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Thursday, February 23, 2023
By Michael Nichols
Categories: Child Custody
A trial court judge in Shiawassee County misinterpreted an important court rule on deadlines to object to friend of the court recommendations. Jackee Moss took the matter to the Court of Appeals and, thanks to his well-written and persuasive brief, won a reversal within a week.
The client, who is involved in a complicated multi-state custody dispute, wanted to move back to Michigan with his son. Michigan is the state where the case originated and that maintains jurisdiction. During the referee hearing, it was proven that the mother had lied to CPS in an apparent effort to strip the father of his parental rights. Despite this atrocious behavior by the mom, the referee found that the client did not meet his burden of proof necessary to change domicile, to which an objection was filed.
The judge had ruled that an objection filed by the NLF on behalf of a client was not timely because it was not received by a certain date. The problem is – that is not what the Michigan Rules of Court require. Jackee appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Mr. Moss’s brief was so persuasive that the presiding judge, who is currently the chief judge of the court of appeals, indicated that the entire panel agreed with him.
The client– a devoted father with primary physical custody and just a good, hard-working man – gets to keep his foot in the door to keep fighting for his kids to come back to Michigan with him.