Guide to Finding Michigan Divorce Lawyer

In 21st Century America, divorce is incredibly common and incredibly painful for those involved. The dissolution of a marriage will never be an easy event to experience, but if you live in the state of Michigan, a good Michigan divorce lawyer can make it significantly less stressful, seeing to it that you don’t lose your financial assets or your children and can come out of the courtroom a strong and resilient individual.

Deciding You Need a Michigan Divorce Lawyer

There are certain qualifications you need in order to file for divorce in Michigan. First, you need to have lived in the state for at least the past six months. Second, you need to file for divorce at either: a) the district court with jurisdiction over the area you have lived the past ten days or b) the district court with jurisdiction over the area where your spouse has lived the past ten days.

Michigan is a no fault divorce state. What that means is that neither party has to point out why the marriage has failed. Whereas in other states you have to state that the marriage has because of adultery, financial quarrels or physical abuse, in Michigan all it takes to file a complaint is to state that “the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved.” If you believe this statement is true, you should consult with a Michigan Divorce Lawyer right away and file a complaint for divorce.

Even if both parties agree that a divorce is necessary and the complaint is uncontested, you should still see a Michigan divorce lawyer in most circumstances to make sure your best interests are looked out for. The only time you don’t need to consult with a Michigan divorce lawyer is if both parties are in complete agreement over the terms of the separation, including child custody, child support, and the division of financial assets. Even then, Michigan divorce lawyers may prove themselves useful.

How Do I Find a Michigan Divorce Lawyer?

Divorce law is one of the most areas for lawyers to be familiar with, so once you know how to look, finding a Michigan divorce lawyer shouldn’t be hard. Figuring out how to begin that process, however, can be very taxing, especially when you are facing such difficult and trying emotional realities. Here are a few methods that others have found useful in the past to find Michigan divorce lawyers:

• Asking for Recommendations: Half of all marriages today end in divorce, so it makes sense that many of your friends or loved ones have had experience with MI divorce lawyers. Ask around to see if any has had an especially good working experience with one and can recommend a great MI divorce lawyer for you.

• Using a Referral Service: Getting a recommendation is a great personal assurance that your MI divorce lawyer will do the hard work you need them to do. But what if no one you know has a MI divorce lawyer to recommend? You can use a referral service, which is a program that recommends MI divorce lawyers based on your specific legal and personal needs. Call the service and you’ll be briefly interviewed by a trained professional before being matched with a great MI divorce lawyer. For a small fee, you’ll then have your first consultation with the MI divorce lawyer who will not charge their usual hourly rate. The Michigan Bar Association runs its own referral service, as do several of the smaller county-wide bar associations.

• Reading a Legal Directory: Directories list all the lawyers in a given region. They’re available online, but the various Bar Associations also print directories listing their own members. Having a Bar membership means a lawyer is licensed to practice law and follows a strict ethics code, so any lawyer you find through such a directory should be legitimate.

• Looking at Ads: Many MI divorce lawyers also choose to advertise their services. These advertisements can be found on TV, on the radio, in magazines, or in newspapers.

What Can My Michigan Divorce Lawyer Do for Me?

Most of the efforts of your MI divorce lawyer will probably go into dividing the marriage estate. This can be complicated for many reasons—some resources may be hidden, others have value that is difficult to asses, and debt will need to be divided along with property. While some property such as inheritances or businesses begun individually before the marriage may be considered “separate property” and not subject to divorce proceedings, this separate property may still be divided up by the court to properly provide for the other spouse.

Your MI divorce lawyer may, when helping to work on a property agreement, become newly concerned with who was at fault for the divorce. This is because while Michigan is a no-fault state in terms of divorce filings, Michigan courts may still consider fault when dividing property. This is meant as a punitive measure, but it is usually not a vast difference for the settlement, since in most cases the at-fault partner will pay only five or ten percent more than they would otherwise. Occasionally the punishment is much more; the court may even take away all the at-fault partner’s assets. You can be sure that in such a case your MI divorce lawyer would appeal.

MI divorce lawyers may also bring up the concept of alimony or spousal support, which has one ex-spouse giving the other regular payments for a court-determined amount of time after the divorce. These payments can be permanent, especially in the case of a spouse unable to work, or they can be “rehabilitative,” lasting only for as long as the other spouse needs to obtain proper professional training and enter the work force. Temporary alimony may also be established, paying one spouse while the divorce proceedings are ongoing.