Few legal matters feel as personal as a divorce or a custody dispute, and if you live in Clinton Township, you shouldn’t have to navigate Michigan’s family court system without steady guidance. Our attorneys have worked with families throughout the Groesbeck Highway and the Clinton River area, helping them sort through difficult decisions about children, property, and support. We take the time to understand your goals before we talk strategy, because the right plan looks different for every family.

When Families Need Legal Help

Michigan is a no-fault divorce state, so you don’t need to prove wrongdoing to end a marriage, but that doesn’t make property division, custody, or support any less complicated. Judges divide marital assets equitably rather than automatically in half, decide parenting arrangements based on what serves the child’s best interests, and calculate support using a statewide income-based formula. The Friend of the Court office typically gets involved once children are part of the picture, helping enforce orders and process requested changes through the Macomb County Circuit Court’s Family Division.

Whether you live near Groesbeck Highway and the Clinton River or somewhere else in Clinton Township, your case will be handled through the Macomb County Circuit Court’s Family Division, which applies the same statewide rules and standards to every filing. The variable that actually affects your timeline is typically the level of disagreement between the parties, not your specific location, so it helps to think in terms of how contested your situation is likely to become rather than which court building you’ll eventually walk into.

How the Firm Helps

We treat every family law case as a conversation first and a legal strategy second. Michael Kavanaugh and our attorneys walk you through your realistic options under Michigan law, then build a plan suited to your specific goals, whether that means negotiating a settlement or preparing for a hearing before the Macomb County Circuit Court’s Family Division. Our familiarity with local Friend of the Court procedures helps us anticipate how your case is likely to move through the system.

This client-first approach traces back to the firm’s founding in 1951 by Joseph E. Mihelich, who built the practice around combining real legal capability with the kind of responsiveness clients don’t always get from larger firms. In practice, that means you’re not left wondering who to call or waiting days for a returned message when something changes in your case.

What Sets Our Firm Apart

What sets our approach apart isn’t a gimmick or a slogan, it’s consistency. You’ll deal with the same attorney from your first phone call through the final order, rather than being handed off to whoever happens to be available. We return calls promptly, explain things in plain language rather than legal jargon, and tell you honestly when something in your case is likely to be difficult rather than promising it will be easy. For a lot of clients, that combination of steadiness and straight talk matters just as much as legal skill, especially during a period of their life that already feels uncertain.

Family Law Matters We Handle

We help Clinton Township families with every stage of a family law matter, including:

Divorce- Whether contested or uncontested, guiding you step by step through Michigan’s equitable distribution rules and the required waiting periods.
Child Custody- Built around the best-interests-of-the-child standard that Michigan courts apply to both legal and physical custody decisions.
Child Support- Calculated using the Michigan Child Support Formula, which weighs both parents’ income and the parenting time schedule.
Parenting Time- Scheduling arrangements that work for your family’s real life and hold up when the Friend of the Court reviews them.
Spousal Support- Based on factors like the length of your marriage, each spouse’s earning capacity, and standard of living during the marriage.
Property Division- Separating marital property from separate property and dividing it fairly, which under Michigan law does not always mean an even split.
Change in Parenting Time or Custody- For when circumstances change enough after your original order to justify asking the court to revisit it.

No matter which of these issues brings you to us, we start by understanding your specific goals before recommending a path forward, since the right strategy for one family rarely fits another exactly.

What the Process Looks Like

The path through a Michigan family law case typically begins with filing and temporary orders, followed by an exchange of financial and parenting information between both sides. Many cases resolve through settlement or mediation well before trial, particularly when both parties are motivated to avoid the cost and stress of a contested hearing. When an agreement isn’t reached, the matter proceeds to a hearing in front of a Family Division judge. We’ll give you a realistic sense of timing early on, since every case moves at its own pace depending on complexity and how cooperative the other side is.

Keep in mind that this is a general framework, and your specific timeline will depend on factors like court scheduling, how contested the issues are, and how quickly both sides respond to requests for information. We aim to move your case forward as efficiently as possible while still taking the time needed to protect your interests at each stage.

Common Questions & Concerns

It’s common to worry about parenting time, financial stability, and how long a family law case will drag on. Every case is different, but Michigan courts tend to favor continued involvement from both parents when it’s in the child’s best interest, and most cases settle through negotiation long before trial becomes necessary. We’ll give you a realistic read on your specific situation once we understand more about your finances, your children’s needs, and how cooperative the other side seems willing to be.

We also hear a lot of questions about what to do when an ex isn’t following the current order, whether that means skipped support payments or parenting time that keeps getting cut short. The Friend of the Court office has mechanisms in place to address both situations, and depending on how serious or repeated the violations are, we can help you pursue the enforcement option that fits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose my job or my professional license if I go through a divorce?

A divorce itself doesn’t typically affect your employment or professional licensing. The concerns that sometimes arise involve unrelated issues, like criminal charges, that could separately affect a license, but the divorce process itself is a civil matter that stays out of most employment records.

Can custody or parenting time orders be changed later if my situation changes?

Yes, under Michigan law a parent can ask the court to modify custody or parenting time if there’s been a change in circumstances or proper cause since the original order. The court still applies the best-interests-of-the-child standard when deciding whether to make a change.

Do I have to go to court, or can this be resolved without a trial?

Most family law cases in Michigan settle through negotiation or mediation rather than going all the way to trial. We’ll always prepare your case as though it might go before a judge, but we also work to reach a fair resolution outside the courtroom whenever that’s realistic.

What if my ex and I actually agree on most things already?

That’s more common than people expect, and it can make the process considerably faster and less expensive. Even when both sides largely agree, it’s still worth having an attorney review the terms, since informal agreements sometimes miss details, like how a change in income later would be handled, that a formal order should address.

Local Context

Families in Clinton Township and the surrounding Groesbeck Highway and the Clinton River area trust us to know the local process, from filing in the Macomb County Circuit Court’s Family Division to working with the Friend of the Court on scheduling and enforcement. We also represent Clinton Township clients facing criminal charges through our Criminal Law page, since family and criminal matters sometimes overlap in the same household. Beyond Clinton Township itself, we regularly work with families throughout the surrounding communities in Macomb County, and our attorneys are familiar with how the Family Division and the Friend of the Court office tend to operate day to day, from typical scheduling windows to how enforcement requests are usually handled.

Talk to a Family Law Attorney

If you’re facing a divorce, custody dispute or support disagreement in Clinton Township, reach out to our St. Clair Shores office at (586) 776-1700 or visit our Contact page to set up a time to talk. We’ll listen to what’s going on in your family and walk you through what your options realistically look like, so you can make decisions with more confidence and less guesswork. There’s no obligation to hire us just because you called, and many people find it helpful just to understand where they stand before deciding on next steps. There’s no cost or obligation just for having that first conversation, and many people find it useful simply to understand where they stand before deciding what to do next.