Family Law

Smith & Johnson Attorneys is experienced in all matters that arise in divorce. We have been counsellors for clients with very complex marital estates, in some cases exceeding a hundred million dollars in assets. Our divorce practitioners are very experienced in family owned business matters, which can be critical to strategic planning of asset allocation in your divorce matter. We are also very experienced in child custody matters and will fight to protect your rights and your child’s rights in maintaining a strong parent-child relationship.

We have a record of effectively representing clients in all areas of family law. When divorce situations require litigation, we work aggressively on our client’s behalf (in both large and small marital estates) with emphasis on such issues as property division, custody, spousal and child support, and child visitation. Our success in handling and litigating divorce cases as well as post-judgment child custody and child support matters is known throughout Michigan.

Family Law, Divorce and Child Custody Areas of Service

• Divorce
• Complex Asset and Business Valuation
• Spousal Support/Alimony
• Child Custody and Parenting Time
• Child Support
• Third Party Relationships
• Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements
• Alternative Dispute Resolution

Case Studies

• During a divorce trial in Leelanau County before Judge Philip Rodgers, Partner Tim Smith successfully proved that prior to filing his complaint for divorce, our client’s husband had hid nearly $30,000 in monies from her in an attempt to cheat his wife. By the close of our proofs, all assets had been revealed resulting in the court awarding our client a much more sizable property settlement than had been offered pre-trial.
• Tim Smith and Ken Peterson represented a husband who held an ownership interest in a multi-national company. His wife’s attorney retained an expert who placed a 8 to 9 figure value on his ownership interest. Through our own use of forensic accountant experts and others, we were able to value his interest well under one million dollars and settled the case during mediation for significantly less than the wife’s expert’s own valuation.
• Our aggressive pretrial discovery and preparation involving the complex evaluation of corporate ownerships gained our client a multi-million dollar divorce settlement.
• We have a track record of successfully representing parents in child custody trials and, when necessary, successful appeals to the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court.
• Our domestic relations section has obtained child custody awards for fathers based upon aggressive pursuit of factual development, convincing the court that the best interests of the child would be served if the father were awarded primary physical custody.
• Working familiarity of behavioral principles has resulted in ability to properly present psychological expert testimony in child custody disputes, spousal support and personal protection order issues.
• In marriages of short duration, our domestic relations section has established a successful record of significant property settlements for our clients.