Families in Oakland County communities such as Troy, Royal Oak, and West Bloomfield sometimes face unexpected legal challenges regarding paternity. The Revocation of Parentage Act (ROPA) provides the legal framework for challenging previously established paternity. If you believe you need to revoke an Acknowledgment of Parentage (AOP) or set aside a court determination of paternity…
When parents in Oakland County divorce or separate, child support orders are designed to ensure that children’s needs are met. While basic child support covers day-to-day living costs, Michigan law also allows support orders to include child care and educational expenses. These additional provisions can be critical for working parents and for ensuring children have…
Dealing with a child custody dispute in Oakland County can be overwhelming. Even more so when your wages are garnished for child support payments. However, you may have legal options. Under Michigan law, child support orders typically include an income withholding provision. While it does not always take effect immediately, it is always provided for…
By Attorney Brandy Thompson Raising a child with special needs often involves additional planning, structure, and collaboration. When parents separate or divorce in and around Oakland County, Michigan, custody cases involving children with special needs can be complex. Decisions about medical care, therapies, schooling, and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) require careful attention. In Oakland County,…
Parents around Oakland County, Michigan, including Troy, Clarkston, Farmington Hills, and Bloomfield Township, know that child-related expenses do not end when the child turns 18. Separated parents, as well as parents who are in the process of a divorce, may wonder if their divorce, custody, and child support order should have terms outlining how college…
Establishing paternity is one of the most important legal steps for unmarried parents in Michigan. Whether you are a mother seeking child support or a father trying to establish custody or parenting time, understanding your rights under Michigan paternity law is crucial. In Oakland County, home to cities like Troy, Royal Oak, Farmington Hills, Farmington,…
Many people think they should try to handle a child support hearing on their own. You might think, “It’s easy, right?” “They just look at both parents’ incomes, and come up with a number, right?” It isn’t that simple. There are many things taken into account when child support is calculated, and you may be…
Welcome back and thanks for joining us. We’ve been talking about the consequences of not paying your court-ordered child support, specifically here in Oakland County, Michigan. Candidly, it’s not much different than Macomb, Wayne, Livingston or Lapeer counties. Anyway, in our previous article, we looked at a few basics, like why a court order is…
The very first thing we want to make sure you understand here, before we talk about how much you need to pay, is the issue of court orders. If something has been ordered by the court, that means it’s not optional. It’s not a suggestion, or an idea you can consider for later, or a…
Few things cause more problems for divorcing couples than the issue of money. Whether it’s alimony or child support, and whether you’re the one forking over the cash or the one receiving it, there seems to be no end to the resentment and bitterness when money is fought over. Especially in many Oakland County cases,…
