Frequently Asked Questions

You generally do when something is contested, when a deadline is running, when a party has stopped performing, when something was concealed, or when the other side already has counsel. You generally do not for a routine transaction that a title company or an agent handles competently. If your situation is the second kind, you will be told so.

A conflicts check comes first, which is why you are asked for the names of everyone involved before anything else. After that it is the documents, the timeline, and a realistic view of where you stand and what the options cost.

A firm cannot act against someone it already represents. Checking that before hearing confidential information protects you and the existing client. It is not a formality and it cannot be skipped.

Not until a conflicts check is completed and an engagement agreement is in place. Send enough to identify the situation and the parties. Hold the sensitive detail until you are told the firm can act.

The documents, whatever they are: the deed, agreement, lease, notice, contract, title work, survey, disclosures, court papers or existing order. Plus correspondence with the other side and a short written timeline of what happened. The timeline helps more than most people expect.

[FEE STRUCTURE]. Scope and fees are agreed in writing before work begins, so you are not exposed to an open ended commitment.

In Michigan each side generally pays its own fees unless a contract or a statute provides otherwise. This is why an attorney fee clause in a lease, purchase agreement or construction contract matters so much, and why its absence can make a modest claim uneconomic.

Yes, and early. A claim that costs more to litigate than it returns, or one against a party who cannot pay a judgment, is a poor investment however strong it looks. That assessment is part of the first conversation rather than a discovery made later.

A judgment is permission to collect, not payment. Enforcement can involve garnishment, liens and other steps, and it costs money of its own. Whether the other side can pay is worth assessing before the claim is filed rather than after it is won.

A demand resolved by negotiation can take weeks. A filed case with discovery generally runs many months. Possession matters move faster. Divorce has statutory minimum periods that cannot be shortened. You will get a realistic range for your matter once the file has been read.

Possibly, and it is worth checking rather than assuming. Limitation periods vary by claim, construction liens expire on their own short schedule, redemption periods run after a sheriff sale, and support modifications generally cannot be backdated before the date of filing. Some deadlines are much shorter than people expect.

Call rather than using the form. Court dates, closing dates, lien deadlines, redemption deadlines and scheduled hearings are handled by phone.

The notice period runs first, commonly seven days for nonpayment of rent. District court sets summary proceedings quickly after filing, and a writ issues after the statutory period once a possession judgment enters. The forms and the procedure are standard. What extends the timeline is a defective notice, not the court. Never change the locks, which carries statutory damages against you.

Not yet. A demand is a notice, not a judgment, and nobody can remove you without a court order and a writ. Defective notice is common. Check the date on any summons you receive and do not miss it, because most possession judgments are entered by default against tenants who did not appear.

Very common and workable. What matters is how title was held. A lady bird deed, a funded trust or survivorship language can move the property without probate. A deed in the deceased owner's name alone generally cannot be conveyed until someone holds letters of authority. See probate and inherited property.

Usually not. A redemption period runs after the sale, and during it you generally remain in possession and keep the right to redeem. Once it expires the standard for challenging the sale becomes materially harder. If a county sold your property for back taxes and kept more than you owed, the surplus belongs to you and there is a deadline to claim it. See foreclosure.

It can be challenged where notice requirements were not met, where it was recorded outside the statutory window, or where the amount is not supportable. If a closing or refinance is pending, it may also be possible to bond around it so the transaction can proceed.

Time can actually change ownership in Michigan, through adverse possession or acquiescence. Whether you gave permission is often the single most important fact. If you are near the statutory period, treat it as urgent.

There may be a claim if the seller knew and answered the disclosure statement falsely or concealed it. Document the condition thoroughly before repairing it, because repairing first is the most common way a good claim gets weakened.

Not as a matter of law, and usually not in practice for a conventional sale. It matters when title is clouded, when a party stops performing, when something was concealed, when there is seller financing or a tenant, or when the transaction is unusual in some other way.

It is worth considering where either of you owns a business, real property, or significant separate assets, or where one of you has children from a prior relationship. What makes an agreement hold up later is full disclosure, independent review and signing well before the wedding rather than days before it.

No. Michigan is a no fault state and does not require both people to consent. A spouse who refuses to participate can make it slower and more expensive but cannot prevent it.

No. Michigan divides marital property equitably, meaning fairly in the circumstances. Courts often start near equal and adjust based on statutory factors. Separate property is a different question altogether.

No. There is no preference for either parent. Decisions rest on the statutory best interest factors, with real weight given to the established custodial environment, which is about the pattern of care rather than the parent's gender.

Speak to someone before you do. It can affect the arrangements for the children and use of the home while the case runs, and interim arrangements frequently shape the final outcome. Any safety concern takes priority over all of this.

No. They are separate obligations and withholding one to enforce the other puts you in the wrong. Denial of parenting time is separately enforceable and that is the route to use.

No. Real property and family matters are governed by the law of the state where the property or case sits. You will be referred to counsel licensed there rather than taken on as a matter that cannot be seen through.

No. The practice is limited to real estate, construction and family law. Where your matter is outside that, you will be told promptly and pointed elsewhere.

No. This is a law practice. Ahmed Zamzam holds a Michigan real estate broker license and a Michigan builder license, and that background informs the legal work. The firm does not list, market, buy or sell property, and does not do agent work.