Under the new standard, domicile is determined by looking to the reality of the child’s living situation. In other words, when a child of divorced parents is involved in an auto accident, they now draw no-fault auto insurance benefits from the parent with whom they were actually living at the time of the accident. 

Under the prior standard set forth by the Supreme Court thirteen years ago, the child custody order controlled. This was the case even if the parents had strayed from the terms of this order in the years following their divorce. Accordingly, if a child custody order provided that physical custody was with the child’s father, but the parents had agreed amongst themselves that the child was to live with the mother, the child would be forced to claim no-fault benefits under the father’s policy. 

The rule created even more confusion where, as is often the case, the child custody order provided for the parents to have split custody. In this situation, the child’s domicile rotated between the parents, and was based on whichever house the child had spent the night at last. Therefore, even if a child spent 29 days at its mother’s house, and 1 day at its father’s house, the father’s house would be the child’s domicile had the 1 night the child spent at father’s house been night before the accident. 

The practical consequence of this rule was that it did not allow parents to make informed decisions as to the insurance coverage they were purchasing for their children. This was compounded by the fact that the Grange rule was not well known, and it was common for the parent with whom the child did not primarily live to purchase less insurance coverage, thinking that the child would be covered under the other parent’s insurance. 

SMDA attorney Sean Serafini authored the brief that was submitted on appeal to the Supreme Court and he argued the case before the Court on April 9, 2026. 

“The Supreme Court’s reversal of this rule corrects what was an unworkable and unrealistic standard, and provides clarity to both parents and insurance companies,” said Serafini. “It is also notable that this was a 7-0 unanimous decision. For most Courts, including many past iterations of this Court, a unanimous opinion was unheard of. However, for this Court, it seems to be increasingly common. This Court has become an example for other courts across this country of what can be accomplished when party lines and allegiances are set aside in favor of reaching the right decision; even when that means overruling older caselaw.”

Mr. Serafini’s oral argument before the Supreme Court can be viewed here, and the Court’s full decision is available to read here.  

ABOUT SMDA LAW

This decision comes during SMDA’s 20^th anniversary. The firm was established in 2006 by Phillip Serafini (Sean’s father), Jeffrey Michalowski, and Pat Derkacz. Since its inception, the firm has remained in Macomb County. Sean Serafini joined the firm in 2023. Phil and Sean primarily operate the firm’s personal injury and auto no-fault practice, while Jeff specializes in estate planning and probate, and Pat focuses on disability insurance appeals while also handling auto no-fault cases. 

All three founding partners are still in practice, and Phil and Sean are actively engaged in changing Michigan law for the better. This is the second time in the past year that Sean Serafini has won an appeal that has resulted in new law, following the Court of Appeals’ November 2025 decision in McPherson v Alten Homes. That decision closed a loophole that allowed companies to escape liability by obfuscating liability through multiple LLCs and other corporate entities. That case is available to read here. Additionally, in September 2025, Phil Serafini was invited to testify before the Senate Insurance and Finance Committee regarding insurance reform and insurer bad faith. A video of his presentation is available here.  

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Contact Information:

SMDA LAW, PC

44444 Mound Rd #100

Sterling Heights, MI 48314

Phone: (586) 264-3756

Toll Free: (866) 529-3537

Fax: (586) 264-3783

Provided that the assessment is encouraging and an appeal hearing has been requested, it is important to discuss witnesses who can attend the hearing to testify regarding your sobriety, as well as those individuals who can provide written documentation substantiating your sobriety. However, the most important and compelling witness at this hearing is you. That’s right. You can make or break the hearing. This isn’t said to induce stress, but you are the individual seeking reinstatement of your driving privileges. You carry the burden in convincing the hearing officer that you are ready to drive again.

Embrace Sobriety

We always recommend that our clients attend AA for an extended period of time before petitioning for restoration of their license. AA is an outstanding organization founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. Its “primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.” You are encouraged to refer to the attached original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. more You should be also be able to recite the Serenity Prayer adopted by AA, which is:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

AA offers meetings virtually twenty-four (24) hours a day in thousands of locations throughout Michigan and the United States. You can’t convince someone that you simply couldn’t find a meeting to attend, even if you have transportation issues as a result of losing your license.

At your hearing, expect to be asked the Twelve Steps and/or the Serenity Prayer. You may be asked to recite the fifth step or the eighth step. That’s why it is important to know the steps, and to live by the steps. Hearing officers conduct thousands of hearings every year. They know when the steps are merely recited by a petitioner, and they know when the petitioner knows the steps because he or she lives by the steps. Be genuine during the hearing.

Another indication that you are embracing sobriety is to have a sponsor, someone who mentors, encourages and guides you through your quest to stay sober. It takes some time and some continuity in attending meetings to find a sponsor. A sponsor is someone you can call on when you have the urge to drink, and you need to be talked out of drinking. A hearing officer wants to not only know that sobriety has been maintained, but he also wants to know that you are equipped and supported to make different life decisions that returning to drinking. He wants to know how things are going to be done differently now than they were done before. Your Michigan DUI attorney will prepare you for some anticipated questions. This should make the hearing less stressful and should enable you to focus.

Contact the experienced Michigan DUI lawyers at SMDA to schedule an appointment. As always, the initial consultation is free. SMDA will help you in the process or having your license restored and getting your life back on track.

In Michigan, the process of getting your license back is simple, but the path must be followed carefully. We liken the process to climbing a mountain you have never seen before. You know your goal is to reach the summit, but you need a Sherpa, a guide, to lead the way to avoid any pitfalls along the way. You can chance the climb on your own, and you may be successful. However, if you are not successful, the results can cause setbacks.

Many clients seeking reinstatement, or at least partial reinstatement of driving privileges have previously tried to climb that mountain on their own, and they were unsuccessful. It is not that the process is complicated; it is just that they sometimes skip a few steps in the process. They begin the ascent without all of the necessary tools. They believe that if they appear sincere, the hearing officer will restore privileges. Let’s focus for a second on that sentence. In Michigan, driving is not a right…. it is a privilege. You may hear this once or twice from other people you speak with. The hearing officer may even say this during your hearing. This is the mindset in the State of Michigan.

First and foremost, the DUI lawyers at SMDA keep contact with a variety of different substance abuse counselors and related professionals. The first thing we do before requesting a hearing, is instruct our clients to have a substance abuse assessment performed. This process typically involves meeting with a licensed counselor experienced in assessing and treating individuals with alcohol and other substance abuse issues. Depending on whether you possess insurance or not, the typical cost for an assessment is $250-500. Despite the number of pages contained within the final assessment itself, we will focus on the prognosis for continued sobriety. We like to see phrases like words like, “the prognosis for maintaining sobriety is good,” or, “the prognosis for continued sobriety is encouraging.” When we see that the prognosis is “guarded” or “poor,” we will typically recommend that our clients wait for a period of time, continue in AA attendance and counseling and have another assessment performed by a different treater a period of time later.

At the same time, we feel it is critical for our clients to attend AA. Each case and each client is unique. A client appearing before a hearing officer may be asked any of the 12-Steps or the Serenity Prayer. This is why it is important to not simply memorize the steps, but to demonstrate that the client is living these steps. Often times, a hearing officer will want to know if the client was attending AA meetings at the same location on a consistent basis and if the client has a sponsor. As an aside, if a client has a sponsor, we like to have the sponsor attend the hearing with the client for support and to provide testimony at the hearing to the hearing officer. more The measure of your sobriety is critical, whatever that length of time might be. If you have had lengthy periods of sobriety, only to relapse, then it becomes important to demonstrate why you have confidence that you will be able to maintain continued sobriety this time around, rather than the previous time. What is different this time around? Why should the hearing officer be confident that you will maintain sobriety this time? “Well, it is because I am not surrounding myself with the friends who used to drink before.” Or, “I have been regularly attending AA meetings, and I have a support I didn’t previously have.” Or, “I saw a friend continue drinking and he eventually died of cirrhosis of the liver. This had a ‘sobering effect’ on me. I don’t want to end up the same way.” Whatever the reason, a client needs to convince, articulate and demonstrate that he has the tools and resources to maintain his sobriety. A client should know the date when they had their last drink.

This may seem like an abrupt place to end this post, but the restoration process is a process. In the next post, we will discuss the hearing itself and the process of demonstrating sobriety. Remember, before you ascent toward that summit; hire a guide, or Michigan DUI attorney to help you get to the top. Contact the attorneys at SMDA today. Don’t go at it alone.

Related Blogs: The Role of a Michigan DUI Attorney and Client Addiction An Overview of Michigan Licensing Sanctions

The first thing that your Michigan DUI lawyer should do when interviewing you or when reading a police report is to determine the basis for the stop by the police in the first place. The way SMDA attorneys explain this to clients is to determine from the interview whether there was an independent reason for the stop, other than suspicion that the driver was drinking and driving. In other words, would there have been a stop but for this suspicion? If not, this may form the basis for a motion to quash blood alcohol evidence based on fruit of the poisonous tree.

Specifically, was there a reasonable basis for the stop? Of course, the basis for the stop can be substantiated in a variety of different ways, including the in-car video running before, during and after the stop. Be careful in requesting the in-car video, though. It can be a double-edged sword. Most jurisdictions in Michigan cycle through in-car videos in thirty (30) days or less. In order to preserve this evidence, it is necessary to either contact the police directly through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request or through the prosecutor, as part of a demand for discovery. There are circumstances where the in-car video can be very helpful to your client in that it can demonstrate sober driving when the police report indicates impaired driving, or it can reiterate and amplify impaired driving. The prosecution may have otherwise overlooked the in-car video, but when the request is made by a Michigan DUI lawyer, it can also draw curiosity and can and will be used by the prosecution during an evidentiary hearing or trial.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the five most common bases for police stops in drinking and driving cases are:

1. Turning with a wide radius
2. Straddling center of lane marker
3. “Appearing to be drunk”
4. Almost striking object or vehicle
5. Weaving

Moreover, the vast majority of Michigan DUI arrests occur at night and on weekends. It is noteworthy that speeding is absent from this list. Notwithstanding, prosecutors will commonly argue that speeding is “risk taking” behavior indicating diminished judgment spurred by the consumption of alcohol. Conversely, based on the facts and circumstances, an argument can be made by the defense that the ability to speed and safely maneuver a vehicle while weaving in and out of traffic are indicative of highly sober driving demonstrating a high level of responsiveness which would be presumably absent with an intoxicated or impaired driver. more A Michigan DUI practitioner takes his clients and the facts of the case as they come. While, in hindsight, an attorney would have liked to have advised his client against speaking to the police officer when stopped for suspicion of drinking and driving, as an attorney, we were not present for the stop. So, while the articulable basis for the stop is necessary to analyze for potential defenses, statements made by you may inadvertently erode these defenses. This is why a successful DUI defense is very fact intensive. Asking the right questions comes from experience…the type of experience possessed by SMDA attorneys. If you find yourself stopped by the police, despite your level of intoxication and/or anxiety, don’t volunteer any information to the police. Then, contact an SMDA attorney to ensure that your rights are protected.