Contested divorce, custody and parenting time, paternity, property division, spousal support, and post-judgment matters — including high-asset marital estates requiring business valuation and asset tracing.
John R. Foley has practiced family law in metropolitan Detroit since 1981, and the firm has concentrated on divorce and family matters since its founding in 1994. The work is led today by John as Group Head, supported by senior associate Jesse R. Stec, who has been with the firm for a decade and now leads day-to-day family law operations.
The firm handles the full range of contested divorce matters in Wayne, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Macomb Counties — including cases involving significant marital assets, closely held businesses, real estate holdings, retirement and pension interests, and disputed separate property claims. Representation includes temporary order hearings, discovery, settlement conferences, and trial, with forensic accounting and business valuation specialists engaged where the estate requires them.
Custody and parenting time matters often require the most careful and sustained advocacy of any family law work. The firm represents parents in initial custody determinations, change-of-custody motions, and parenting time disputes, including cases involving domestic violence allegations, substance abuse, interstate relocation under MCL 722.31, and court-ordered evaluations. In matters where the best interests of a child are genuinely at stake, the firm has the capacity and willingness to try the case.
Patrick A. Foley’s business, bankruptcy, and financial litigation experience is routinely brought to bear in family law matters involving closely held businesses, asset concealment, fraudulent conveyances, and complex financial structures. The firm has prevailed in multi-million-dollar divorce estate cases, discovering hidden assets and obtaining substantial settlements or judgments despite evasion efforts by the opposing spouse.
The firm handles paternity actions, child support establishment and modification, spousal support matters, and the full range of post-judgment proceedings: enforcement, modification, contempt actions, and appeals. The firm’s long institutional presence in the Wayne and Oakland County courts is particularly valuable in matters that unfold over years.
The divorce process asks the parties to divide two things simultaneously: assets that can be valued, and a family that cannot. The legal work is often the smaller half.
The firm handles new matters on a consultative basis. Call the office, or reach us through the contact form on our main page.