For a court to have “subject matter jurisdiction” to grant a divorce filed in Michigan, the petitioner (or plaintiff) must have been a state resident for six months directly preceding the filing.  That requirement seems fairly clear, but there are lots of different and surprising ways that this rule has been interpreted to allow people not currently living in the state, or living in the state for less than 180 consecutive days, to file for divorce.  Additionally, people who are not “residents” have been allowed to file in some circumstances.  When filing for divorce, the petitioner must file the case in the proper venue, which is the appropriate county court to hear the case. Generally, this is the county where the petitioner or the spouse has lived for at least 10 days, but again there are lots of different ways that this rule has been interpreted, and there may be more than one proper county in which to file.

A state court also must have “personal jurisdiction” over the other spouse; generally speaking, that jurisdiction is determined by each state’s “long-arm” statutes, which depend on a person’s domestic or economic relationships or contacts with a state.  Jurisdiction over children in a divorce or custody case is different and may be extremely complex when two competing states or countries potentially could have custody jurisdiction. Interstate custody disputes are resolved by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which gives preference to a state in which a child lives with a parent for at least six consecutive months before the start of a custody proceeding.

After the summons and complaint and the answer (and sometimes a counter-complaint) have been exchanged, the lawyers will begin to gather information and evidence through a process called discovery. Generally, during discovery, the parties will gather information about the existence and values of their assets, liabilities, and income; expenses and spending; the basis for a spousal support request; and the basis of a custody request. This process can be very time-consuming and complex.

The goal for any divorce case is to compile four documents:

• A Statement of Net Worth/Financial Statement, including assets (both secured and unsecured), liabilities (joint or individual), values for each of the parties’ assets and liabilities, and whether assets are marital or separate (or have elements of each);
• An Income Analysis assessing cash flow available for support (which is not the same thing as taxable adjusted gross income);
• An Expense Analysis assessing what the family customarily was spending on a monthly basis before the divorce filing and what the each spouse will need to spend on a monthly basis to maintain its lifestyle after the divorce filing; and,
• A Marital History, because although it is not necessary to prove fault in order to get a divorce in Michigan, fault (marital conduct and lying under oath about marital conduct) very much is relevant in a divorce case. The marital history also is very important to help understand whether property is marital, separate, or partially marital and partially separate.

It is the attorney’s job to gather all of the relevant net worth, income, and expense information during the pendency of any case. It often is extremely helpful to have a client bring in copies of recent tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, and other documents bearing numbers that may be lying around the home or office (as well as incriminating love notes, e-mails, text messages, Facebook postings, or videotape), but most clients do not bring anything at all to an initial meeting with an attorney. When clients do bring (or at least have) such information, it is invaluable, but more often than not, this type of information is not available to the divorcing spouse.

What a client is able to tell an attorney during an initial interview — even if the information is rough or incomplete — is of critical importance and will guide discovery and investigation throughout the case. A divorce attorney needs to collect that initial information in a careful and organized manner so that the attorney easily can assess what is available and what is missing or unknown.

In an initial interview with a prospective client, an attorney will ask financially-oriented questions is to gain a rudimentary and preliminary understanding of the client’s net worth, income, and expenses/lifestyle, so that the attorney can assess how a court may handle the issues of property division, child support, and spousal support. From that initial overview, the attorney then can begin to use the available discovery find missing information and complete the financial picture. The initial meeting also will enable the attorney to make an initial assessment about separate property claims arising from premarital assets, assets received as gifts, and inherited assets. These questions may focus on each spouse’s contributions to the acquisition, maintenance, and improvement of various assets, title to various assets, and the possible commingling of various assets. If there is a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement, the attorney will need to ask questions designed to assess the validity and potential enforceability of the agreement. (These questions usually focus on the financial disclosure made incident to the execution of the document, when the document was signed in relation to the date of the marriage, the circumstances surrounding the execution of the document, changes in circumstances that may have occurred since the execution of the document, among numerous other related questions.)

From this rough analysis, the attorney then will plan to gather information to bolster or thwart claims related to premarital, gifted, and inherited property. An attorney may do this informally and privately — by using internet resources, private investigators, and interviews with witnesses, for example — or formally through discovery powers permitted under the Rules of Civil Procedure. These court rules allow an attorney to issue document subpoenas to third parties, take depositions, require written questions to be answered under oath, and enter on to property (with advance notice) to inspect buildings, equipment, and assets. In many cases, an initial round of discovery is followed up with a second (and sometimes third or fourth) round of discovery, until all of the questions raised by the discovery investigation have been answered.

Ultimately, specific information will be gathered from a review of personal and business income tax returns and financial statements, real estate appraisals, mortgages, bank statements, personal and business check registers, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts/benefits, and credit card statements, all of which the attorney will obtain — either from the client, by formal means under the court rules, or by informal private investigations — during the divorce discovery process. Sometimes, attorneys will employ accountants, psychologists, appraisers, forensic experts, and business valuation experts to value business interests and determine disposable income and net cash flow.

If the case cannot be settled, the parties will have a contested trial in which the judge decides for the parties all of the issues that must be resolved for them to be divorced.

ften, parties find trials to be the least satisfying method of dispute resolution, both financially and emotionally. A trial can be very expensive, especially in complex cases that require the use of business valuation experts, accountants, psychologists, and appraisers. Often, judges do not have the time or expertise to fully understand the detailed factual circumstances of the parties or the financial opinions of the experts. Additionally, there is the emotional toll of a trial.  For these reasons, most couples choose to resolve issues through settlement because they best understand their own circumstances and needs and therefore are in the best position to resolve their own differences.

During a contested trial, the attorneys for each spouse present their facts and interpretations of the law to the court through trial briefs, witness testimony, and evidence. The judge then decides the issues between the spouses. When a party is dissatisfied with the result of a trial, that party has the right to appeal the decision of the trial court. Sometimes, appeals can take more than two years.