tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-137406 2012-05-23T07:43:16-04:00 Jeanne Hannah Traverse City Family Lawyer discusses child custody, divorce, parental kidnapping, military family issues, and other family law news and views. TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0168ebb74d16970c 2012-05-23T07:43:16-04:00 2012-05-25T17:10:26-04:00

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision holding that a person facing incarceration for non-support during a civil contempt hearing (child support) is entitled to appointed counsel in June 2011.

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef01676694ffa2970b 2012-05-18T08:18:30-04:00 2012-05-18T08:18:30-04:00

The U.S. teen birth rate in 2010 (34.3 per 1000 females) was 44% lower than in 1990. according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of teenagers becoming mothers is declining rapidly . The average teen birth rate decreased 9 percent from 2009 to 2010, reaching an all time low of 34.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19. That's a 44 percent drop from 1991 to 2010.

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0168eb7549c6970c 2012-05-12T13:41:58-04:00 2012-05-12T13:41:58-04:00

There is some very interesting data regarding the civil rights (by statute) for gay, lesbian and transgender people on a range of issues, including marriage, hospital visitation, adoption, housing, employment and school bullying. The charts are illuminating, to say the least. Laws in America have evolved to allow — but in some cases ban — rights for LGBT folks on those issues.

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0167665a0000970b 2012-05-09T12:28:25-04:00 2012-05-09T19:08:40-04:00

Maurice Sendak died yesterday at the age of 83. An important piece of my sons' childhood is gone. It is important to acknowledge the great talent of this man--and to say a proper, if sad, goodbye. Maurice Sendak was popular...

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0163051f7509970d 2012-05-03T13:32:32-04:00 2012-05-03T13:33:44-04:00

Along with murder, voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault that results in serious bodily injury of another child, MCL 712A.19a(2)(d), as amended, effective May 1, 2012, now provides that if a parent is required to register under the sex offenders registration act, the department of human services is not required to make reasonable efforts to reunify the child with the parent.

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef016765c517e6970b 2012-05-02T08:36:00-04:00 2012-04-27T08:13:24-04:00

Emily Herx, teacher of literature and language at a Catholic school in Indiana, has filed a lawsuit arising from the school's termination of her contract because she and her husband are using IVF in an attempt to conceive a second child. Herx claims that the Catholic school’s monsignor refused to renew her contract and that he referred to her as a "grave immoral sinner."

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef0168eac2f092970c 2012-04-30T08:46:00-04:00 2012-04-26T12:58:09-04:00

Once again a panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals misunderstood the facts of Lentz v Lentz, 271 Mich App 465 (2006), and improperly relied on it to declare a post-nup agreement void as against public policy because the parties "were not separated" when the agreement was signed. This perspective is, of course, contrary to the clear trend in Michigan case law recognizing that adults are free to enter into binding contracts on property, spousal support, and even child support (with some limitations) issues.

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef016304e96f9e970d 2012-04-29T08:37:00-04:00 2012-04-28T22:44:50-04:00

Dateline NBC aired the most remarkable and incredibly moving hour long interview on Friday, April 27, 2012. Meredith Viera interviewed Sean Goldman--the center of a high-profile international abduction case that ended with Sean's return from Brazil with his father on Christmas Eve in 2009. I've read the studies about the harm that parental abduction can and does do to children. What could be more devastating to a child that being taken and then being told "Your Mom/Dad doesn't want you" or "Your Mom/Dad died" or, as in Sean's case: "This is your new father?"

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef016304dab6e4970d 2012-04-27T16:49:33-04:00 2012-04-27T16:50:30-04:00

Sean Goldman, the boy at the center of Brazilian abduction case resolved on Christmas Eve in 2009, spoke out on The Today Show on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, in an interview with Meredith Viera. This was Sean Goldman's first interview about his experience as an abducted child and about the reunification with his father in 2009 .

Jeanne M. Hannah tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c74da53ef016304bcadca970d 2012-04-27T08:23:00-04:00 2012-04-26T02:36:28-04:00

What is the frequency with which judges cite Wikipedia in their rulings? It's more frequent that one might think, according to recent articles.

Jeanne M. Hannah