might persuade the court to award more money or not award alimony at all, depending on the case, are domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse, financial disaster (gambling) or abandonment.

Why Call Garfield?

I’ve been down this road once before in my own life and it was a bitter battle.  It took over 2 years and two attorneys, who in my opinion, did nothing for the money I paid them.  If I had to do it over again, I would hire an attorney like my ex-wife had.  Her attorney was a real bulldog!

And that’s what I would be representing you.  A bulldog!  I’ll go for the throat and get what is rightfully yours.  But, there are times when a bulldog is not what you will need.  Sometimes, negotiating with your spouce might take a nurturing, understanding, and civilized approach.  Whatever the situation calls for, I have the skills to move the case forward.

If you are heading for divorse, it is very important to start a Divorse Notebook.  Think back and write down things that you think will matter, along with dates.  Collect or copy important documents such as bank accounts and balances, utility bills, tax doxuments, vehicle registrations and titles, mortgage papers, investment accounts, text messages, social media printouts, etc.  Collect anything that you think you might be able to use against your spouse.  Do not wait until the Divorse Complaint is filed because if the other party is smart, they will delete the social media entries, hide important documents, and empty your bank accounts.  You, on the other hand, will delete your social media so that it cannot be used against you.   

 Be proactive and get a jump on things before it’s too late.  If you Call Garfield, I can help you through the process.