MI Domestic Relations Flashcards
Ceremonial Marriage Requirements
License and Solemnization
Marriage License Requirements
- Capacity (18 or 16/17 with parental written consent)
- 3-day waiting period; must be solemnized within 33 days of application
- Written materials on venereal diseases/HIV exchanged (but medical testing not required)
When Marriage Licenses Won’t be Issued
- Married to someone else
- Too closely related
- Sham
- Parties incapable of understanding the nature of the act
- One or both under influence of drugs/alcohol
- Lack of consent due to duress or fraud
Solemnization Requirements
2 or more witnesses + officiant
Judge, magistrate, mayor, county clerk, cleric, minister, rabbi can solemnize
Common Law Marriage
Parties agree they’re married, cohabit as spouses, and hold themselves out to the public as married (present intent “we are married”); same capacity requirements as for ceremonial marriage
Abolished in MI unless contracted before 1957
MI will recognize valid common law marriages from other states
Heart Balm Action
Civil suit for damages to a jilted party’s reputation
Abolished in MI
Annulment
Voids a marriage as if it never happened
Void Marriage: prior existing marriage; incest; mental incapacity
Voidable Marriage: age; impotence; intoxication; fraud; duress; coercion; force; lack of intent
Grounds for Divorce
No-Fault:
Irretrievably broken with no prospect of reconciliation
One party must have resided in MI for 180 days immediately before filing
Fault:
May be considered when awarding maintenance
Adultery, cruelty, desertion, bigamy, imprisonment, indignity, mental disorder
Limited Divorce
Rarely used in MI; often for religious or medical reasons
Parties permitted to live apart and be legally married
Separate Maintenance
Decree of support for a party but doesn’t permit living apart; still considered married
Marital Property
All property acquired during or by reason of the marriage
Separate assets when comingled with marital assets and treated as marital property
Appreciation in interest of an actively managed account
Appreciation of marital home (title immaterial)
Non-Marital Property
Property acquired before the marriage
Property excluded by parties’ valid agreement
Property acquired by gift or inheritance (except gifts between spouses)
Property sold/conveyed/disposed of in good faith and for value before final separation date
Property that has been mortgaged/encumbered in good faith before final separation date
Any award/settlement received for cause of action accrued before marriage, regardless of when payment is received
Specific Types of Marital Property
Professional licenses: subject to equitable distribution
Retirement/Pension benefits: marital property if acquired during marriage
Personal Injury claim proceeds:
- Marital: lost wages, earning capacity, medical expenses
usually split based on timing (before v. after split)
- Non-Marital: pain, suffering, disability, and loss damages (injured spouse); loss of consortium (non-injured spouse)
Future interest - not distributable
Social Security benefits - not subject to equitable distribution
Post-separation property: can be marital property
Equitable Distribution Tax Consequences
Transfer of property between divorcing spouses is tax free
The transferee’s tax basis is the same as the transferor’s tax basis upon sale
Jurisdiction
Generally must have both subject matter and personal jurisdiction
MI: a party must reside in state at least 180 days and live in county where filing for 10
Can have sufficient jurisdiction to grant a divorce but not for other related matters (alimony, child support, etc.)
Can challenge ex parte divorces by proving plaintiff wasn’t domiciled in the state at judgment or left immediately after