M I C H IG A N FAMILY LAW JOURNAL A PUBLICATION OF THE STATE BAR OF MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW SECTION • CAROL F. BREITMEYER, CHAIR EDITOR: ANTHEA E. PAPISTA ASSISTANT EDITORS: SAHERA G. HOUSEY • LISA M. DAMPHOUSSE • RYAN M. O’ NEIL EDITORIAL BOARD: DANIEL B. BATES • AMY M. SPILMAN • SHELLEY R. SPIVACK • JAMES W. CHRYSSIKOS VOLUME 46 NUMBER 3 MARCH 2016 Chair Message ....................................................................... 1 By Carol F. Breitmeyer What’s Mine is Mine; WHAT’S YOURS IS MINE: Litigating SPECIAL THEME ISSUE Invasion of Separate Property Issues in Michigan............. 3 By Devin R. Day Evidence in Domestic Relations Cases ............................... 9 FAMILY LAW By Hon. Joseph J. Farah Persuasion Points: Becoming The Master Advocate Of LITIGATION The Core Message ............................................................... 14 By David C. Sarnacki Family Law Appellate Trends .............................................. 18 By Liisa R. Speaker Litigating Support Issues: Pass-Through Entities And K-1 Income ........................................................................... 23 By Kyle J. Quinn Family Law Arbitration: Successful Strategies & Tactics ................................................................................. 27 By James J. Harrington, III Litigation Involving the Valuation of a Parties’ Interest in a Closely Held Business ................................. 31 By Harvey I. Hauer and Mark A. Snover Leverage in Litigation ........................................................ 34 By Amy M. Spilman Litigating Domestic Relations Cases Under Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act .................................................... 39 By Natalie Alane Making The Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act (UCAPA) Work To Protect Children ............................... 45 By Jeanne M. Hannah Litigating a ROPA Action .................................................. 50 By James P. Ryan and Kate Weaver Best Practices: How to Stipulate to Exhibits ................ 55 By Elizabeth K. Bransdorfer Preserving Issues For Appeal: An Overview .................... 61 By Anne L. Argiroff Compassion Fatigue, A Common Problem Among Family Law Attorneys ..................................................................... 65 By John R. Urso Legislative Update .............................................................. 67 By William Kandler Advertise in the M I C H IG A N FAMILY LAW OURNAL State Bar of Michigan J Family Law Section Ten times per year, the Michigan Family Law Journal reaches: • Over 3,000 State Bar of Michigan members directly Mission • Various courts and law libraries • Specialized financial professionals • State and local public officials Your ad for services or products – or your political The Family Law Section of the State Bar of ad – targets people you want most and need to Michigan provides education, information, reach. and analysis about issues of concern Cost of ad per issue: $350 –full page through meetings, seminars, its website, $200-half page public service programs, and publication $175-quarter page $100-eighth page of a newsletter. Membership in the Section Prepayment for 10 issues receives a 5% discount is open to all members of the State Bar of Michigan. For details contact: Kristen L. Robinson c/o Mellin Robinson, PC 1755 W. Big Beaver Road Troy, MI 48084 Telephone: (248) 614-9005 Fax: (248) 614-9095 List of Council Meetings* Saturday, April 9, 2016 Saturday, June 4, 2016 *All regular, monthly Council meetings start at Weber’s Inn, Ann Arbor Weber’s Inn, Ann Arbor 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays and are preceded by a breakfast buffet starting at 9:00 a.m. The Annual Annual Meeting Meeting customarily starts at 9:00 a.m. with breakfast Saturday, May 7, 2016 Thursday, September 22, 2016 buffet at 8:30 a.m. Family Law Section members who University Club, Lansing DeVos Place, Grand Rapids are not Council members are welcome at all Council meetings. However, if you know you are going to attend a meeting, kindly send an e-mail in advance so we are sure to have plenty of space and food. If a presenter or member wishes access to audio-video equipment, please let us know 7 days in advance. —Carol F. Breitmeyer; [email protected] 2015-2016 Family Law Section Officers and Council Members Chair: Expires 2016 Expires 2017 Expires 2018 Carol F. Breitmeyer Elizabeth K. Bransdorfer Carol F. Breitmeyer Daniel B. Bates Chair-Elect: J. Matthew Catchick, Jr. Shon Cook James W. Chryssikos Hon. Richard B. Halloran Sahera G. Housey Hon. Richard B. Halloran Christopher J. Harrington Treasurer: Mathew Kobliska Kristen L. Robinson Kent L. Weichmann Peter Michael Kulas Vanessa Marie Moss-Wilson Corresponding Secretary: Anthea E. Papista Robert Charles Treat, Jr. Robert Charles Treat, Jr. Gail M. Towne Steven D. Reinheimer Randall L. Velzen Recording Secretary: Kent L. Weichmann Amy M. Spilman Tina M. Yost Elizabeth K. Bransdorfer List of Advertisers Soberlink ...........................................................................................................................2 The ilentS Epidemic: A Conference on Suicide ..................................................................8 Barry Grant, CPA, CFF ..................................................................................................11 QDROExpress LLC, Attorney Robert Treat ....................................................................13 ICLE—Divorce Cases in Michigan: A Systems Approach ...............................................17 QDRO-Services, Attorney Mark Cherniak ......................................................................24 Family Law Section Lifetime Achievement Award Winners .............................................28 Great Lakes Honor Roll ..................................................................................................37 Kristen L. Robinson—Family Law Mediation .................................................................42 Family Law Political Action Committee ..........................................................................49 Michigan Family Law Appeals, Scott Bassett ...................................................................64 The Michigan Family Law Journal Endeavors to Establish Letters to the Editor and Maintain Excellence in Our Service to the Family The Michigan Family Law Journal welcomes letters Law Bench and Bar and Those Persons They Serve. to the Editor. Typed letters are preferred; all may be Editor: edited. Each letter must include name, home address Anthea E. Papista and daytime phone number. Please submit your Assistant Editors: letters, in Word format, to the Chair of the Family Sahera G. Housey • Lisa M. Damphousse • Ryan M. O' Neil Law Section, Carol F. Breitmeyer, c/o State Bar of Editorial Board: Michigan, Michael Franck Building, 306 Townsend Daniel B. Bates • Amy M. Spilman Street, Lansing, MI 48933, [email protected] Shelley R. Spivack • James W. Chryssikos The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. FAMILY LAW SECTION “LISTSERV” (E-mail Discussion Group) The Family Law Section sponsors a “listserv,” which is “geek-speak” for an e-mail discussion group. To be eligible to join, you must be a member of the Family Law Section or be a Michigan judge. If you are eligible and wish to participate (it is a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and solve problems, not to mention communicating with many fine colleagues), you may initiate your subscription to the Familylaw listserv by going to http://groups.michbar.org/ and click on FamilyLaw. Once there, fill out the form under “Subscribing to FamilyLaw” and follow the instructions. If you have questions, contact Elizabeth A. Sadowski at [email protected], or call her at (248) 652-4000. To All Prospective Family Law Journal Authors: On behalf of the Family Law Council, I am encouraging our membership and readers to consider submitting an article to the Family Law Journal. Article Contact Person: The primary contact person at the State Bar for Journal articles is Sue Oudsema (517) 367-6423 and [email protected]. Article submissions should be e-mailed to Sue in Word format. Please carbon copy me ([email protected]) and Sahera Housey ([email protected]) and write “Article for the Family Law Journal” in the subject line when you submit your article. Article Deadlines: Please submit your articles to Sue Oudsema at her email address above no later than the last day of the month preceding the publication month. There are ten (10) published Family Law Journal issues each year. June/July and August/September are combined issues. Formatting and Links: Consistent with the Bar Journal’s practice, our formatting resource guide is The Chicago Manual of Style (see www.chicagomanualofstyle.org). Please use endnotes for citations. Feel free to include links in your endnotes, which will permit the reader to click — and then be directed to the original source or reference. Peer Reviewed: Authors are expected to have engaged another attorney to carefully review, critique, and edit articles before sending to the Family Law Journal for consideration. Bio & a Picture Please: All authors are requested to submit a short biography not to exceed 100 words (similar to the Bar Journal) and photo to Sue in conjunction with your article. Please Notify: If you are a first time author