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Sam Hasler's Indiana Divorce & Family Law Blog 
Running the gamut of divorce and family law from the viewpoint of a small city, solo lawyer from Indiana.
Post Frequency: 3/day Last Entry: November 21, 2009 at 10:55:00 Recent Entries: 959
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Attorney Fees: About My No Free Consult Policy
Posted on November 21, 2009Lat year I decided that there would no longer be free consults in my office. Part of this came about because I was without a secretary and I was using the initial telephone call to decide if it was worth having the potential client come into the office...
Local Rules: Fayette County defines ?reasonable visitation?
Posted on November 20, 2009Long before the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines some judges would order "reasonable visitation" without ever defining reasonable visitation. The general interpretation followed the definition below in the first sentence. Not that this did not generate lots of litigation over who was and was not being reasonable (one side's reasonableness is the other side's unreasonableness)...
Just Noting Some Blog Posts
Posted on November 20, 2009Just noting some interesting posts that I wish I had more time to comment on but I think worth reading.Children & divorce: where do we go from here? By guest bloggers Stephen Hopwood & Andrea Essen. from Marylin Stowe's blog has this:Well, the unpalatable truth remains that although the Children Act is the best fix for a difficult situation, it will never be as effective as an agreement made by parents who work together for their children...
What Do You Know About Indiana Courts? Part Two - Trial Judges & Commissioners
Posted on November 19, 2009If you have read What Do You Know About Indiana Courts?, you have probably realized that Indiana has no courts dealing specifically with family law cases.For the most part, our trial judges have their time taken first by criminal cases and then by civil suits and then family law cases...
Indiana Courthouse Tours
Posted on November 19, 2009Whiule not very complete,Courts in the Classroom > Court History Museum Online does give the broader public a chance to see some of Indiana's courtrooms.The Indiana Supreme Court is in the process of developing virtual courthouse tours for Indiana's 92 county courthouses, all of which are historically significant, and many of which are aesthetically and architecturally significant...
More About Child Custody Evaluators in Indiana
Posted on November 19, 2009Ryan Cassman of All Things Family Law - Indiana Divorce & Family Law Blog pointed out to me in his comment to my Fayette County: Local Rule on Custody Evaluators that IC 31-17-2-10 and IC 31-17-2-12 would apply throughout Indiana. Legislation comes to us from the Indiana General Assembly for applying throughout Indiana...
Fayette County: HELPING CHILDREN COPE WITH DIVORCE
Posted on November 18, 2009Add Fayette County to the counties requiring a seminar for parents going through a divorce. For the brochure on this program see The Children Cope with Divorce Seminar Brochure.For those of us in Madison County, notice that Fayette County does not want the children to attend...
News: Indiana County Case Information Online
Posted on November 18, 2009I only recently noticed All Things Family Law - Indiana Divorce & Family Law Blog's Boone County Court Cases Available Online. I was not aware of this, so I might overstate this being good news for the general public and lawyers.What is nto soclearform the orignalpostis that Indiana's State Court Administration has records for several counties online...
What Do You Know About Indiana Courts?
Posted on November 17, 2009Indiana has two broad types of courts: trial courts and appellate courts. The appellate courts mean the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Indiana Supreme Court.Trial courts mean either Circuit Courts or Superior Courts. The difference between the two is that the Indiana Constitution created Circuit Courts:Section 7...
If You Could Change the Delivery of Legal Service
Posted on November 17, 2009What would you change?Are there services you want provided onloine?Are there services you do not want provided online?Are there services you would like me to provide that I am not?How would you like these services provided: online or not?Why would you make the changes you listed above?How would these changes help?Open forum for my readers - all comments published so long as they try to answer the questions...
Need a Hearing Transcript from Marion County? Form for You.
Posted on November 17, 2009The Marion County Paternity Court in Indianapolis has paper forms in its court office. The public can get them if they walk into the court. Why they are not posted to the City-County website is a question most non-lawyers would have but I suspect whoever is in charge at the Marion Circuit Court just never thought of it...
The Civilized Divorce - Why Not?
Posted on November 16, 2009I am rather taken with Maryland Divorce Legal Crier's The Civilised Divorce:She says she first noticed the trend when a friend showed her a professionally taken black and white Christmas card of a recently divorced couple from Stockholm. ?There they were smiling away on the card with their immaculately dressed children, even though inside they posted separate addresses below their names...
Commentary on My Grant County Child Support Rules - Income Withholding Rules
Posted on November 16, 2009I want to thank Christopher C. Hedges of NW Indiana Lawyer for his Problem with Indiana?s Family Law Code?. He has kind words about my Grant County Child Support Rules - Income Withholding Rules but even more for providing a great story about keeping an income withholding order in place:Removing a child support income withholding order is a recipe for missed child support payments...
Both Parents and Child Move Out State - What about Child Support
Posted on November 16, 2009What happens when neither parent or the child now live in Indiana but there is a child support order? Unless the parents do nothing, they will have to come back to Indiana. That can be expensive whether for enforcement or for modification.Better that the custodial parent have the case transferred to the child's home state...
Financial Guest Opinion Column
Posted on November 16, 2009Financial Guest Opinion Column - Avoiding an Unhealthy Divorce Agreement - TheAlternativePress.com New JerseyThere is no "master list" that will help identify every unforeseen situation. Obtaining sound professional advice, reading and understanding your agreement drafts, discussing issues with friends or family members who have gone through the process all can help you avoid an "unhealthy divorce agreement...
From Fayette County: Contacting the Custody Evaluator Local Rule
Posted on November 15, 2009This rule ties in with the Local Rule discussed in Fayette County: Local Rule on Custody Evaluators.LR21-FL00-FL-14CONTACT WITH CUSTODIAL EVALUATORSIn the event a custodial evaluation is ordered by the Court, the Court shall direct the parties to contact the custodial evaluator to arrange for an appointment with the custodial evaluator...
New Indiana Family Law Blog and Health Insurance After Divorce
Posted on November 15, 2009I have been remiss about mentioning a new Indiana family law blog from the New Albany firm of Waters Tyler Scott Hofmann & Doane, LLC - simply named Divorce Law Indiana. I like the style of the blog and its content, and it is good to have another Indiana family law blog...
Fayette County: Attorney Fees
Posted on November 14, 2009I got to admit I like how Fayette County codifies its procedure on attorney fees. Yes, this is how most courts go about awarding attorney fees but only some put the procedure where everyone can see and understand what is going on. (For my experience in Grant County, take a look here...
Fayette County: Local Rule on Custody Evaluators
Posted on November 13, 2009Here is a rule that bears some thinking about. None of the courts in my general area have a similar rule about custody evaluators. There is a second rule from Fayette County also dealing with this subject that will be published here in the next few days...
Want to Dismiss a Marion County Protective Order? Here is a Form
Posted on November 13, 2009The Marion County Paternity Court in Indianapolis has paper forms in its court office. The public can get them if they walk into the court. Why they are not posted to the City-County website is a question most non-lawyers would have but I suspect whoever is in charge at the Marion Circuit Court just never thought of it...
Doing a Contempt Case in Marion County? Form for You.
Posted on November 12, 2009The Marion County Paternity Court in Indianapolis has paper forms in its court office. The public can get them if they walk into the court. Why they are not posted to the City-County website is a question most non-lawyers would have but I suspect whoever is in charge at the Marion Circuit Court just never thought of it...
The Children Middle Seminar Schedule for November -Dec 2009
Posted on November 11, 2009Uploaded the Madison County, Indiana Children Middle Seminar Schedule for November -December 2009. I have no idea why our courts will not also post this to the Internet. Madison County Children Middle Seminar Schedule November -Dec 2009
The Children Cope with Divorce Seminar Brochure
Posted on November 11, 2009I picked this up my last trip to Indianapolis and have uploaded the brochure from Visiting Nurse Service for the Children Cope with Divorce seminar to Scribd. You can access this here.I have written before about the counties requiring this seminar for those divorces with children...
Divorce Related Site - Property Issues
Posted on November 11, 2009While plenty of sites exist dealing with issues of parenting and divorce, I never found another a site that deals with property issues until I learned of Hartman Inventory, LLCHartman Inventory, LLC? secures your material assets by providing documentation for small to medium sized businesses, homeowners and renters...
Local Rule - Shelby County: ADR (Mediation) in Domestic Relations
Posted on November 10, 2009I wrote about Delaware County's mediation program here, today it is Shelby County's turn. The judges in Shelbyville created a program that appears to have considered the financial costs to the participants unlike two cases I am dealing with in Madison County...
When Not to Sign the Prenuptial Agreement
Posted on November 09, 2009I think Family Law Guy nailed it on when not sign a prenup in his We're saying the same thing; we're just saying it differentlyMy thought was: "If your fiance hands you a prenuptial agreement at the church door, stop the music, and postpone the wedding! You've just learned something very valuable about your fiance, before you've married him!"
Fayette County: Dissolution Procedure - Exhibits for Personal Property
Posted on November 08, 2009No idea who had this idea or how it came to be put into a local rule but the judges down in Connersville have what I call a good idea. I think the lawyers reading this will see how this rule reduces the time (and therefore) of getting exhibits relating marital property and debt into the record but that might not be so clear to you who are non-lawyers...
What is an Uncontested Divorce?
Posted on November 08, 2009Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer describes what it is in Florida with So What Exactly is a ?Florida Uncontested Divorce??At a minimum, those issues include:1. property division, technically called ?equitable distribution? of marital assets and debts2...
Being a Witness
Posted on November 08, 2009Welcome to the hardest job most people will experience in the legal system - being a witness.From twenty-two years of conversations, I think it is safe to assume that most people do not realize that a witness' testimony is evidence. The Indiana Rules of Evidence devotes a whole article to witnesses...
Guardian Ad Litem Fees - Shelby County, Henry County and Howard County
Posted on November 07, 2009Earlier this case I had a custody case out of Howard County where our side requested a Guardian ad Litem. The procedure in Kokomo consists of appointing local counsel who then contacts the party wanting the GAL and announcing the fee for services. The fees requested were $1,000...
From Parental Alienation to Toxic Parents
Posted on November 07, 2009Having dealt with parental alienation syndrome here, let us go today to parents who are not good for their children with When Parents Are Too Toxic to Tolerate No wonder. Research on early attachment, both in humans and in nonhuman primates, shows that we are hard-wired for bonding ? even to those who aren?t very nice to us...
Another Parental Alienation Syndrome Article
Posted on November 06, 2009Mr Custody Coach raises some interesting points in his Parental Alienation Effects on Children - Parental Alienation Syndrome It?s a common story played out in court rooms all across the United States and beyond. What?s worse, misguided ?special interest groups? have now shifted their tactics, replete with unsupported ?statistics? which serve to allow parental alienation efforts to continue unabated...
The Pro Child Way
Posted on November 06, 2009Thanks to Dick Price's Responding to Provocation for tipping me off about How NOT to React to Your EX! | Single Again! Now What?What is the cinching element to The Pro-Child Way? Mindfulness. It?s that moment where you stop reacting to your ex and let the stillness guide your heart...
More on Automatically Stopping Transfers of Property
Posted on November 06, 2009Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer also picked up on the news I reported in Divorce and Restraining Orders - an Idea from New York. I am adding this to show how Florida handles this issue(which is the same as Indiana). Here are the highlights from Look, Florida (and Other States): New York Legislates Automatic Protection of Marital Assets During Divorce CaseIn Florida, things currently work exactly the opposite way...
Noting Family Lore' Post of the Month
Posted on November 05, 2009Here is part of the post from Family Lore: October Post of the MonthThe particular source of the criticism that Lucy discusses is a children's guardian, who is quite clear in their view as to how the case should be resolved and becomes frustrated by what they see as lawyers (acting for parents) causing unnecessary delay...
Reasons for Mediation Failure
Posted on November 05, 2009For those considering mediation consider 4 Reasons Why Mediations Don't Work:...Sounds odd, well it isn't. Here are four reasons that can cause your mediation to fail.1. Timing - Rushing into a mediation is not beneficial for either party or any of the parties (parties if more than two parties) and can cause the mediation to fail...
Is Indiana a common law state or a community property state?
Posted on November 05, 2009No, Indiana is not a community property state. Assets acquired during the marriage are considered to be part of the marital pot but they are not owned in the same sense as if they would in a community property state.For an example of community property issues, I found Florida Divorce Blog's Community Property Baseball Team: Husband Gets Half the Players (Chosen Blindly or Randomly, Of Course) and Wife Gets the Other Half? interesting:Wife has served as chief executive of a professional baseball team acquired during the long-term marriage...
Shelby County: Dissolution Education Workshop
Posted on November 04, 2009Another Indiana county with the requirement of a seminar before finalizing a divorce is Shelby County:LR73-FL00 Rule 1. Dissolution Education WorkshopPursuant to I.C. 31-1-11.5-19, Shelby Circuit Court, Shelby Superior Court I and Shelby Superior Court II find that the best interests of the minor child or children of the parties shall be served by encouraging mediation and cooperation between divorcing parents prior to and after the dissolution of their marriage...
Service on a Social Media Site?
Posted on November 04, 2009I suggest giving a serious look at DLA Piper's Facebook - The Future of Service of Process?. I cannot say how well the Australian case will fly in Indiana but I feel very confident that Indiana needs to give a serious look at this looming (yes, looming) possiblity...
Using Social Media for Evidence
Posted on November 03, 2009Just another way that Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the like can come back and bite you in the posterior comes from MLive.com's A growing trend: Social media as legal evidence The business world has also discovered social networking sites, which can be a powerful marketing tool...
Alienation of Affection? Not in Indiana but Still in Illinois
Posted on November 03, 2009Earlier this year, Bob Rohrman made news for suing for alienation of affection. Since Bob Rohrman Sues Doc For Stealing Wife, I have not found anythning new. For those missing the story, here goes:Reading e-mails between his wife and the plastic surgeon who worked on his wife's daughter, he learned of the affair, he said...
Commentary on My Paranoia and Divorce Post
Posted on November 02, 2009I want to thank Steve Ballard over at Massachusetts Divorce Family Law Blog for commenting on my Paranoia and Divorce post. His Is Family Law a Masterful Scam? A Criminal Enterprise? goes in a direction that deserves wider notice:While there are very real biases and vested interests, family law is not a masterful scam or a criminal enterprise...
Prenuptial Agreements - Talking About Money Before the Marriage
Posted on November 02, 2009Take a good look at what the New York Times published in its Your Money column under - Four Talks About Money to Have Before Marriage. No one wants to think of anything but romance before marriage but money or its lack will tell. As the fellow sang, it takes money to get along...
Tips for Living Together
Posted on November 01, 2009Some good ideas here that will probably save legal fees from Lansing State Journal's 8 tips to consider when living together 1. Get a cohabitation agreement. Do your research. If you can afford it, go to a lawyer. If you can't, there are a number of good books on the subject, and standard forms you can download for free online...
For the Lawyers - Tool for Citing to Electronic Materials
Posted on November 01, 2009From UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW: Jeanne's Toolbox - Citing to electronic materialsCandace Elliott Person*, author of "Citation of Legal and Non-Legal Electronic Database Information", states:"To cite files available for viewing/downloading via the World Wide Web, give the author's name (if known), the full title of the work in quotation marks, the title of the complete work if applicable in italics, the full http address, and the date of visit...
Does Anyone Seriously Want Fault in a Divorce Case?
Posted on October 31, 2009That question came to mind when I read the following in Continuing Legal Education Class on Matrimonial Law Scares a Single Attorney from Single Female Lawyer Fights Back Blog:I could have been married years ago. I probably would have been had it not been for that Domestic Relations law part of bar review some years ago...
Prenuptial Agreements - Estate Planning Idea
Posted on October 30, 2009Social Jury points out a prenuptial's use in estate planning in Prenuptial Agreements to Protect the FamilyWith approximately 1/3 of first time marriages ending in divorce, and 50% of subsequent marriages ending in the same fashion, it is becoming increasingly common for one or both parties to already children from a previous marriage...
Reducing Divorce's Pain on the Children
Posted on October 29, 2009Soem good ideas from Family Law Collaborative Divorce Blog's Ten Tips to Help Minimise the Pain of Divorce on ChildrenYou can benefit your children by working cooperatively with your child?s parent to minimize conflict between you and employing the following ten tips? Assure children that both parents love them...
Indiana Parenting Time: Taking the Child Out of State
Posted on October 29, 2009What does a parent need to do when taking the child out of Indiana for vacation? The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines that it does not matter whether the custodial or non-custodial paent takes the child out of state: 5. Emergency Notification...
Representing Yourself in Indiana - The Videos
Posted on October 28, 2009From the Indiana Supreme Court website:Play Pro Se Video: Family Matters Family Matters: Choosing to Represent Yourself in CourtGeneral responsibilities The Indiana Supreme Court also has put its webcasts on YouTube here.
Prenuptial Agreement Humor - Cajun Style
Posted on October 28, 2009Just because we all need a bit of humor, the serious stuff can be found clicking on the label below.Boudreaux & Thibodaux - Cajun Prenup
Nice to be noticed
Posted on October 27, 2009Legally UnBound: Legal News, Comment & Opinion: Blawg Review #231UPDATE: (9-28-09) Today there is a story that has surfaced out of Florida at Sam Hasler's Law Blog and a few others. It involves the 'sex tapes' of a married couple that is now divorcing...
Educating the Public on Selling Real Estate
Posted on October 27, 2009With the curent economy, selling real estate remains problematic. Lugar Real Estate has a Squiddo lens, Selling Your Home, that seems to provide a bit of education on selling a how. The creator explains his motivation for creating the page as follows:I was motivated to create this lens because of a client who wanted to sell...
No Cookie Cutter Cases
Posted on October 26, 2009This came to me from an e-mail and I thought this person has figured out one thing that eludes a lot of people:The reality is that each case is going to be unique and there are no "cookie cutter" answers when it comes to relocation. Substitute "custody" or "divorce" or "child support" or "parenting time" for "relocation" and the truth of the statement remains undiminished...
New Indiana Case Law - Parenting Time
Posted on October 26, 2009Again, thanks to the flu and an eight year old with a broken leg, I have been tardy in writing here. I offer this in an attempt to catch up:Trial court erred in terminating parenting timeThe Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the termination of a father's parenting time with his teenage daughters, finding the trial court erred because the decision wasn't supported by the record or statute.
Indiana Child Custody and Relocation Case
Posted on October 24, 2009Thanks to the flu and an eight year old with a broken leg, I have been tardy in writing here. I offer this in an attempt to catch up:Court remands custody case for new hearingIn Anita (Handy) Oberlander v. Kevin Handy, No. 08A04-0903-CV-121, Anita Oberlander and Kevin Handy had a tumultuous and violent relationship which led to Oberlander relocating to South Carolina with her four children, one of which was Handy's daughter...
Catching Unasked Questions - Indiana Family Law
Posted on October 20, 2009John Bolch's post Q & A inspired me to try my hand to address Google queries that brought some to this blog. The queries are in bold and my responses are in plain text.Remember what my disclaimer says about answering specific legal questions - see it on the right hand side and down...
Interesting Blogs and Websites: Lawlady's Divorce and Entrepeneur Blog
Posted on October 05, 2009A mixed bag wtih this post.I forget how I ran across Lawlady's Divorce and Entrepreneur Blog. What I found was a different style from any other divorce/family lawyer/law blog so far.For me the posts were long (yes, for someone who has a tendency to go on at length this may seem incongruous) and pitched in a different style...
Indiana Tops for Divorce?
Posted on October 04, 2009Such was the news as reported in Anderson's Herald Bulletin under Eastern Indiana county tops nation in divorce rateMore than 19 percent of Wayne County residents over age 15 are divorced, according to new 2008 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. That?s the highest percentage for any county with a population over 65,000 in the nation, and two other Indiana counties ? Floyd and Madison ? also made the top 10...
Family law courts in Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Posted on October 03, 2009Evansville lies far beyond my area of practice but when I found the Domestic Division page for the Vanderburgh County courts, I thought why not? Since I have discussed how Indiana organizes its courts, it helps to see what the individual counties have done...
Bankruptcy and Child Support Arrears
Posted on October 02, 2009Texas Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog points out inHow Can a Chapter 13 Case Help Me With Delinquent Child Support?: a use for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy:If you are delinquent in your child support payments, you may be facing wage garnishment, the seizure of your income tax refunds, and possibly even jail time...
Staying Connected With your Children After Divorce
Posted on October 02, 2009Another of my not-strictly-legal posts but some advice that might still help negotiating problems so that they do not become a court case. I also suggest you check out the site publishing the original, Child Centered Divorce.Five Ways to Keep Connected with Your Kids after Divorce1...
Avvo's listing of Indiana Child Custody Lawyers
Posted on October 01, 2009Just giving a bit of recognition to others and show off my own listing on Avvo. Indiana Child Custody Lawyer - Avvo.comIndiana Child Custody Lawyers (12 found) Remember, if you want more information about retaining me for a case, please give me a call at 765-641-7906.
Even Judges Can Be Parties in Family Court
Posted on October 01, 2009Excuse the lame subject line. Too many other came to mind after reading Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer's Boca Raton » Blog Archive » Two Divorced Florida Judiciary Members to Duke It Out in Court Over Alleged Child Support Appearages...
A non-custodial parent not a potted plant
Posted on September 30, 2009First off, a caution. From what I read in New York Divorce and Family Law Blog's A Non-Custodial Parent Retains Authority in Decision-Making: Dad is not a Potted Plant I think the case has to be read narrowly rather than broadlyJudge W. Dennis Duggan dismissed a contempt proceeding, against a non-custodial father who had changed the dosage of his fifteen-year-old daughter's medication during his parenting time...
Finding Hidden Assets
Posted on September 30, 2009I promised one reader a while back an article on finding assets. Due to the press of business, I was not able to comply wiht that request but instead offer How to Find Hidden Assets -- Part 2 from Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, TexasThis is part 2 of an excellent article written by Warren R...
Choosing a Divorce Lawyer
Posted on September 29, 2009Some very good points from MOGILEVSKY Law Firm, P.A. in its How To Choose Your Divorce Lawyer: # Do you practice family law exclusively? If not, what percentage of your practice is family law?# How long have you been practicing?# What is your retainer (the initial fee paid ? or, sometimes, the actual contract you sign ? to officially hire a lawyer)? Is this fee refundable? What is your hourly fee?# What is your billing technique? You should know what you?re paying for, how often you will be billed, and at what rates...
How to Lose a Custody Case Fast
Posted on September 29, 2009Consider from TN Mother Shoots Father in Presence of Children and Thereby Hands Father CustodyFlorida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer as another example of how people create the facts of a case:Tennessee Father and Mother are divorced...
Sex, Lies, Videotape - and Family Law Cases
Posted on September 28, 2009Something from the news and out of Florida by way of Modern divorce and The Divorce Saloon that might be a bit of a shocker. Who gets custody of pornographic photos man posted of wife online?Cajamarca, 39, an investment consultant, would not discuss the dispute, except to say that his estranged wife knew he was publishing some of the photos...
I Get Interviewed Again
Posted on September 28, 2009Lee Rosen of Divorce Discourse was kind enough to interview me about family law and blogging. You can listen to the podcast is here:
More Working on Post-Divorce Happiness
Posted on September 27, 2009I say often enough to clients that the law in the family law area is simple enough but what makes matters very complicated are the very things the legal system cannot deal with: the emotional and pyschological aftereffects of a relationship gone sour...
Is Divorce Too Expensive?
Posted on September 27, 2009Today I write for those who want to get divorced but lack the money to do so - or so they think.I write about how to find affordable legal services. The underlying idea here is to connect you with the services you need and explain why you need these services...
How One Indiana County Allocates Its Family Law Cases
Posted on September 27, 2009While preparing a divorce for Shelby County, Indiana, I read up on the Shelby County court's Local Rules. If you have read my , you will know why the following caught my eye:LR73-AR00 Rule 2 Local Caseload Plans:I. Caseload AllocationA. Criminal Cases1...
Paranoia and Divorce
Posted on September 26, 2009I am not sure that I am giving Marilyn Stowe's Divorce is an emotional rollercoaster ? but are you paranoid? because it addresses a topic is not easy to address and an issues that does exist. Divorce causes emotional turbulence, which can affect the minds of both parties and their supporters...
Indiana Laws on Grandparents Rights
Posted on September 26, 2009Indiana's law on grandparent's rights consists of two parts: statutes and case law.Look at IC 31-17-5 for Indiana's statutory law on grandparent's rights.The case law presents a bit of a problem. For cases handed since I began this blog, follow this link...
Reminder about income taxes and family law
Posted on September 25, 2009New York Divorce Law Blog had a good post on this subject, IRS TAX EXEMPTION FOR CHILDREN AND DIVORCE AGREEMENTS In 2008, the IRS amended Code Section 152(e), which addresses child dependency exemptions. The changes affect the procedures and means for claiming the exemption...
Protective Order News - Madison and Marion County Pilot Program
Posted on September 25, 2009A bit delayed in getting this out, but those interested may want to take a look at Marion & Madison Counties Lead Effort to Improve Protective Order RegistryMarion and Madison Counties are serving as pilot counties for a new public access component of the protective order registry...
How a Client Can Screw Themselves Up
Posted on September 25, 2009Thanks to Judith's Divorce Blog and her A BIG EGO for this very succinct description of how the client can damage themselves regardless of who they have for a lawyer:Becoming entrenched in your position prevents compromise and when misguided conceit sets in, a marriage hurtles towards oblivion and a case towards a final hearing...
If You Have Children, Why Do You Not Have a Will?
Posted on September 24, 2009Following Michael Jackson's death, much was written about his not providing for a guardianship in his Will. Ohio Estate and Special Needs Planning puts the argument for parents getting a Will quite well:Every parent of a minor child should designate, preferably in a Last Will and Testament, a guardian and two alternate guardians for their child or children...
Indiana Child Support - New Guidelines and Controlled Expenses
Posted on September 24, 2009I have yet to dive into the new Indiana Child Support Guidelines but All Things Family Law has started with his Indiana Divorce & Family Law Blog: New Child Support Guidelines - Controlled ExpensesOne very positive change was that the guidelines are now clear as to who must pay for the 'controlled expenses' associated with raising a child, such as the winter coat and the basic school costs...
Prenuptial Agreements - Some Less Traditional Ideas
Posted on September 24, 2009I think Smith Family Law Center has some interesting ideas its article, Prenuptial AgreementsBut this just scratches the surface of what is available for inclusion in prenuptial agreements. Less traditional uses of a prenuptial agreement include:* establishing how a family business will be formed, capitalized and run during the marriage, and then laying rules for the continuation or dissolution of the business upon the termination of the marriage;* setting forth the goals that the family will work together toward achieving and the values that they will maintain in good times and bad;* determining in advance and at a time of no rancor how the family will raise their future children (religious upbringing, forms of discipline, etc...
New Indiana Court of Appeals Case - Divorce Judgment Liens and Real Estate
Posted on September 23, 2009Switching property after a divorce has to take into account any judgment liens from the divorce. Such is the outcome of Marriage of Lobbs (September 17, 2009).The Court of Appeals quoted extensively from the trial court's findings: 9. That the final payment of $50,000...
Indiana's Child Support Lien Network
Posted on September 23, 2009Believe it or not, not all lawyers know all things about family. Following a link back from a Google search lead me to the Child Support Lien Network for Indiana. In twenty-two years, I never dealt with this program but then I doubt very many have. Here is how it describes itself:CSLN was established to match delinquent non-custodial parents (NCPs) to insurance settlement and workers compensation claims, specifically for the purpose of intercepting these moneys to bring NCPs current on their child support obligations...
Has Public Opinion Changed About Cohabitation?
Posted on September 23, 2009Chicago Divorce Lawyer Divorce Lawyer Blog's Cohabitation Concerns indicates a change:An article was published in today?s USA Today entitled ?Couples study debunks ?trial marriage? notion of cohabiting.? It reports on a new study about the changing attitudes towards cohabitation...
English Tycoon Sues Ex-Wife For Raising Children Not His
Posted on September 22, 2009I often need to make the point to my clients that a person can file anything but success is a different matter. I have the same pinion having read The London Times' Tycoon sues his ex-wife after discovering children were not hisThe millionaire businessman is demanding unlimited damages of more than £300,000 from his ex-wife and her new husband, including the cost of bringing up the two children he believed were his for more than a decade...
Changing How We Should Be Practicing Law
Posted on September 22, 2009Do you think all a lawyer does is create a form to be a lawyer? Then you need read to the end.If you think all you need for your case (divorce, support, custody, visitation, grandparen't visitation) is a legal form to do what a lawyer does, then you definitely need read to the end...
More on Using School Information for an Indiana Custody or Relocation Case
Posted on September 22, 2009Although The Anderson Herald Bulletin's ISTEP+ scores show wide gaps among schools pertains to Madison County, this sort of same information is available for other schools.ANDERSON ? Three of Madison County?s five largest school systems performed at or above the state average on ISTEP+ English and math results released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Education...
Marriage Contracts and Pre-nups
Posted on September 21, 2009I offer a obit of exotica from Relationship Reality Why marriage contracts are good for both spouses. Unless you are familiar with Robert Heinlein's science fiction or is a Libertarian, I doubt many Americans think about marriage contracts. Hence, my calling this exotica:A marriage contract is more detailed than a pre-nup in terms of what is expected from each party...
For The Indiana Family Law Attorneys: English Family Law Wiki
Posted on September 21, 2009Thanks to John Bolch'sThe Family Law Wiki: Update for pointing out the existence of an English family law wiki.I have written before about wikis here. I still think this is a good idea for Indiana lawyers to take up and now we have an example of how to do it...
Does Where I Got Married Matter When I Want to Get Divorced?
Posted on September 20, 2009Where you got married has nothing to do with where you can get divorced. Where you live determines where you can get divorced. Go back and read my Indiana Divorce - The Residency Requirement for an explanation of what residency is needed to get divorced in Indiana...
Divorce War Stories
Posted on September 20, 2009When I first read Great divorce tips: What to take with you when you go, I thought there was no place for it on this blog. Then I thought a little humor never hurts.Getting divorced? Here are some true stories of divorce from the book "You Can Keep the Damn China!' And 824 Other Great Tips on Dealing with Divorce" (Hundreds of Heads Books, www...
A Child Support Scam
Posted on September 20, 2009I suggest reading Beware This Child Support Scam from The Hattiesburg Divorce Lawyer Blog. This is the first that I have heard of this and it may not have hit Inidiana. As if divorced parents did not have enough problems.
Hague Convention in Ohio
Posted on September 19, 2009I thought Ohio Family Law Blog's International Custody Cases In Federal Court Are Complex might be of some interest. This is certainly not our usual sort of family law case.In an odd wrinkle, the marriage in Israel was a religious marriage that was not officially recognized here in the United States as a legal marriage, so the father filed for custody rights in Juvenile Court in Ohio...
Using School Information for an Indiana Custody or Relocation Case
Posted on September 19, 2009I propose not to so much write about how to use school information but to point out two recent sources of information. Another, not mentioned here, are our ISTEP testing scores.The Herald Bulletin - SATS up at ACS, but lag state, national scoresRandall Lee, director of accountability for Anderson Community Schools, said the improvement comes as even more students took the test last school year ? 238 compared with 229 the year before...
When Does Non-Custodial Parent's Action Justify Stopping Visitation?
Posted on September 18, 2009In Indiana, we have two statutes on when visitation can be stopped. One applies to divorce case and the other to paternity cases. See my Paternity and modifying visitation - Part 2 on the laws.What had not crossed my mind to write about was how to deal with the problem instead of publicizing the law...
Interstate Custody Issues
Posted on September 17, 2009Interstate custody presents a complexity of law and issues that overlays the usual complexity of a custody case Rochester Family Lawyer's Custody, UCCEJA and Jurisdictional Issues does a remarkable job of condensing the law in one post. The following applies as much to Indiana as to Indiana (one of the good things about uniform laws):New York, as well as many other states, has adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (?UCCEJA?)...
Indiana Pro Bono Programs
Posted on September 17, 2009If you are looking for a pro bono attorney in Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Morgan, or Shelby then you need to call Heartland Pro Bono Council at (317) 614-5304.Madison County's pro bono program uses the following telephone number of its intake: 1-800-910-4407...
Online Resource: Co-Parenting
Posted on September 17, 2009Thanks to New Hampshire Family Law Blog and the article, Co-parenting tips from a single dad for the heads up on the blog Dad?s House. Those without custody of their children ought to check out this blog - and so should custodial parents.Also some thoughts about co-parenting from The Smart Divorce® Weblog:Sending Love, My ?Different-Functional? Family Also, here?s an article which appeared on the Maria Shriver?s First Lady of California, Women?s Conference website:http://www...
Online Resource: WomensLaw.org
Posted on September 16, 2009With a broader scope than this blog, WomensLaw.org does touch on some of the same issues I do.They have pages on Knowing the Law which breaks down along the lines of state, federal, tribal and religious law. I do not recall another general site that has links to religious law...
News: New Indiana Child Support Guidelines
Posted on September 16, 2009Changes coming to Child Support RulesAn order issued by the Indiana Supreme Court today amending the state's Child Support Rules and Guidelines caused two justices to dissent in part over worries a change may alter precedent. The amendments take effect Jan...
Fantasy Custody and Child Support Guidelines
Posted on September 16, 2009Got a gripe with child custody laws or the child support guidelines? Go read Fantasy Custody and Child Support Guidelines from The Psycho Ex-Wife Blog.Let?s make a list of all the rules and guidelines that should be set regarding custody and child support in this country, sort of your wish list, based on what would truly be best for the children and equality for BOTH parentsI disagree with some particulars (no, criminal court is not a good idea) but I do agree with many...
News: Some Indiana Child Support Payments Delayed?
Posted on September 16, 2009Got this from today's Muncie Star Press, Some Ind. child support payments could be delayedINDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Indiana?s child services agency has warned parents that some child support payments could be delayed as the state switches to a new computerized accounting system...
A Few Thoughts About Lawyers and Legal Services
Posted on September 15, 2009I forget how I came across Clark Kent's Lunchbox: Why I Hate Divorce Attorneys. With what I have been dealing with since mid-May (a disappearing secretary being the largest but not only problem), the following raised all sorts of issues in my mind:On the recommendation of a close friend, I contacted an attorney who was touted as the best in area, having handled multi-million dollar settlements without ever losing a case...
The Madison County Financial Declaration Form
Posted on September 15, 2009Since the Madison County Courts will not post this online, I thought I might just as well. Just follow this link.Remember if you have a divorce, child support, visitation/parenting time, or child custody case, this Declaration needs filed with the court...
Indiana Child Custody Law: What Custody Does Not Include
Posted on September 14, 2009Kudos to All Things Family Law for his Custody and Parenting Time and a different perspective on the term "custody":In Indiana we have two components to custody: (1) legal custody and (2) physical custody. Legal custody refers to decision-making authority for decisions related to the child's medical care, educational placement and religious upbringing...
How Not to Deal With Children in A Divorce
Posted on September 14, 2009I like Dick Price's Divorce "No No's" -- Don't Drag the Kids into the Divorce so much that I ought to just copy his article here. I refrain from doing this but these points are some I just cannot avoid copying to here:1. Make a child into a messenger...
Online Resource: Children's Rights Council
Posted on September 13, 2009I am only putting this out there so that my readers can know of resources available to them.Welcome to Children's Rights CouncilCRC works to assure a child the frequent, meaningful and continuing contact with two parents and extended family the child would normally have during a marriage...
Dividing Up The House
Posted on September 13, 2009I like how Los Angeles Divorce and Family Law succinctly sums up the choices:What are the options for dividing the house?There are three options if you are trying to reach a settlement:* One spouse buys out the community interest share of the other spouse;* The house is sold and the proceeds are divided; and* The house remains in joint names for a limited period of time and is then sold to the other spouse or is put on the market...
What Happens to My Business if I get Divorced?
Posted on September 12, 2009That is the question posed by Divorce Articles and Advice in the blog post, Does divorce mean my ex can get a hold of half my business?.I think the English answer is not so different from the Indiana answer:REALITY: It is very rare indeed for a business to be sold just because of a divorce and the relevance of business is often that it produces the income to provide for any children...
Divorce and Restraining Orders - an Idea from New York
Posted on September 11, 2009In Indiana, Protective Orders deal with threats from spouses. Restraining orders deal with property issues. Once upon, there were only restraining orders and they dealt with protecting both people and property.For the law on restraining orders we need to look at Indiana Rule of Procedure 65 and specifically:(E) Temporary Restraining Orders - Domestic Relations Cases...
Divorce: Deaing with how the divorce affects the children
Posted on September 11, 2009Another non-legal post because these problems affect the legal case. Child-Centered Divorce published When Children of Divorce Act Out ? Caring Parents Step Up!Diffusing blame. Some children, especially pre-teens and teens, may blame one parent or the other for the divorce...
Free forms, Thoughts for the Do-It-Yourself Crowd, and Unbundling My Services
Posted on September 10, 2009I got a heads up from bestcourtreportingdegree.com about its listing of form sites directories a few weeks back. I know that some of you come to the site looking for free advice about your case or looking for forms and this might interest you. Before you go racing for the site, be sure to read the other article I include in this post...
Post- Divorce - Moving On
Posted on September 09, 2009An article worth reading from the Toronto The Globe and Mail's The secret to moving on: Don't overthink:The decision to leave a marriage is never easy, despite the social tolerance for divorce. The period of deliberation that precedes most splits could be called "the Hamlet years," as one or both of the spouses struggle with a confusing mix of emotions...
Why I am offering unbundled legal services
Posted on September 09, 2009I decided to offer unbundled services because I run across things like How To Write A Prenuptial Agreement Without Using A Lawer?Me and my fiance would like to write a prenuptial agreement before marriage. We don?t want to use a lawyer because we only have a very few things to agree upon and we are very clear about all of them...
How About An Open House For Our Courts?
Posted on September 09, 2009Yes, why not? Reading John Bolch's London Family Court Open Day Saturday 10 October 2009 from 10am - 4pm, I had several thoughts. "Well, isn't that interesting?" and then "I suppose some of that could translate to Indiana" and then "No way, most of the judges I know are incapable of interacting with the public this way"...
Medical Bills and Divorce
Posted on September 08, 2009I try very hard to avoid politics on this blog and do not offer the following for its political content. Still, it is hard to see how an op/ed piece from The New York Times relates to family law. It is that health care affects family law. This past Thursday I was in Clinton County defending a case where there were unpaid medical bills...
Announcing a New Service: Unbundling Legal Services
Posted on September 08, 2009Long before this current recession, I have known the problems of potential clients being able to finance their cases. I think everyone in Madison County knows this has been a long-standing problem. I accept payments and credit cards to help this solve this problem...
Indiana Supreme Court - Judgment Interest Not Mandatory
Posted on September 07, 2009Why cases need read and not just their summaries: Rovai v. Rovai. That includes my summaries.Reading the initial report on the case, it seemed that the Indiana Supreme Court had removed all use of the judgment interest statute from family law proceedings...
Indiana Supreme Court on Interstate Child Support
Posted on September 07, 2009On September 3, the Indiana Supreme Court handed down Mahmoud M. Basileh v. Arwa G. Alghusain.The Indiana Supreme Court summarized the issues this way In this post-dissolution action the Indiana trial court relinquished its jurisdiction over matters of child support to a California trial court...
How Indiana Organizes Its Courts
Posted on September 06, 2009It seems that many people do not know or understand how Indiana organizes its courts. Indiana has three levels for its courts.Trial Courts:Most people understand about trial courts. The divorce or paternity case gets heard by a trial court judge (or the commissioner appointed by the trial judge)...
Indiana Family Law: Where the Law Comes From - Part 3
Posted on September 05, 2009Having discussed legislation (statutes) and court rules, there remains a discussion of case law. Understand that the appellate courts interpret both statutes and the court rules and those interpretations become part of what we call the law...
Indiana Family Law: Where the Law Comes From - Part 2
Posted on September 04, 2009Yesterday, I discussed the role of Indiana's General Assembly in Indiana Family Law: Where the Law Comes From - Part 1. Our topic today consists of the Indiana Supreme Court's role in creating the rules governing Indiana family law.Two rules specifically deal with family law matters: Child Support and Parenting Time...
Indiana Trial Court Statistics
Posted on September 03, 2009Indiana has no idea of the details of what goes on in its courts. We do not because we do not keep those kind of records.I got thinking on this subject several weeks ago after I had an e-mail regarding statistical information about family law cases...
Indiana Family Law: Where the Law Comes From - Part 1
Posted on September 02, 2009Do you know where Indiana's family law comes from? The answer is: the Indiana General Assembly.If there is a continual surpise I get from writing this blog, it is how few people understand the role of the legislature. I get gripes, grumbles and outright complaints about the state of Indiana's family law that place the blame and/or remedy solely on the back of lawyers and judges...
Delaware County's Mediation Program - A good idea from Muncie
Posted on August 31, 2009Let me say that I think Delaware County has hit on a great idea. (Although I understand that there is some connection with the Henry County Circuit Judge as the possible originator. I think its greatness lies in overcoming my two objections to mandatory mediation...
Third Party Custody or Visitation and Michael Jackson
Posted on August 30, 2009This comes from Family Law Prof Blog's Family Law Prof on Custody of Michael Jackson's Children: University of Dayton Family Law Prof Pamela Laufer-Ukeles contends the nanny of Michael Jackson's children ought to have a legal claim for visitation or custodial rights to the pop star's children, but Grace Rwaramba's status as a paid caregiver will likely squash any chance of that...
Divorce and Family Law Mediation Round Up
Posted on August 30, 2009First, What Mediation Can Do For You from California Divorce and Family Law Blog:A Typical Divorce MediationIn a ?typical? divorce mediation, husband and wife try to negotiate the settlement terms of their divorce. Instead of going to court to have a judge decide about the custody of their children, the division of their property, and alimony and child support, they decide to negotiate and settle these issues themselves with the help of a mediator...
Child Custody and Parenting Skills
Posted on August 29, 2009The Modern Woman's Divorce Guide's Fight for Legal and Physical Child Custody in Divorce has some good points about what to expect in a custody case even if guardain ad litem's are rare here as are court evaluators or mediators. Pay attention to this paragraph:* Witnesses: Child custody evaluators, psychologists, doctors, your husband, other witnesses, and the judge will microscopically examine your personal life and parenting skills...
Want to Save Money on Your Family Law Case? (Again)
Posted on August 29, 2009I give you Get Divorced and Live Together from Maryland Divorce Legal Crier which has some very good advice:One husband said he didn?t have the money to move out, so the couple stayed together during the divorce, and when it got too stressful, he went to the movies or she went out with friends...
Child Custody: What is Best Interests of a Child
Posted on August 28, 2009Family Law Practice blog has a good overview of the concept in his Best Interests of the Child Certainly, an older child?s wishes will be given more weight than a younger child. What is the nature of the relationship with the child and the custodial parent? The noncustodial parent? The court will also look at the present home environment and whether the child is prospering within that environment...
Collaborative Law News: Uniform Collaborative Law Act Approved
Posted on August 28, 2009We may be seeing the true arrival of collaborative law. Uniform Collaborative Law Act Approved by Uniform Law Commission comes from The Family Law Prof blog:Family Law Prof Andrew Shepherd, of Hofstra Law School, reporter for the Uniform Collaborative Law Act, reports that the Uniform Law Commission voted to adopt the Act on July 15th at its meeting in Santa Fe...
A Gripe: Overselling a Product for Those Who Want to Play Attorney
Posted on August 27, 2009Curiosity about a Google search lead me to Precedent for Child Custody. Looking over the blurb for the book greatly annoyed me as a lawyer:Let me explain why. This blog exists for many reasons such as the following (without any particular order): touting my practice, a place for me to explore subjects that go beyond my actual practice, and educating the public...
Debts and Marriage- Think You Are Liable for a Spouse's Debts?
Posted on August 27, 2009I have no idea why people think that marriage automatically creates liability for the other spouse's debts. I really like the article Is a Prenup Right for Me? until I reached this:Third, if your fiance has a large amount of debt, you would not want to become legally liable for it...
Discovery: Interrogatories
Posted on August 26, 2009Interrogatories are written questions sent from one side of the case to the other. You can find a good general definition/article here. Also, Indiana's Rule of Trial Procedure sets out the rule regarding Interrogatories in Interrogatories to Parties...
News - Collecting Child Support in Florida Worse Than Indiana
Posted on August 26, 2009OrlandoSentinel.com's Owed child support in Florida? Good luck makes me glad to live in Indiana:When a deputy sheriff banged on Cheryl White's front door one morning last summer, the family's basset hound, Freckles, began howling, and the ruckus awoke and frightened her teenage children...
Spyware, Divorces, and Buying One's Self More Trouble Than Expected
Posted on August 25, 2009Interesting news from Mississippi Family Law Blog Law firm sued for using e-mails obtained in divorce by spyware. With federal law being involved, I suggest that everyone think about this and follow back to the original article.Tennessee law firm sued for using e-mails obtained using spywareA lawsuit was filed against a Tennessee law firm for $2,000,000 dollars for its alleged use of e-mails in a divorce action...
New Indiana Family Law Blog: All Things Family Law
Posted on August 25, 2009I only became aware of All Things Family Law out of Indianapolis on Monday. So far, I like what I see - and I am a bit envious. The writer's tone has a good deal more jauntiness to it than I have been able to manage. Welcome All Things Family Law to the Indiana legal blogosphere!
The Best D**ned Defintion of a Custody Dispute Ever?
Posted on August 24, 2009I really could not come up with a better title for writing about Lawyers.com Blog Online's Getting a Divorce? Focus on Your Kids FirstAt its core, a custody dispute attempts to answer the question, "What custody arrangements will best serve the interests of the child?" This requires a case-by-case examination of the child's needs and the advantages presented by those seeking custody...
Blawg Review by Pink Tape
Posted on August 24, 2009Blawg Review is a site and an ongoing review of law/lawyer blogs. Why did they call it a blawg? It is a lawyer or marketing thing where lawyers call their blogs, blawgs (blog and law melded together). Silly name but Blawg Review itself is not silly...
Living Together? A Cohabitation Roundup
Posted on August 24, 2009The Detroit News' Cohabitating may not increase risk of divorce indicates a change of attitude, But the study contradicts dozens of others that have emerged since the early 1990s, which conclude that cohabitation leads to higher divorce rates."Research clearly shows that cohabiters have higher, not lower divorce rates," said Dan Jarvis of the Michigan Family Forum, which promotes marriage...
News: Indiana Court of Appeals Has a New Visitation Case
Posted on August 24, 2009From The Indiana Lawyer, COA rules on parenting time restrictionJudge Terry Crone wrote in his dissent that Indiana Code Section 31-14-14-1 requires the trial court to enter findings only when it denies any parenting time to the noncustodial parent. Judges Elaine Brown and Melissa May interpreted that statute to require a court to make a specific finding of physical endangerment or emotional impairment before restricting a noncustodial parent's visitation...
FYI: Kids Voice of Indiana - CASA and GAL Services
Posted on August 23, 2009Something new to me is Kids Voice of Indiana (thanks to Children and the Law Blog for posting aobut this):The Kids? Voice of Indiana CASA For Kids (CFK) Program provides guardian ad litem/court appointed special advocate (GAL/CASA) services for children using trained, supervised, represented community volunteers and pro bono attorneys...
Shared Parenting - Looking at Australia and Canada
Posted on August 23, 2009I have discussed shared custody in Indiana (see Shared Parenting - My View and Another's and More Thoughts on Shared Custody) and now let us expand the view. Illinois Divorce Lawyer Blog published Does Shared Parenting require a 50/50 Split of Time? An Australian perspective...
New Indiana Family Law Blog
Posted on August 22, 2009I probably should feel a bit remiss about not noticing JOCHAM HARDEN DIMICK JACKSON's JOCHAM HARDEN DIMICK JACKSON. It is part of their website but I do not recall seeing it otherwise.Rather bare bones, with no outgoing links, and about a post a month, it is still good to see another family law blog in the area...
My Interview with John Bolch of Family Lore Blog
Posted on August 22, 2009Yesterday, John Bolch interviewed me for his blog, Family Lore and it was a very interesting experience. You can find the podcast here: Podcast Interview #10: Sam Hasler - An American Perspective. It lasts a half hour. I was a bit talkative.
Tips on Using This Blog 2
Posted on August 22, 2009For those from Indiana or who have an Indiana case, be sure to look at my Indiana Family Law Resources on the right hand and down of your screen.I also suggest checking out my Family Law Links, Family Law Feed - Justia Blawg Search, USLaw.com Blog Directory, and LexMonitor Daily Blog Review...
This blog is #167
Posted on August 22, 2009Well, that is according to Avvo and the Alexa page ranking on this page. Thank you, readers. (The Alexa ranking of 2,076,165 does instill a serious sense of humility here.)
Cohabitation Agreements Comparing Nova Scotia and Indiana
Posted on August 21, 2009Overall, no great differences but some serious reminders on why to get a cohabitation agreement.The Nova Scotia perspective comes from Protecting Your Property When Living as Common LawA common law relationship exists when two people, who are not married, live together in a marriage-like relationship...
Tips on Using This Blog
Posted on August 21, 2009For my readers, remember that there are many more articles on this blog on this and other subjects. Down the right hand side of your screen are my archives of older articles by subject. You can also click on the link below next to the word "Label". As of today (8/21/09), there are 1,364 posts on this blog...
Parental Alientation Resources
Posted on August 20, 2009Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer provides links and resources in Parental Alienation: Organizations and ResourcesWhether one accepts it as a legitimate diagnosis of a psychological condition or not, there can be little doubt that the term describes a pattern of behavior that some parents actively engage in...
My Indiana Divorce Manual Is Now Online at Scribd
Posted on August 20, 2009Just added this to my account on Scribd. Just follow this link. It is in PDF format, so you will need Adobe Reader to open it on your own computer. Please feel free to pass this along to your Indiana friends.
Relocation - Ideas from Outside of Indiana
Posted on August 20, 2009I ran across What a Move May Mean for the Child very late last night. Still chewing over it this morning. I suggest that everyone take a crack at reading this article from the GPSolo Law Trends & News. (And thanks to South Carolina Family Law Blog for posting about this article in its How Does Relocation Impact Children of Divorced Parents?)...
Is Your Ex Jealous?
Posted on August 19, 2009Call it jealousy, envy or resentment, all to often these emotions drive a family law case more than anything rational.Trifles light as airAre to the jealous confirmations strongAs proofs of holy writ.~William Shakespeare, OthelloI have a visitation case that seems to involve this kind of emotional problems...
More Thoughts on Shared Custody
Posted on August 18, 2009Those who read my Shared Parenting - My View and Another's, should check out Illinois Divorce Lawyer Blog's Illinois Divorce and Changes in our Antiquated Laws?:I'd certainly like to see the concept of "custody" relegated to the dustbin of history. Mom and Dad are parents...
Indiana Discovery Forms
Posted on August 18, 2009I have begun adding discovery forms to my JD Supra profile. You can access them here. I use these forms in HotDocs and they do show the variables that need to be changed from county-to-county and case-to-case.As an aside to any lawyers reading this, I have never understood why Lexis has not incorporated HotDocs into its forms libraries...
News: Indiana - Appointed Counsel for Termination of Parental Rights Cases
Posted on August 17, 2009County must pay for parent s appointed attorneyNoting a paradigm shift in parental rights termination cases due to House Enrolled Act 1001, one Indiana Court of Appeals judge believed the Department of Child Services instead of the counties should be responsible for the costs of appointed counsel in these types of proceedings...
Divorce - Be Prepared for Changing Circumstances
Posted on August 17, 2009Things change. Drafting divorce agreements needs to take into account the possibility of unexpected changes. Although, maybe not as extreme as set out in Cleveland.com's Steven Pumper asks court to dissolve $3 million divorce dealSteven Pumper, who is headed to prison for crimes related to the Cuyahoga County corruption case, says he never would have signed a $3 million divorce deal had he known he was the target of an FBI investigation...
Blog for International Custody/Hague Convention Issues
Posted on August 16, 2009Several weeks back someone contacted me about a post I had written (News: Non-compliant Hague Countries Report ). I had to explain to her that my practice does not really involve Hague Convention matters. However, I did refer her to the International Family Law Blog (which you will find in my family law links on the right hand side of your screen and down)...
Provisional Divorce Attorney fees in Grant County, Indiana
Posted on August 10, 2009My apologies if this post sounds a bit bitchy. I am in that kind of mood lately. Put it down to this sinus/ear infection that just will not go away or professional annoyance or both.Recently, I got back an Order from Grant County. One issue was attorney fees for the other side...
Two Blogs For Non-Custodial Parents
Posted on August 07, 2009I ran across Rightsfor Mothers.com completely by accident. The name pretty much says it all.And for the fathers, I give you Stuart Showalter's Indiana Law Blog. Neither blog is written by a lawyer but both actually seem to serve the same purpose: support and information for the non-custodial parent.
Opinion: Interviewing a Child By a Judge
Posted on August 07, 2009Warning: I use opinion above to indicate when I am about to shoot off my mouth, Read on if you like but you have been warned.In my experience, having a judge interview a child in chambers is generally a waste of time.Parents come to me and say that the child will say z if they can talk to the child...
Phony Divorce to Hide Assets - Not a Good Idea
Posted on August 06, 2009Prosecutors Seek to Intervene in and Block Yet Another Allegedly Phony Divorce Intended to Protect Assets from Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer makes interesting reading:Husband ordered to pay over $3 billion as restitution...
More on Changing Your Name During a Divorce
Posted on August 05, 2009After publishing Can you keep your married name after a divorce? I found The Name Game Revisited? on the Ohio Family Law Blog. Mr. Mues makesa point about dealing with Social Security and gives contact information.
More Social Media and Family Law News
Posted on August 04, 2009Having written about this before (Facebook Problems and Family Law and Are You on Facebook or MySpace?), it is good to see the mainstream media highlight the problems with social networking sites. Actually, it was Time magazine that probably started this particular fire...
Dying After Filing Divorce But Before Final Hearing
Posted on August 03, 2009The Post-Tribune's Next steps in probate estates picks up a few scenarios where estate planning and family law intersect:Your "probate estate" is all property that you own along with interests in property that do not pass to others by what is known as "operation of law...
How Divorce Is Done Elsewhere: Scotland
Posted on August 03, 2009One great advantage gained from writing this blog is learning about family law in other states and countries. I will admit nowadays that this blog has allowed me to see both the trees and the forest, and that was not so true as before I began writing this blog...
Updating the Site
Posted on August 02, 2009Okay, the blogroll has been changed. What have I done?Cleaned out the links for the defunct site and moved blogs with RSS feeds from "Family Law Links" to "My Family Law Blog List" (for those linking to my site and thinking I have removed your link, you might want to look here)...
What happens when your former spouse files bankruptcy on a marital debt?
Posted on August 02, 2009First that not all debts can be gotten rid of in bankruptcy. For family law cases, these parts of 11 U.S.C. 523(a) (that is the formal citation to the Bankruptcy Code) set out the non-dischargeable debt:(5) for a domestic support obligation; ***(15) to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor and not of the kind described in paragraph (5) that is incurred by the debtor in the course of a divorce or separation or in connection with a separation agreement, divorce decree or other order of a court of record, or a determination made in accordance with State or territorial law by a governmental unit; Yes, (a)(15) is a bit more complicated than (a)(5)...
JD Supra Profile: Samuel Hasler | Legal Documents
Posted on August 01, 2009Continuing with getting the family law forms onto JD Supra - custody forms today. These were created originally in HotDocs.JD Supra Profile: Samuel Hasler | Legal DocumentsShared via AddThis
A Divorce Battle From The UK: McFarlane v McFarlane
Posted on August 01, 2009I thank Marilyn Stowe Family Law and Divorce Blog for her McFarlane v McFarlane: A Divorce SeesawIvana Trump said, famously: ?Don?t get mad. Get everything!? It appears that Julia McFarlane, the former wife of high-flying accountant Kenneth McFarlane, has taken these words to heart...
Sorting Out The Personal Property
Posted on July 31, 2009Always got to deal with the personal property.I understand dividing personal property may not loom large in most people's mind. But it is the one thing that will occur in all divorces. Not everyone has real estate. Not every case will have children with their issues of custody, visitation and child support...
Indiana Forms on JD Supra
Posted on July 31, 2009I have begun uploading my family law forms onto the JD Supra site. These are the same forms I use in HotDocs. You can go here to see them.
Prenuptial Agreements to Protect the Family : The Golden Scribe
Posted on July 30, 2009Here is an unpleasant problem: parent's estate planning consists solely of trusting to step-parent to care for parent's children but the step-parent ignores the parent's children after the parent's death. Hard to tell the children that parent screwed up and (usually) nothing can be done- there is such a welling of emotions ranging from incredulity to anger to resentment...
Open Courts and Reporting on Proceedings
Posted on July 30, 2009Reading Pink Tape's Writing About Family Proceedings ? A Blogger?s Guide made consider the differences between England and Indiana. The rules here are much simpler. What does seem where both jurisdictions similar is in naming children. Our juvenile courts are not always open to the public...
What Your Lawyer Expects From You
Posted on July 30, 2009Although I do not care for the site's name, Best/Cheap divorce lawyers, I have to admit that its What your lawyer expects from you is very good and especially its rules:Rule 1: Everything is not an emergency; your divorce lawyer is not on call 24 hours a day...
Office News: Truly Solo for Now
Posted on July 29, 2009As of yesterday, I no longer have a secretary. Mary decided that her working a second job was just getting too much of a stretch. We have been trying to deal with this problem since mid-May. As I am also trying to move into a new apartment this week, things are a bit of a mess here...
For Lawyers - FOIA Requests
Posted on July 29, 2009Not having needed to do a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in a family law case so far, I found this post from UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW, Jeanne's Toolbox - FOIA Requests as intriguing addition to traditional discovery:Family lawyers often need public records...
Changing Out of State Support Orders in Indiana - Talking About UIFSA
Posted on July 29, 2009Another lawyer had a a pending case dealing with an out of state child support payor when I first read New York Divorce and Family Law Blog's Out-Of -State Support Orders Cannot Be Modified in New York : In this day and age in which parties obtain an order regarding child support in one state and then move to another jurisdiction, it is important to know that the original support order cannot be modified or even extended by a court in the second state, so said the New York Court of Appeals in the case Spencer v...
Can you keep your married name after a divorce?
Posted on July 29, 2009Reading Massachusetts Divorce and Wills Lawyer Blog's Name Change During a Divorce and I thought how this applies to Indiana:Many women assume their husband?s last name when they get married. As a result, when they get divorced from their husbands, most want to change it back to their maiden name...
News: Indiana Court of Appeals - How To Divide Property
Posted on July 29, 2009This just in from The Indiana Lawyer. Third time may be the charm for the trial court to divide the marital estate.Court failed to include all assets in marital potFor the second time in the same case, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's division of assets in a marital dissolution because the trial court excluded from the marital pot the property the parties brought into marriage...
Problems with Your Lawyer?
Posted on July 28, 2009We all have problems in the attorney-client relationship. Sometimes they are minor and sometimes they are not. Dick Price of the Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas blog published If You Don't Agree with Your Attorney and I think it worth passing along to potential clients...
So You Are Living Together? What Can Go Wrong?
Posted on July 28, 2009Lots. Most of it can unpleasant if not properly planned for by you and your significant other.Indiana has no protection for couples living together who do not take specific actions (now, dear reader, you see why I have been posted about legislation in other locales)...
Indiana Divorce Law: Bonds for Securing Property Divisions
Posted on July 28, 2009Bonds, the General Assembly seems to have been bond happy at some time in its past. I made this point in regarding custody bonds and I see no reason why the same point about legislative fossils does not apply here.However, unlike true fossils these bonds could have life to them...
What Indiana Needs? An I-Phone Child Support Calculator
Posted on July 27, 2009Jimmy Verner down in Texas has designed a child support calculator for Texas. Check out his site here. I certainly do not have the skills to do this and so I pass it along to those who might,
Complaining About Indiana Courts
Posted on July 27, 2009Let us face facts, our courts are overworked, undermanned, and poorly funded.What some people think the courts are capable of - the court cannot do (and in some cases, should not do). For example, the courts do not act as policeman in family law cases...
From Egg Donation and Surrogacy Blog: Who is Entitled to Be a Parent?
Posted on July 27, 2009I say that is a damned good question and too similar to a conversation I had with a friend on the 21st. Which caused Egg Donation and Surrogacy Blog's Who is Entitled to Becoming a Parent? Does Age, Marital Status or Sexual Orientation Matter? to hit home pretty hard...
Prenup Agreements: Disclose, Disclose
Posted on July 26, 2009Interesting facts in this Georgia case, Baldwin couple?s prenup dispute to go before court and one I suppose could be duplicated here in IndianaAngela Lawrence is appealing the decision of a trial court that ruled the prenuptial agreement she and her husband, G...
Divorced and Still on Marital Debt?
Posted on July 26, 2009First, what does the Decree of Dissolution say about this debt?If it says that one spouse was to hold harmless on the debt and then this spouse does cause harm - such as the other spouse gets sued for the debt - then spouse who was to hold the other harmless is looking at legal action against them...
Observations on Pro Se Cases, Part 2: You Got to Know The Territory
Posted on July 26, 2009I know many come to this blog looking for advice on your case. Some of you are representing yourselves. While I cannot give you direct advice on your case, I can make some comments. Which is what this semi-ongoing set of "Observations" is all about...
Gay/Lesbian Issues in Indiana Family Law
Posted on July 26, 2009The Ohio Law Blog's Are Gay and Lesbian Couples Disadvantaged When Seeking Custody in Ohio? lead me to consider what is the situation in Indiana. I think we are somewhat different from Ohio. Indiana appellate courts have disdained finding a parent's homosexuality in and of itself as proof that the parent is not in the child's best interests...
Parentectomy - A New Term From Ohio
Posted on July 25, 2009I am not so sure that agree with all of Ohio Family Law Blog's Preventing a Parentectomy After Divorce but the differences are a bit on the minor side and on the whole this needs some serious consideration by everyone.According to Dr. Williams, a ?parentectomy? is the removal, erasure, or severe diminution of a caring parent in a child?s life, following separation or divorce...
Why A Prenup?
Posted on July 25, 2009When I think I will stop posting articles from the press about why a prenuptial is a good for anyone, I run across one that is just different enough to make the cut. Top Five Reasons to Sign a Prenuptial Agreement takes the prize for its blunt realism...
Good Advice About Insurance and Estate Planning
Posted on July 25, 2009I like how Massachusetts Divorce and Wills Lawyer Blog wrote (Almost) All About Life Insurance:First, the beneficiary designation of your life insurance is very important. If it is a large policy, for tax reasons, you might want to consider having the beneficiary of the life insurance be a trust that you set up instead of your wife or children...
Divorce Support on the Web
Posted on July 24, 2009Frankly, The London Time's headline With this website I thee divorce oversells and undersells: Like tens of thousands of men and women facing divorce, Jane was at her wits? end when she turned to the internet. There she found wikivorce.com, an online support group for couples facing the end of their marriage...
Paying Child Support in Georgia - Not The Same as Indiana
Posted on July 24, 2009Georgia Family Law Blog's New Options for Child Support Payments has something that scares us Indiana lawyers and may not be allowed by our statute (is not if I understand the Georgia process correctly): Most people do not want to use the government agencies to transfer the support from payor to payee...
Indiana's Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force
Posted on July 24, 2009I am highlighting The Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force web page today. Mostly for the lawyers (because it gives a schedule of CLE for mortgage cases) but there is a map showing the highest foreclosures (with Madison County being one of the highest) and a link to a FTC video (homeowners should go there)
Indiana Case: Another New Grandparent Visitation Case
Posted on July 24, 2009The Indiana Court of Appeals handed down In Re: The visitation of C.R.P.; B.M. v. J.J.P., on July 20. At issue was the grandparent's standing to bring the grandparent visitation case.The grandmother petitioning for visitation was the paternal grandmother of a child whose mother had died and whose father had voluntarily terminated his parental rights...
Cohabitation Statutes: Colorado Has One Now and So Does Victoria
Posted on July 23, 2009About the new Colorado statute, I am relying on New state law offers legal rights to unmarried couples. The article points out the advantages this law has for everyone:While any two consenting and legally eligible adults in the state can take advantage of the new law, same-sex partners and some senior citizens in particular stand to gain important new protections by entering into a designated beneficiary agreement...
JD Supra Profile: Samuel Hasler | Legal Documents
Posted on July 23, 2009JD Supra Profile: Samuel Hasler | Legal DocumentsShared via AddThis
What Are Your Win-Loss Stats?
Posted on July 23, 2009That question is the wrong one, as Dick Price points out in What are My Chances of Winning? on his Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas blog:Instead of pressing the attorney to give a prediction of success, a more productive conversation would be about these issues:* What is my real goal? Sometimes the real goal is to get a better visitation schedule or reduction in child support even though someone starts off asking for custody...
New Indiana Case: Grandparent Visitation Denied
Posted on July 23, 2009Last month, the Indiana Court of Appeals handed down In the Matter of the Visitation of C.L.H.; B.L.H. v. G.L.H. and B.J.H.. Which I am now thinking may be a rather important grandparent visitation case.Summarizing the facts rather bluntly: mother and parents have good relationship with one another during the early years of child's life until mother begins relationship with another woman...
Cohabitation Agreements - Good Advice From Canada
Posted on July 22, 2009While writing of Canada, The Importance of Cohabitation Agreements in Canada sets outs quite well why a cohabitation agreement is a good idea down here in Indiana:We already wrote about the growing number of divorces and sadly the numbers are rising. If we set aside the emotional consequences of a divorce we will still have the financial consequences, which can be much more serious...
Looking to Lower Cost of a Divorce?
Posted on July 22, 2009I do not necessarily agree with Domestic Diversions' Rush to judgment: how to lower the costs of divorce as I think mediation increases the cost of a divorce. The people have to pay for the mediator and then pay someone to make sure that the terms are properly put before the court...
Indiana Child Support Contempt - A Defense
Posted on July 21, 2009There are old Indiana case law states the proposition that child support is not to drive a person into poverty. Not all judges give that a liberal interpretation. While I do not have the citations available, I do want to pass along the federal poverty guidelines for 2009 from the Department of Health and Human Services: The 2009 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia Persons in family Poverty guideline 1 $10,830 2 14,570 3 18,310 4 22,050 5 25,790 6 29,530 7 33,270 8 37,010 For families with more than 8 persons, add $3,740 for each additional person...
Indiana Case: Relocation and Change of Custody
Posted on July 21, 2009A bit late reporting on In the Matter of the Paternity of: Ba.S. and Br.S; Kimberly C. v. Barry S. due to my hiatus. This is the latest progeny of Baxendale v. Raich, 878 N.E.2d 1252 (Ind. 2008).We have a case where mother files notice to relocate and father objects and petitions for change of custody...
George Lazenby and His Prenup
Posted on July 21, 2009I hate to take potshots at a fellow who once had a distinction of being a trivia question for the James Bond films but I find myself with little sympathy from these reports.George Lazenby wants to annul prenup with Pam ShiverHe claims that Shiver is ?30 times a millionaire?, and that he doesn?t want to explain the difference in their lifestyles to their kids, five-year-old George, Jr...
For Those Unable to Afford a Divorce
Posted on July 20, 2009As usual you will find good advice from Dick Price and Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas Blog in If You Need to Wait Because You Can't Afford to Divorce... (sorry, if it has taken me a bit of time getting this published):For people choosing to wait, here are some other options:1...
What Should a Family Lawyer Know?
Posted on July 20, 2009What New Family Law Attorneys Need To Know from Family Law Prof Blog tried to answer. I think they are all good. Would that clients understood better what we do, can do, and that we could explain all this to them.Here is a summary of their responses: * The Honorable Doris Huspeni of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, who began her career as a family court referee, advised, ?Be realistic...
New Indiana Case: Custody and Contempt
Posted on July 20, 2009Another Indiana Court of Appeals case from July 9, 2009, Paternity of M.P.M.W.; A.W. v. Z.B. . Those who think fathers do not get custody of their children in Indiana need to pay attention here.The Court of Appeals summarized the case thus (page 2):In January 2007, Father filed a motion for contempt and petition for change of custody against Mother because she had withheld visitation rights...
Collaborative Divorces It Is Better to Collaborate Than Fight
Posted on July 19, 2009Less expensive in these days of recession, too.Two articles today that I am combining into one with the theme being less expensive divorces.First, from Domestic Diversions comes Happy divorces: using collaborative divorce to avoid more trauma:Smart Money shows how making joint decisions can cost less and feel better...
Indiana Case: What to Do if Property Held by Third Party
Posted on July 19, 2009What to do if spouse had titled property in another person's property during marriage?Put bluntly that is the subject of Krstin Nicevski v. Greta Nicevski , an Indiana Court of Appeals decision from July 8, 2009. Not that there is much new here. The opinion relies heavily on In re Marriage of Dall, 681 N...
What Marriage is Not
Posted on July 18, 2009What?s Wrong With Marriage In America: Expectations! from Maryland Fathers Right Blog reviews ?The Marriage-Go-Round,? noted sociologist Andrew Cherlin's ?The Marriage-Go-Round,? noted sociologist ?The Marriage-Go-Round". It is a long article but worth reading...
You Die, What Happens to the Children?
Posted on July 18, 2009Once more I am posting an article about guardianships. This time from Massachusetts Estate Planning and Elder Law Blog. See, this problem is not one limited to Indiana or to Michael Jackson's children. I do like the point made in What to Do When You Can't DecideBy not choosing a guardian of your children you are deciding that a judge is really the best person to decide what will happen to your children, and any money that they inherit, if you pass away...
State Joblessness Up - Child Support Issues
Posted on July 18, 2009Losing a job means no income and that hits at a several child support issues. And Indiana continues to lose jobs.The Indianapolis Business Journal reported State joblessness edged up in June, and The Muncie Star Press reports an even higher unemployment rate there: Unemployment hits 11...
Reminder About Filing Confidential Information With an Indiana Court,
Posted on July 17, 2009Rarely do I note a criminal case but COA reiterates confidential-information filing from the Indiana Lawyer Daily caught my eye. Remember that during a family law case we may materials containing Social Security numbers that require special paper (green)...
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act, and Family Law
Posted on July 17, 2009Still going back through the drafts and I think I was definitely wrong in not getting to Alabama Divorce & Family Law Attorney Blog's Divorce & Custody Proceedings Involving Military Service Members sooner:The rules regarding divorce or custody proceedings involving military personnel are different than those affecting civilians...
New Online Resource: Blended Family Reader
Posted on July 16, 2009I can thank Twitter for finding Blended Family Advice. Too many of us are living in a blended family - stepkids and all that - and not much to help us understand what we are dealing with. (How often do we see blended families on television? Divorced families but I am having a time thinking of a blended family since "The Brady Bunch" but that might say more about how much time I spend with the television)...
Got Real Estate? Thinking of Getting Divorced?
Posted on July 15, 2009Then get yourself to Updates in Michigan Family Law and read Divorce and distribution of real estate interests. Ms. Hannah has a post that just cannot be summarized but as being as detailed as possible about the problems facing clients with real estate and the lawyers representing them...
22 years to Get Divorced?
Posted on July 15, 2009Still cleaning up from my hiatus, so this has a bit of age to it. But I think Divorce settlement granted after 22 years is a just a bit too interesting not to showcase. I would say that this would not happen in Indiana without a bit of collusion between the parties and the trial court not paying attention...
What To Do About the Wife's Boyfriend?
Posted on July 14, 2009From North Carolina lawyer Lee Rosen comes another podcast, Confronting Your Wife?s Boyfriend:Is it a good idea to contact the person with whom your spouse is having an affair ? even if you just want to know ?why?? Lee Rosen and attorney Holly Gray take a listener questions about reaching out to your spouse?s paramour, and whether or not moving back in with your spouse due to an illness affects your date of separation...
Why Not Bring Back Fault for Divorces?
Posted on July 14, 2009Good Lord, this topic never dies. For some reason conservatives favor the idea. Since I do not, I gu9ess that makes me a liberal. My rant having run its course, let me say I think John Bolch over at Family Lore has nailed the problem quite well:Today I read that Conservative think tank the Centre for Social Justice will recommend that there be a compulsory three-month "cooling off" period before divorce proceedings can be commenced, one of a number of proposals contained in a report Every Family Matters, to be published tomorrow...
Alabama Protective Orders Go Online
Posted on July 14, 2009Thanks to Florida Divorce Blog for Alabama Petitions for Orders of Protection Go High Tech:Now, victims of domestic violence can prepare their petitions for an injunction for protection against domestic violence on any internet-connected computer.From there, the data in the petition is electronically transmitted via the internet to law enforcement...
Unequal Division of Property - New York Style
Posted on July 13, 2009I cannot say that the same thing would happen in Indiana but it sure seems likely to me - with the emphasis on sporadic. The following is from Law.com's Former Attorney's 'Sporadic' Economic Support Results in Small Share of Marital Property:"A disbarred attorney who provided 'limited, sporadic, unreliable and inconsistent' support to the 'economic partnership' of a 17-year marriage should receive only 35 percent of the couple's property, a New York judge has ruled...
Indiana Child Custody: Custody Bonds
Posted on July 13, 2009For those subscribing to the e-mail subscription service, you may notice a trend here about bonds. (For those wanting to subscribe via e-mail, there is a link to the right which explains how to do this). My only explanation is that the General Assembly wrote the laws and I have no idea why they thought bonds were such a great idea...
Divorce and 401(k) Plans
Posted on July 12, 2009MSN Money has a pretty good description of how a 401(k) gets treated in a divorce - How divorce hits your 401k. The article is concise, accurate (at least for Indiana) and clearly written. I want to emphasize these paragraphs:Q: By what mechanism is a 401k divided in divorce?A: It's split up through a qualified domestic-relations order, or QDRO...
New Indiana Third-Party/De Facto Custodian Case
Posted on July 12, 2009Having had a bit of drought of new family law cases from the Indiana Court of Appeals. One of the new ones is In the Matter of Custody of J.V.; D.V. v. J.L. . (PDF format)The facts (page 2): In May 2006, Mother, Eric L., and J.V., moved in with Grandmother?s daughter, who lives three houses down from Grandmother...
Lawyer Envy - Connecticut Coolness - Cohabitation Agreements
Posted on July 12, 2009Yes, I admit the subject line today approaches a bit silly but it does capture my thoughts over what Connecticut has done with its online law library. Would that Indiana had such a thing.If you want to see what I mean, see how the Connecticut Judicial Branch Libraries deals with Cohabitation Agreements...
What is it Like For a Family Lawyer?
Posted on July 11, 2009John Bolch gives us one perspective with his The Life of a Family Lawyer. Yes, closing files can be an emotional experience. Much more than paper in there.
News: UK Court Allows Prenuptial Agreement
Posted on July 11, 2009JURIST - Paper Chase: UK court recognizes pre-nuptial agreement in landmark ruling[JURIST] A British appellate court on Thursday recognized [judgment, PDF] a pre-nuptial agreement for the first time in the UK, where they have been generally disregarded by courts hearing divorce proceedings...
Indiana Paternity: Alternate Means of Paying Child Support
Posted on July 11, 2009I pass these along just to make a point: we have tools that never get used. I have never seen either of these statutes put to use. Why not? Consider the economic level of the majority of paternity cases. Realize that these statutes require some level of prosperity:IC 31-14-11-6Setting aside parent's propertySec...
Indiana Parenting Time - Minimal or More
Posted on July 11, 2009The following came through yesterday afternoon as a comment to post on an entirely different topic:Question;(disclaimer: By the way, in no way am I solicting/initiating legal assistance from you nor requesting/developing a client - attorney relationship by asking these questions...
Got a Business and Divorcing? Think About It.
Posted on July 10, 2009Not that I ever expected to link to a Lawn & Landscape article but that site published Split Decisions and it is well worth reading:"Divorce is never Plan A for couples, and discussions of splitting assets 50/50 can put a high premium on the marital institution...
Facebook Problems and Family Law
Posted on July 09, 2009Arizona Family Law Blog and South Carolina Family Law Blog have both picked up on the problems of Facebook. I saw it but took my hiatus without publishing, so about time I shared it.The articles are Facebook and Divorces and Facebook No-No's for Divorcing Couples, respectively...
Massachusetts Challenges DOMA and a Bit on Gay Marriage
Posted on July 09, 2009Give the Massachusetts Attorney General a big hand for having the nerve to take on the Defense of Marriag eAct. This from her press release, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley Files Constitutional Challenge to Federal Defense of Marriage Act:???Today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts takes an important step toward ensuring equality and fairness for its citizens and maintaining our authority as a sovereign state,??? said Attorney General Coakley...
English Cohabitiation Bills Fails
Posted on July 08, 2009I guess this is International Day for this blog. Head of Legal is an English blog. Its Baroness Deech and the Cohabitation Bill details a bit too much for my American comprehension about the politics of the is particular Bill. Why I want to mention the post here is for the discussion in the comments about the general merits of a cohabitation bill...
The Fun (NOT) Of Interstate Custody
Posted on July 08, 2009I am working on UCCJA (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act) now but it is nowhere near as ugly as the case (I just have a judge who entered an Order giving limited relief to my opponent and ordered briefing on the jurisdictional issues) noted by The Florida Divorce Law Blog:Wife also obtains an injunction for protection against domestic violence, or order of protection, against Husband - in Rhode Island...
Ireland Passes Law for Couples Living Together, When Will Indiana?
Posted on July 08, 2009I make this point fairly often that Indiana has no statute protecting cohabitating adults. I make this point almost as often that such a law would apply to both same-sex and opposite sex couples. I ran across Ireland Gives Gay Couples Civil Partnerships thanks to Google Alerts and it makes clear this same point...
Some Comforting Marital Stats From The New York Times
Posted on July 07, 2009Marriage Stands Up for Itself: "Yet if recent research is any guide, the marriage itself has a chance to outlast all of it, the public leer and the private sting, by many years."***Despite strong social riptides working against it ? the liberalization of divorce laws, the vanishing stigma of divorce, the continual online temptations of social sites like MySpace or Facebook ? the marriage bond is far stronger in 21st-century America than many may assume...
Moving? Make Sure Your Support Clerk Knows
Posted on July 07, 2009The Madison County Clerk has a form for changing your address. Since it was not online, I uploaded the form as a PDF form. You can find that here. I know of no reason why this cannot be modified for other counties.
Muncie - Tomorrow - Free Legal Consult
Posted on July 06, 2009So reports The Muncie Star-Press this morning:Free legal assistance available on Tuesday -Low-income residents can get free legal assistance on civil matters from an attorney 9 a.m.-noon Tuesday at Maring-Hunt Library, 2005 S. High St. triggerAd(1,PaginationPage,5); Indiana Legal Services sends an attorney to Muncie twice each month to offer free assistance...
Behaving Well in A Family Law Case
Posted on July 06, 2009Ways in Which Parents Sometimes Draw Children into Divorce, Intentionally or Not from Florida Divorce Blog deserved quoting in full: "Consciously or unconsciously, one or both parents in divorce sometimes draw their children into the following roles:1...
Indiana Child Support Payment Options
Posted on July 06, 2009The powers that be indicate that the only way to pay child support nowadays is through ISETS. A while back I am talking to the support clerk in the Madison County Clerk's office and noticed Options in Making Child Support Payments. From what the clerk told them our support clerk is taking child support payments just as in the old days...
Madison County Children in The Middle Seminar
Posted on July 05, 2009Since the schedule cannot be found online through the Madison County website, I scanned the year's schedule and uploaded it to Scribbed. You can find a PDF copy here. The $25.00 on the first page is a note as to the cost of the program.
Divorce and what to do with an upside down mortgage?
Posted on July 05, 2009I ran across this issue on a lawyer listserv and one writer made three suggestions that I think are good ones:...We are taking three approaches: 1) working with financial planner to help get all finances in order and maximize income, 2) refinancing (hopefully, they aren't as upside down as your situation but I am working with a good mortgage broker) to save moneymonthly, and 3) working with opposing party to make sure all sides are happy...
Happy Fourth of July
Posted on July 04, 2009What are you doing here?It is a holiday. Enjoy yourself. More posts tomorrow but today this is it.
Legal Separation, Again
Posted on July 03, 2009What to do when the client will have a large child support order, a maintenance order, and an upside down mortgage, but whose marriage is on the ropes? Add that spouse wants to return to school.It helps that the client and spouse can live together.Legal separation gives us the opportunity to avoid both the support and maintenance orders - client remains in the home avoids this...
Divorce, Strategy and Sun Tzu
Posted on July 03, 2009Every case needs a strategy. This includes divorce case. Strategy requires knowing the client's goals and the law.But who is Sun Tzu? An ancient Chinese general who wrote The Art of War. A book I suggest anyone and everyone to read. For more about Sun Tzu, take a look at this Wikipedia article...
Want to Set Aside a Paternity Affidavit in Grant County, Indiana?
Posted on July 02, 2009Then get a DNA test before going to court. That is right, get a DNA test so that the paternity court can order a DNA test.Such is my conclusion from a recent case I had in Marion. Since the client chose not to appeal the case, I think I am free to write what I think about the court's decision...
Top five problems leading to divorce
Posted on July 02, 2009Dick Price caught a post from Alabama Family Law Blog, and Marriage Advice from a Divorce Lawyer? s well worth reposting again:"Here, in my experience, are the top five problems that contribute to divorce:"1. Money ? Whether it is differences in values about money, issues about control of the money or financial pressures that put a strain on the relationship, money issues often lead to divorce...
News: 13 counties receive Family Court grants
Posted on July 02, 2009From The Indiana Lawyer Daily came 13 counties receive Family Court grants (yes, another hiatus created delay):"Counties receiving grants for 2009 are Tippecanoe, $40,000; Clark, $30,000; Marion, $20,000; Vanderburgh, $15,000; Porter and Lake, $10,000 each; Johnson, $7,000; Henry, $5,000; and Owen, $2,000...
What to do if refused visitation?
Posted on July 01, 2009Read John Bolch's What do you do when you turn up for contact and your ex refuses to allow you to see the children?. Imprint this on your brains:If you are not able to discuss matters reasonably with her, or if she still refuses to allow you contact, then walk away...
The Michael Jackson Case and Third Party Custody
Posted on July 01, 2009Let me say I know nothing about California custody law. I looked at my usual suspects for California law and see nothing about the Jackson case.And the facts I do have are from The New York Times' Jackson?s Children Go to His Mother (which really gave short shrift to the kids):LOS ANGELES ? Michael Jackson?s mother was granted temporary guardianship of his three children by a Los Angeles judge on Monday, and a hearing on permanent custody was scheduled for next week...
Educate your family about your divorce
Posted on July 01, 2009Alaska Divorce Blog provides some very interesting article. I read Divorce: Tips For Your Parents and Relatives and kicked myself for not having thought of this subject. I would only add that these tips apply to custody and child support and paternity and visitation cases...
Do You Have to Pay Child Indefinitely in Indiana?
Posted on July 01, 2009Short answer: no. I suggest you go along and listen Lee Rosen's Paying Child Support Indefinitely?, and be thankful for living in Indiana.Mr. Rosen has a great web presence, a large family law practice and he has regular podcasts on North Carolina family law...
Defining joint custody in Indiana
Posted on June 30, 2009The following comes from Arms v. Arms, a 2004 Court of Appeals opinion. I am hacking out the statements of law from discussions of the facts/evidence. I think this might make it easier reading for non-lawyers while it may raise the hackles of lawyers (I know I find breaking it down like this a bit strange)...
Paternity and Adoption: New Indiana Supreme Court Case
Posted on June 30, 2009News of this came in from The Indiana Lawyer Daily. I had not read the case being as it appeared to be only an adoption case. However, I see I missed an an important new case relating to paternity cases.High court rules on putative father adoption caseIn a 4-1 decision June 26, justices decided the Bartholomew County case of In Re Adoption of Unborn Child of B...
Georgia Family Law Blog: Top 10
Posted on June 30, 2009Georgia Family Law Blog: Top 10 Reasons a Premarital Agreement May be InvalidFindLaw has a list of 10 reasons which may cause a prenuptial agreement to fail. For more details, check out the original post, but this is a list of those reasons:# NO WRITTEN AGREEMENT...
News About Indiana's Protection Order Registry
Posted on June 30, 2009This came from JTAC Project Blog: "Decatur County became the 79th county to implement the Protection Order Registry (POR) on Monday, leaving only 13 counties yet to implement the system, which was recently deemed mandatory by the Indiana General Assembly and Governor Mitch Daniels...
Applying a Prenup in a Probate Estate
Posted on June 30, 2009Thanks to Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog for Implied requirement of good faith allows beneficiaries to recoverThe agreement:A prenuptial agreement provided that if the husband died first, wife would maintain a valid will giving not less than one-quarter of her entire estate to each of her husband?s three sons...
Divorce Take Care of Your Joint Debt
Posted on June 29, 2009Those of you thinking about doing your own divorce read Complications with joint credit card debt after divorce:"The best way to avoid future debt issues is to make sure there is no joint debt remaining at the end of your marriage. So while you are still married you should establish credit in your individual name...
Why not a Standing Domestic Relations Procedural Order for Indiana?
Posted on June 29, 2009I found The Standing Domestic Relations Procedural Order: What You Need to Know from the Alaska Divorce Blog. Here are three things that I think ought to apply in Indiana:1. Canceling the utilities on the family home. If you move out of the home by choice or because of court order, you should not cancel the utilities on the family home...
Prenup Related Litigation
Posted on June 29, 2009An item from San Jose Mercury News that did not published during my hiatus. How would this play in Indiana? Probably about the same. Although I am thinking of this as being tried before a judge under a divorce case, I am not so sure that a jury of Hoosiers would be greatly impressed with the ex-wife...
New Ohio Law Bog
Posted on June 29, 2009A shout out to Ohio Law Blog which has a large number of family law posts. I am finding it very interesting to see some of the similarities and differences between Indiana and Ohio. (I do like the layout and style, the way.)
New York Time Book Review of Marriage-Go-Round
Posted on June 28, 2009I think this may be worth noting and for some to read. Books of The Times - Slippery Hitching Posts - Andrew J. Cherlin?s ?Marriage-Go-Round? - Review - NYTimes.comMarriage is nevertheless an American ideal. We are the only Western nation that actually spends government money to support it...
Child Custody Hearings and Indiana Trial Rule 41(B)
Posted on June 28, 2009I defended a custody case last week. Father sought to change custody from Mother. This meant Father had to prove there was a change in circumstances substantial enough to justify a change. After Father finished his case, I made a motion for judgment on the evidence under Indiana Trial Rule 41(B) ...
Counseling pacts for churches?
Posted on June 28, 2009Not sure what to think of Marriage group seeks to make counseling pacts for churches, but I do think it has merit. What most people do not realize is that every family alw attorney would rather have a marriage survive than not."A Wisconsin nonprofit aimed at bolstering the institution of marriage is working with local pastors to establish the first so-called community marriage agreements in Milwaukee and Waukesha...
News: Non-compliant Hague Countries Report
Posted on June 28, 2009What is this about Hague Countries? These are countries that have signed a treaty over international family law matters. Not something I am likely to see but still an important thing to know about.Australian Divorce Blog posted Non-compliant Hague countries: US State Dept report and I think is worth passing along: "The State Department has recently released its 2009 report, and it's enlightening reading...
Brazil and David Goldman - International Custody Issue
Posted on June 28, 2009I have been a bit too swamped here to give anything like a close examination of the Goldman case out of Brazil, UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW has done so and I suggest starting with David Goldman | Back to square one?. I was especially taken with these paragraphs>"The United States needs to make it clear to Brazil that our government will not tolerate the wrongful retention of U...
Pre-nup Agreements: Another Why You Should Get One Article
Posted on June 27, 2009Momlogic approaches it from a different route with its Should You Be Afraid of a Prenup?Who should get a prenup? The easiest way to answer that question is to explain who should NOT get a prenup. If you have no assets, don't anticipate high earnings or a significant inheritance, and intend for your marriage to be a true partnership where all income and assets are split equally, then you may not need a prenup...
Prenuptial Litigation from New York
Posted on June 27, 2009From New York Probate & Estate Litigation Blog comes Wife's Bipolar Disorder Held Not To Affect Judgment --Prenuptial Agreement Upheld: "Kings County Surrogate Lopez-Torres has ruled against a wife attempting to set aside a prenuptial agreement in the Estate of Joseph Menahem...
Indiana Attorney-Client Relationship: Terminating the Relationship
Posted on June 27, 2009Here, too, exist Local Rules needing followed when lawyers end the relationship. Some Counties provide for an automatic withdrawal. Allen County's LR02-TR3.1-703 is a very good example:(3) Automatic Withdrawal. After the entry of a final Decree or Orderthat resolves all pending issues, each attorney shall be deemed to have withdrawn his or her appearance upon the occurrence of one of thefollowing events:(3...
Indiana Divorce Case Law: Liens and Property Division
Posted on June 26, 2009I started this discussion back in April with Indiana Case Law: Divorce, Property Division and Judgment Liens, Call this a post a victim of my hiatus. You might want to go back and read the earlier article.I opined that White v. White, 819 N.E.2d 68, 70 (Ind...
Tip on Setting Up Meetings to Exchanging the Children
Posted on June 26, 2009Meet Halfway: A Tech Tip For Exchanging The Kids came to me from the Alaska Divorce Blog and for those with long distance visitation issues, it may come in very handy:When divorcing parents are working on a custody or visitation schedule for their children, it is not unusual for them to disagree about where to exchange the children if they do not live close to each other...
Obsrevations ona Pro Se Case, Part One: Don't Swear at the Judge
Posted on June 25, 2009Luck has put me where I have seen some pro se cases or had to deal with the aftermath of a pro se case. Which lead me to a decision of writing about these cases.Today's episode happened in Hamilton County last month. While waiting for my case to be called, I got to hear a pro se support case...
Collaborative Divorce Links
Posted on June 25, 2009Not a very fancy post here but I hope an informative one. Basically you will find here the results of a Google search on the subject of collaborative divorces. I hope to spark some interest in this topic, so please read on and follow the links!CP CaliforniaLocate a Group...
Depression
Posted on June 22, 2009I have been seeing a bunch of billboards in my area about depression. I have a case where the opposing party suffers from serious depression. I can say that depression is an insidious, dangerous condition but I suggest reading Mental Illness - a personal perspective.
A Cohabitation Outline
Posted on June 22, 2009The Bradenton Herald published Living together that has an excellent checklist for those of you thinking of living together."1. Get a Cohabitation Agreement. Do your research. If you can afford it, go to a lawyer. If you can?t, there are a number of good books on the subject, and standard forms you can download for free online...
Happy Father's Day
Posted on June 21, 2009A collection of some articles worth reading today:Obama asks men to be better fathers than his ownHappy Father?s DayFather timeHappy Fathers' Day to the Unsung Solo DadsWhat Fathers Do
Shared Parenting - My View and Another's
Posted on June 21, 2009I had a hearing this month where the issue was to continue shared custody or not. The client and her spouse had agreed to shared custody. That is one week the children stayed at the home of one parent and the next week at the other parent's home. Problems arose and my client wanted a change...
Not Dead, Just a Long Hiatus
Posted on June 21, 2009For my regular readers, an apology for the very long stretch between posts. An appeal and personal issues made writing for the blog a bit of a luxury. I am back and there will be a lot of material coming your way over the next few weeks.
Saying 'I do' to prenups may be a smart money move - Saving - Belleville News-Democrat
Posted on June 08, 2009Saying 'I do' to prenups may be a smart money move - Saving - Belleville News-Democrat: "A prenuptial agreement can lessen the potential for a messy divorce by spelling out each party's rights to assets brought into the marriage, as well as those acquired as a couple...
The Choices Made Divorce Settlement Agreements
Posted on May 19, 2009New York Divorce Report reports on a case that probably cannot be duplicated very often in its specific mode - Madoff Loss Jeopardizes Divorce Settlement - but one that can generally happen every day from one degree to another: To the list of things Bernard L...
making a Prenup Valid
Posted on May 17, 2009Nupp Legal provides online legal forms but the site provides a very good What Makes a Prenuptial Agreement Valid?:1. The agreement must be in writing and signed. There have been exceptions when some state courts have enforced oral premarital agreements where both parties sufficiently performed the oral agreement to take it out of the statute of frauds...
Indiana Prenuptial Agreements - Rounding Up Online Forms
Posted on May 16, 2009A bit long and one that I would probably have split into two posts for a bit more of an in-depth review. Instead, I have few comments strewn amongst the excerpts.Indiana Prenuptial (Premarital) Agreement - FindLegalForms.comA prenuptial agreement is a private agreement between two parties who are intending to marry that sets forth the distribution of assets (and debts) that will occur in the event of the parties? divorce or death...
National CASA and American Legion Partner Up
Posted on May 16, 2009A bit late on noting this news - CASA, American Legion form partnership:"The CEO of the national organization of Court Appointed Special Advocates met Monday with high ranking members of the American Legion's Child Welfare Foundation in Indianapolis and the foundation's board approved a resolution for a partnership between the two organizations two days later...
Terminating Parental Rights: Read New Indiana Supreme Court Case
Posted on May 12, 2009I seldom write on the subject of terminating parental rights but from what I can see, the subject remains one of interest. High court reverses termination of mom s rights comes from The Indiana Lawyer: "The majority of Indiana Supreme Court justices ruled in a parental termination case that the evidence presented didn't clearly show a mother's rights to her son should be terminated...
My Apologies
Posted on May 11, 2009Between work and a virus, I have been a bit behind in my writing for this blog. I hope to be a bit more productive soon.
Godo Thoughts About Child Centered Divorce
Posted on May 02, 2009Think about this one.Child-Centered Divorce: Learning from the Mistakes of OthersNot surprisingly, the first two years of divorce are the most diffuclt. In some cases it takes an average of three to five years to really "work through" and resolve many of the issues and emotions that come to the surface...
The Indiana Lawyer Article on Joint Custody
Posted on May 01, 2009The Indiana Lawyer gives the joint custody issue attention in Custody concerns Lawmakers support measure calling for joint legal custody in paternity actions.Glad to see the General Assembly acknowledging that paternity cases are changing:In House Bill 1511, the legislation would create a statutory set of factors for judges to consider in deciding legal custody in paternity actions...
Direct Deposit of Child Support
Posted on May 01, 2009Not something we can do in Madison County. I understand that Howard County allows for using electronic payments of child support. Some other counties apparently have direct deposit systems in place for non-custodial parents. (well, that is my observation from playing with this site and checking out the jurisdictions available)...
Virtual Visitation, Again
Posted on May 01, 2009From what appears to be from The Toronto Star comes Virtually thereIn the real world of divorce, Gough is a pioneer of what?s called ?virtual visitation? ? electronic communication that is the next best thing to actually being there for non-custodial parents...
Paying Child Support in Howard County
Posted on April 30, 2009The Howard County Clerk now accepts payments online. I know that probably doe snot shock or surprise too many of you. (Hey, my wife keeps complaining that Anderson's utility office does not takeOn another page the Howard County clerk gives out its contact information and some important information:It is very important that the Support office has your correct name, current address and social security number so that we may properly receive child support payments and to properly disburse them to the recipient...
Co-Parenting - Sounds like a Good Idea to Me
Posted on April 29, 2009Thanks to Kysa M. Crusco of the New Hampshire Family Law Blog for the following. It has been giving me quite a few ideas and I think I will have more to say. Let me just ask this: would any of the actions suggested in this booklet have helped in your divorce?(Also thanks to Cigar Law Blog for tipping me off about about Scribd)...
Allen County Local Rules: Filing Motions
Posted on April 29, 2009Once more into Local Rules with motions, those documents that we file with a court to get them to do something. To me this Rule is pretty much self-explanatory but I have added some comments for non-lawyers.LR02-TR7-706 Motions(1) It is the responsibility of the party that files a motion to schedule the motion for hearing on the Court?s calendar...
Stepfamilies - A Reading List
Posted on April 28, 2009Collection Development: Stepfamily Ties - 4/1/2009 - Library JournalYet a Brady Bunch nation we are not for two reasons: 1) most stepfamilies don't have the luxury of a live-in cleaning lady like Alice, and 2) stepfamily configurations go beyond the classic two adults who are legally married (or cohabitating) to share in parenting children from earlier relationships (and/or share children together)...
Dealing with Divorce Transition Issues
Posted on April 28, 2009Ohio Family Law Blog published Did Your Ex-Spouse Take the Easter Baskets? Resurrection After the Crucifixion of Divorce for Easter but I think its advice goes beyond merely Easter (or any other holiday): 1. See a psychologist/therapist to help you with divorce transition issues;2...
Coparenting - Check this out
Posted on April 27, 2009While checking out some new family law blogs, I ran across New Hampshire Family Law Blog. There I ran across Coparenting your children which caught my attention.One of the most important things that parents in separate households can do for their children is cooperatively co-parent...
Stupid Lawyers
Posted on April 27, 2009Thanks to Google Alerts I got to read this forum exchange: drafting documents yourself. valid?. My subject line says what I took away from this short exchange.I have written before on here about using online or computerized legal forms. They area fact of life that lawyers needs to start acknowledging and get our heads out of the sand...
Want to Live Together? Think About It....
Posted on April 27, 2009The Observer's Look before you leap into financial bed together has some points that apply as well over here as in England: Young couple worrying over billsCombining finances can seem like a good idea, but it also has its pitfalls. Are two heads always better than one? Combining your finances might seem like the perfect way for newlyweds, civil partners or couples in long-term relationships to shinny more swiftly up the financial drainpipe, but dangerous obstacles can damage the prospects of a new duo: a crumbling credit rating, lower pension payouts and liability for bad debts if everything turns sour...
Mediation - Should It Be Mandatory?
Posted on April 26, 2009I overheard a conversation today that there is a push to move all family law cases into some form of alternative dispute resolution. I can think of several reasons against this idea starting with cost and continuing through the idea that we pay judges to do this job...
A Phrase to Remember: Financial Attrition
Posted on April 26, 2009I want to credit Minnesota Divorce and Family Law Blog and it s article Financial Attrition for my subject line. I never seen the phrase used this way but am all too well acquainted with the principal: "Unfortunately, in some instances, the outcome of the dispute is based on something that is not connected to a child's best interests or what is fair and equitable...
A dream divorce
Posted on April 25, 2009Being a bit grumpy and cynical today as I re-read My dream divorce (PDF format) which leaves wondering if there is something special about Canadians. Maybe it is just that we have not been as sensible about alternatives down here. HOW TO HAVE A DREAM DIVORCE 1...
Non Custodial Mothers
Posted on April 25, 2009First, my thanks to NonCustodial Parent Community blog for the post Noncustodial Moms in Brain,Child MagazineA long article about noncustodial moms has seen the light of day! I'm thrilled and honored to have been a part of it. Kudos to journalist Katy Read and to Brain,Child magazine for covering this issue...
Newer Blog: Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog
Posted on April 24, 2009I ran across Atlanta Divorce Attorney Blog at the end of 2008. Good looking blog with good writing but it does focus very much on Georgia law. I find it interesting to note the similarities and the difference. For example, Adultery?s effect on a divorce case in Georgia shows that adultery has the same effect there as here except we do not have alimony:Alimony also comes into play in equitable distribution...
Coming up: Free Divorce Seminar
Posted on April 24, 2009Folks, I really want some feedback here. Please.I have been planning a divorce seminar for the past month. Work has been such that I have not gotten much beyond the planning stage - deciding a theme, looking at a location for the seminar.Here is the theme: the things you need to know about Indiana divorce law...
IC 31-16-2-2
Posted on April 24, 2009IC 31-16-2-2Cause of action established Sec. 2. A cause of action for child support is established.Prejudgment interest was inappropriate based on the number of years ex-wife acquiesced in ex-husband's failure to pay child support; ex-wife waited nearly ten years from daughter's emancipation to file an action regarding ex-husband's child support arrearage, and ex-husband had not paid child support for a number of years prior to daughter's emancipation...
Child Custody Texas: Splitting the Kids
Posted on April 23, 2009I ran across An Unusual Case of Splitting Custody of Siblings at North Texas Family Law Blog. My first thought about the case was that it sounded like one of those horrors every family law attorney has seen once too many times. Hints of parental alienation syndrome also came to mind:"Although the testimony at trial was conflicting, much of it concerned the mother's state of mind...
Tips for Handling Parenting Time
Posted on April 23, 2009Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer | Boca Raton » Blog Archive » A Therapist?s Tips to Reduce the Stress of Exchanges and VisitationA therapist offers mothers her tips for reducing the stress related to exchanges and their child?s visitation with his or her father...
Where are the Marion County Family Courts?
Posted on April 22, 2009The Marion County located the courts for divorces and paternity cases downtown in the City-County Building. More specifically: 200 E. Washington St., # T-1221 Indianapolis, IN 46204 [map]Pho: (317) 327-4747 Fax: (317) 327-3844Thing is that telephone number is not for a specific court but to the information booth (see the photo below) and there are a bunch of courts...
You Get Served With A Divorce Petition -What do You do Now?
Posted on April 22, 2009I want to give a shout out to Massachusetts Divorce and Family Law Blog's What should I do if I am served with ?divorce papers?? a shout out for inspiring this post.First, service does not mean that you are handed the papers themselves. Indiana Trial Rules allow them to be left in a door...
Madison County Clerk: Where to Pay Child Support
Posted on April 21, 2009Go to the second floor of the Madison County Government Center, and go down the south hallway and you get to the County Clerk's office.I wish I could give you something more about the Madison County Clerk, but the county website has little to show for the Clerk's Office...
Collaborative Divorce
Posted on April 21, 2009I mention collaborative law on a fairly often basis. Rochester Family Lawyer wrote what I think is a good outline with the Basics of Collaborative Family Law"Collaborative divorce in New York uses informal methods of financial disclosure such as voluntary production of financial documents, four-way conferences, negotiation, and where needed, outside professionals, including family counselors, accountants and financial planners...
Tips To Help Your Divorce From
Posted on April 20, 2009Tips To Help Your Divorce From Becoming An Obsession : Alaska Divorce Blog1. The overall message is to try to maintain balance in your life.2. If you own your own business or professional practice or you are employed, your work-day will probably give you a chance to get away from thinking about your divorce...
Visiting Howard County Superior Court 1
Posted on April 20, 2009Last week, I had a hearing in Kokomo. The opposing counsel made an offer that could not be refused and so I do not have anything great to report on my trip. I did, however, take along my new digital camera.I have to say that for a courthouse of limited size, the Howard County Courthouse makes good use of its space...
Now on Twitter
Posted on April 20, 2009I took the Twitter plunge this past Friday. If you want to add me, I am http://twitter.com/schasler
Indiana Case Law: Divorce, Property Division and Judgment Liens
Posted on April 20, 2009Going back to 1993 for Penix v. Hicks, 618 N.E.2d 1346 (Ind.App. 3 Dist.,1993) wherein the Indiana Court of Appeals decides that a judgment regarding divorce property only creates a judgment lien.Here are the facts:On April 22, 1983 the court entered judgment dissolving the marriage of appellant Penix and Charles Hicks...
Indiana Child Support: Proposed Child Support Guideline 7.HEALTH CARE / MEDICAL SUPPORT
Posted on April 20, 2009I promised the entirety of the proposed guideline for the new Health Care / Medical Support guideline. Pardon the formatting, I had to copy this over from the original PDF format. The court shall order one or both parents to provide private health care insurance when accessible to the child at a reasonable cost...
New Indiana Child Support Case: Retirement Income (Saalfrank v. Saalfrank)
Posted on April 19, 2009Dipping into Saalfrank v. Saalfrank (PDF format) once again, this time about whether mandatory contributions to a retirement accounts must be included in child support calculations.Thus, we conclude that, in determining whether to exclude retirement contributions, in whole or in part, for purposes of calculating a child support obligation, the trial court should consider:(1) a parent?s control of whether or in what amount a retirementcontribution is made;(2) the parents? established course of conduct in retirement planning (prior to and after the dissolution);(3) the amount of the contribution (from nominal to a large amount thatcould suggest the inappropriate sheltering of income);(4) whether and to what extent there are incentives for the contribution;(5) whether the contribution qualifies for favorable tax treatment;(6) whether continuing the contribution, in whole or in part, wouldotherwise reduce the amount that a child in the intact home couldexpect to receive; and(7) any other relevant evidence...
Child Support and The Recession
Posted on April 19, 2009Thanks to Massachusetts Divorce & Family Law Blog for his Recession, Pink Slips, and Child Support and the link to The New York Times' Fighting Over Child Support After the Pink Slip Arrives. if you are paying child support and lose your job, get yourself to court and get the child support modified...
Indiana's Child Support Guidelines Up For Review
Posted on April 19, 2009Do not like the current Child Support Guidelines? Then pay attention - they are up for review this year: Review of Indiana's Child Support Guidelines."The Domestic Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana has reviewed Indiana?s Child Support Rules and Guidelines and will propose changes to the Supreme Court of Indiana...
Prenuptial Agreements, Post-Nuptial Agreements and Estate Planning
Posted on April 18, 2009Some good sense and good advice from The Wall Street Journal on using post-nuptial and prenuptial agreements as estate planning tools.The Right StepsA lack of frankness can have dire consequences -- ranging from the litigious (children from a first marriage sue for a portion of the estate) to the emotional (the estate sows division among family members) to the practical (the estate doesn't provide for a partner or child as intended)...
Contempt and Collectiing Child Support in Indiana
Posted on April 18, 2009First, it is clear that indirect contempt proceedings may be used to enforce child support obligations. See Marks v. Tolliver, 839 N.E.2d 703, 706 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005). Indirect contempt is something that happens outside of the court and direct is what happens in the presence of the court...
New Indiana Child Support Case: Rental Income (Saalfrank v. Saalfrank)
Posted on April 17, 2009Saalfrank v. Saalfrank (PDF format) provides an example of what not to do when calculating rental or other self-employment income.Mother argues that the trial court should have based its calculation upon the rentactually received from her mother, rather than including any value she gave her mother as a gift...
My Adventures in Indianapolis
Posted on April 17, 2009Sarcasm alert. Oh, and a picture alert.The set -up: I have an appeal out of Marion County. I am trying to get the Case Summary put together when I find out that the trial court never returned the Notice of Appeal to my office. Earlier in the week, I called the trial court asking them to send the Notice to me...
Indiana Paternity, Visitation and Religion
Posted on April 17, 2009Let us go back to 2004 and Matter of Paternity A.G.R wherein the mother requested and got restrictions on on father's visitation based on the mother's right to control the child's religous upbringing.IC 31-14-14-1 provides that a non-custodial parent is entitled to reasonable parenting time unless the court finds, after a hearing, that parenting time might endanger the child's physical health and well-being or significantly impair the child's emotional development...
Two Tier Family Law
Posted on April 16, 2009Judith Middleton gave me the title for this post from her comment to this post. I had already seen the following articles regarding the English system of public funding for family law cases. I have written before on this topic (see here and here) but with the current economic crisis I think the problems will get worse here...
News: New Protective Order Case
Posted on April 16, 2009This just came in today via The Indiana Lawyer's COA: Non-violent contact order defective. I have not read the case yet but the following is too important not to post immediately."The Indiana Court of Appeals has remanded a case regarding a non-violent contact order issued by a Marion Superior judge June 30, 2008, which involved a divorcing couple...
Family Law and Due Process: procedure, procedure
Posted on April 16, 2009Hovey v. Hovey serves as a reminder that constitutional law has a place in family law. For those wondering why we must get the other side served with a case, here is your explanation:...Here, no notice was given of the alleged evidentiary hearing. We have previously held that a judgment is without legal efficacy for want of due process if a party was not given notice...
Divorce and Bankruptcy
Posted on April 15, 2009I had in mind writing on divorce and bankruptcy until I read Basics of Bankruptcy Discharge and Domestic Support Obligations from the Rochester Family Lawyer blog. I decided I could do no better.It is long and it probably will not do to skim it, but that is bankruptcy law...
One for Tax Time
Posted on April 15, 2009From Family Law Prof Blog - Case Law Update: Tax Time and Divorce. "One often-litigated issue is the tax treatment of alimony payments. The tax code provides that alimony will be deductible to the payor and taxable to the payee."Characterization issues are the most commonly litigated issue in this area...
New Indiana Child Support Case: Deviating From The Guidelines (Saalfrank v. Saalfrank)
Posted on April 15, 2009In Saalfrank v. Saalfrank (PDF format), the trial court made an unusual deviation from the child support guidelines:Here, the trial court deviated from the Guidelines by concluding that the calculation in this case should not account for Mother?s two Subsequent Children...
New Indiana Child Support Case: Underemployment (Saalfrank v. Saalfrank)
Posted on April 14, 2009The Indiana Court of Appeals gave us a new decision on underemployment and calculating child support. The case is Brenda Saalfrank v. Scott Saalfrank (PDF format). I find this paragraph most interesting: Mother worked full-time as a registered nurse at a hospital until 2002, when she earned $53,081...
Indiana Divorce - The Residency Requirement
Posted on April 14, 2009For an Indiana divorce, you must be a resident of Indiana for 6 months and of the county for 3 months. That is the county where the case is filed. What does resident mean?Residence equals domicile and domicile "has been defined as the ?place where a person has his true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which place he has, whenever he is absent, the intention of returning...
Following up on Iowa Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and News for Indiana
Posted on April 14, 2009Another Indiana lawyer writing on the Iowa same-sex case - Iowa's impact on Indiana: my heart versus my head."In dealing with Indiana?s marriage laws, our courts have said that so long as there is any plausible reason for treating similar classes of people differently, they?ll rubber stamp it and go out for coffee even if they think the legislature didn?t have that reason anywhere in mind when the law was enacted...
New Indiana Supreme Court Case: modification of a third party custody order
Posted on April 13, 2009In Re the Matter of the Paternity of K.I. part two. Part one dealt with grandparent visitation.The Indiana Supreme Court makes clear that the presumption of parents over third parties remains intact in modifications of third party custody orders. Specifically disapproved was the burden shifting of In re Paternity of Z...
Muncie - Child Abuse Vigl
Posted on April 13, 2009Vigil to prevent child abuse set for Tuesday | thestarpress.com | The Star PressMUNCIE ? The public is invited to join the Prevent Child Abuse Council of Delaware County to remember local victims of child abuse and neglect at a candlelight vigil at 7 p...
Touring the Madison County Courthouse: Superior Court 1
Posted on April 13, 2009Actually, the Madison County Government Center. I thought it might be a good idea to show off some of the family law courts and I am starting with Madison Superior Court 1. Balme the quality or lack thereof on the photographer (me).I did not get counsel benches in the first photo but I did manage to get the judge's bench and witness stand (to the left of the judge) and the reporter's area (to the right of the judge).
Divorce and The Recession
Posted on April 12, 2009Family Law and the Economic Crunch from lexisONE makes some good poitns for clients and lawyers to think about with our current economic situation:Tax-deferred assets present a slightly different issue. Often the parties offset a 401(k) against some other asset...
14 Kids and Not paying Support
Posted on April 12, 2009So many comments come to mind reading Man dodges child support for 14 kids from The Muncie Star Press:The Flint Journal reports 42-year-old Thomas Frazier was jailed Thursday. Court records say he hasn?t made a support payment in six years.The newspaper says the unemployed man could be held for 90 days if he doesn?t pay $27,900...
Yet Another English Family Law Blog
Posted on April 12, 2009But I likke the idea of demystifying the legal process and want to give Divorce Manual a shout out. I think most of us blogging aobut family law do want to demystify the process (even if it may come about by our griping) but maybe we need something as definite as Divorce Manual here.
After The Divorce - Estate Planning
Posted on April 11, 2009I strongly suggest everyone read The Importance of Estate Planning Post Divorce from PROVISO LAW GROUP:So now that you?ve survived the entire process of divorce and you?re ready to begin the next chapter of your life ? where do you begin? Let me suggest one place to start ? your old estate plan...
Muncie Star Press reports Child Abuse on the Rise
Posted on April 11, 2009Child abuse on the rise in Delaware County: "In Delaware County alone, the number of substantiated claims of child abuse, which includes physical and sexual abuse as well as neglect, rose from 331 in 2007 to 522 in 2008. Reports to the department of child services from Delaware County have increased as well...
Prenuptial Agreements - A Great Post on How to Start Conversation
Posted on April 10, 2009I found a new blog, Musings, Legal Ease and other stuff, out of Ohio. Let me say I like the writer's style as well as the content of Prenupt: a great way to start a great relationship: "The first problem is how to start the dialogue for a prenuptial agreement with your future spouse...
Indiana Child Custody Modification: Inadmissible Evidence
Posted on April 10, 2009My headline has a bit of exaggeration to it. Old facts have no place in a custody modification case "unless the matter relates to a change in the factors relating to the best interests of the child..." If something happened five years or the day before the last custody hearing, it no longer matters (but for the exception above)...
Marion County News: Use of bench warrants still not certain
Posted on April 10, 2009Use of bench warrants still not certain: "A settlement came March 30 in the case of Patrick Thompson v. Marion County Sheriff's Office, et al, 1:08-CV-00481, which arose from the man's August 2007 arrest. Thompson was detained for five days in the Marion County Jail after being arrested on a bench warrant for not appearing at a child support hearing about three years earlier...
Indiana Law: Child Support and Incarceration
Posted on April 09, 2009A bit of delay news from The Indiana Lawyer. While High court expands Lambert decision would appear to apply only inmates, I think it serves as a reminder that child support amounts must relate to the inancial realities.The Indiana Supreme Court issued two opinions today dealing with incarceration being considered as a substantial change in circumstances to justify modifying a child support order and what date a modification may take place...
Second Spouses Be Glad That You Are Hoosiers
Posted on April 09, 2009That is my thought after reading Give Who May End Up Paying Past Due Child Support? Your New Spouse. Quite appalling. I expected something along the lines of a fraudulent transfer (which can be used in Indiana) case but this was something quite different...
Another Seminar for Parents Going Through Divorce: Grant County Project Growth
Posted on April 09, 2009Grant County has its own program for parents going through divorce. What it is seems a mystery except to its local rules.3. In all cases involving the custody of children, including but not limited to original petitions for dissolution of marriage or to establish paternity, petitions for custody and modifications thereof, all parties and any children between the ages of 4 and 19 years of age shall attend and complete Project Growth or similar educational program or counseling prior to any final hearing...
What is a CASA? From Pennsyvania by way of Florida
Posted on April 08, 2009What Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer writes in Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children in a Nutshell applies to Indiana: "A CASA concentrates on a relative handful of children and follows each assigned child closely...
A Wickedly Pungent Good Argument for Cohabitation Agreements
Posted on April 08, 2009Perhaps a bit too pungent, but How To Avoid ?Getting Screwed? When Getting Laid's Cohabitation Agreements: A Necessity in the 21st Century! may get the point better in one post than all of mine on this blog:"Another way of describing a ?cohabitation agreement? would be to call it a ?prenuptial agreement for unmarried couples?...
Indiana Paternity Law: An Oddity or Not?
Posted on April 07, 2009While researching a Motion to Correct Errors for a case under our paternity affidavit statute (go here for all my articles on paternity affidavits), I found Opp v. Davis 133 Ind.App. 365, 179 N.E.2d 298 (1962). The case talks about the social problems of illegitimate children...
Some Humor and Some Seriousness About Marriage
Posted on April 07, 200910 arguments you must have before getting married livened up my morning. Far too long for an easy summary, just read them all.
Office News: New Secretary
Posted on April 07, 2009If you have not been in the office since the beginning of February, you may not know that I have a new secretary. Her name is Mary Phillips. Be nice to her - she has to work with me.
New Indiana Supreme Court Case: Grandparents Visitation
Posted on April 07, 2009My compliments to Mary Beth Mock of Madison on In Re the Matter of the Paternity of K.I. case. The case deals with modification of a third party custody order and grandparents visitation order. Today, I am writing about the grandparent visitation case...
Grant County Visitation
Posted on April 06, 2009Grant County has problems with its Local Rules on visitation. One problem concerns a conflict between Indiana's Child Support Guidelines and the Local Rule. The other problem is a conflict with The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines.For practical purposes, I think two points can be made about the problems of the Grant County visitation rules...
Iowa Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and News for Indiana
Posted on April 06, 2009I suspect those who have been paying attention know that Iowa declared banning same-sex marriage unconstitutional but just in case you have not here is Iowa Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage from The Washington Post: "The strongly worded decision by all seven justices of Iowa's Supreme Court moves the issue away from more liberal coastal states, where most of the legal and legislative action aimed at overturning bans on same-sex marriage has taken place...
Child Services Ombudsman Bill Limps Through the Indiana Senate
Posted on April 05, 2009From The Indianapolis Star this past week, Child services ombudsman bill altered: "Legislation creating an ombudsman to oversee the Department of Child Services passed out of a state Senate committee today after being substantially altered from a version passed unanimously by the House in February...
Post-Nuptial Agreements - Something Big Out of Connecticut
Posted on April 03, 2009Indiana favors using agreements in a divorce which are a bit different from a post-nuptial (also called an antenuptial agreement). We have one case (WordPerfect format) that explains the difference between a post-nuptial agreement and a divorce settlement agreement...
Another Relocation Form
Posted on April 02, 2009I wrote a bit of long post on how to write a relocation petition here but I recently found that Vanderburgh County has posted a form online for relocation petitions. It is in PDF format and can be found here.
Speaking of Divorce Seminars - Texas Style
Posted on April 01, 2009I almost fell over reading Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer's Proposed Texas Divorce Class: Tax on Divorce or Economic Stimulus?:"A bill pending in the Texas legislature would, if passed, mandate that divorcing couples with children, who are pursuing a ?no fault divorce?, take a 10 hour class in the nature of marriage counseling...
Another Prenuptial Agreements Pro and Con
Posted on April 01, 2009Out of Canada comes Pros and Cons of Prenuptial Agreements with a good argument against prenup agreements and an even better argument for. "There are a few downsides of entering a prenuptial agreement. The contract may require one to lose out on assets normally acquired from their partner if he or she dies...
Common Law Marriage in Indiana?
Posted on March 31, 2009No such thing for Indiana.IC 31-11-8-5 Common law marriages entered into after January 1, 1958Sec. 5. A marriage is void if the marriage is a common law marriage that wasentered into after January 1, 1958.As added by P.L.1-1997, SEC.3. If I had a bit more time to indulge my historical curiosity, I think I would go looking for two cases: Stoner v...
The Downside of Practicing Family Law
Posted on March 30, 2009Last week, I had a client comment that she was glad she did not have my job. Reading When $450 an hour isn't worth it from The Toronto Star reminded me of her comments: "The 45-year-old mother of two decided to 'retire' from her $450-an-hour job with the highly respected firm Wilson Christen LLP after growing weary of watching couples fight to the death over everything from kids to cottages, RRSPs to religion...
County video project deadline extended
Posted on March 30, 2009No telling if this is because no one has taken an interest or if there were other reasons. The Indiana Lawyer's County video project deadline extended has only this to say: "The Indiana Supreme Court has extended the deadline for applications for customized versions of the 'Family Matters: Choosing to Represent Yourself in Court' video...
Webster Definition of Marriage Has Changed
Posted on March 29, 2009The ABA Journal reports Webster Makes It Official: Definition of Marriage Has Changed :According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, it is also defined as "the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage," reports the Adjunct Law Prof Blog in a post today...
New service helps men cope with divorce :: Nodaway News Leader :: Our Best to Nodaway County since 1996
Posted on March 24, 2009I ran across New service helps men cope with divorce from Nodaway News Leader and thought it was interesting. "But it?s when men have the hard time coping that society has limited resources for recovery on such a burden as divorce. Yes, there are books, and the First Baptist Divorce Care group has its doors open wide for men as well; but not every man can open up emotionally...
Divorce fair - Is This a Good Idea?
Posted on March 23, 2009I am not sure what I think about Divorce fair debuts in Britain. Part of me sees this as a good thing and the conservative Hoosier thinks a bit differently:"The fair ? cheerily named the 'Starting Over Show' ? takes place Sunday at a cozy hotel in the seaside resort town of Brighton...
Important Rule Change Affecting Family Law
Posted on March 23, 2009Attorneys and civilians both need to take a look at Supreme Court Seeks Public Comment as it Considers Clarifying What Constitutes Pro Bono Work and a Rule Change Regarding Change of Venue from The Indiana Law Blog:"The Rules Committee is also recommending that after a final decree in dissolution of marriage and paternity cases, a party shall not be entitled to a change of judge in connection with a petition to modify, except where a legally recognized reason for a change of venue is shown...
Grant County Custody
Posted on March 18, 2009I like this Rule even if it does have technical problems:4. Some believe that the custody of children is an award given by a Court to the best parent and, therefore, the non-custodial parent is in some way inferior and should only have limited contact with the children by way of visitation...
An Irish Annulment Case
Posted on March 18, 2009I noticed Woman loses bid to annul four-year marriage from The Irish Independent, but had not enough to write anything on the story. Those reading my articles on annulment (if you have not read these, follow the link below this post to the archives) might recognize some of the facts as being similar to some very old Indiana cases...
Something Different: Expensive Celebrity Divorces: Michael Jordan Tops the List at The Insider
Posted on March 18, 2009Work has taken me away from writing for a few days. I hope no one minds this - I consider it almost frivolous - but a point to be made could be this: a prenup saved them even more in money and stress. Think about that.10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces: Michael Jordan Tops the List at The Insider:"According to the prenuptial agreement both Jordan and Juanita had signed, Juanita will be entitled to half of Michael?s fortune and the $168 million is only a third of his wealth as reports by Ace Showbiz...
Grant County Child Support Rules - Income Withholding Rules
Posted on March 12, 2009Oops, a couple of problems with this Rule:2. Except for good cause shown, or pursuant to IC 31-2-10-7, income withholding orders shall be issued in all cases requiring the payment of child support, including provisional orders.First, 31-2-10-7 no longer exists...
Henry County - Pay Atttention About Friday Hearings
Posted on March 11, 2009I am not so sure that I like the idea of a contempt hearing where there is no record that can be easily used for an appeal, but I am also trying to think of where I have had a contempt case set for only 15 minutes. I doubt that may pro se parties would know the problem created by this sort of rule...
Indiana Alternatives to Divorce: Legal Separation; The Grounds for Legal Separation in Indiana
Posted on March 10, 2009I outlined the pleading requirements for legal separation in . The Petition must state the grounds for the separation but only IC 31-15-3-3 gives any definition to the term grounds:Findings required for decree Sec. 3. Legal separation shall be decreed upon a finding by a court: (1) that conditions in or circumstances of the marriage make it currently intolerable for both parties to live together; and (2) that the marriage should be maintained...
Indiana Alternatives to Divorce: A Modern Appellate Case
Posted on March 09, 2009While not a fraud case but annulment using bigamous marriage for its grounds, Thomas v. Smith (html format) still has something to teach us about annulments in Indiana.First, the facts: On January 30, 1991, Leslie and Michelle participated in a marriage ceremony in Boone County, Kentucky...
Indiana Alternatives to Divorce: Legal Separation - Pleadings
Posted on March 08, 2009IC 31-15-3 includes the pleading requirements for a legal separation petition. IC 31-15-3-4 sets out what must be contained in the petition: A proceeding for legal separation is commenced by the filing of a petition entitled, "In Re the legal separation of _________ and _________"...
Indiana Alternatives to Divorce: Annulment Meets Divorce
Posted on March 07, 2009In Mason v. Mason (html format), the Indiana Court of Appeals dealt with a case where the husband claimed the trial court ought to have annulled instead of dissolving the marriage. The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the dissolution over the annulment...
Indiana Child Support : Repudiating a Parent
Posted on March 07, 2009Generally, I like to breakdown an appellate opinion. On the other hand, I do not think I can add anything to this from Redd v. Redd (pdf version from the Indiana Court of Appeals):?Repudiation of a parent is ?a complete refusal to participate in a relationship with his or her parent...
Indiana Decision: Divorce and Bankruptcy
Posted on March 06, 2009From The Indiana Lawyer comes Judges disagree on if remand is necessary:"The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a trial court's grant of an ex-wife's petition for additional relief for funds, finding the trial court didn't hear evidence on certain 'critical' factors...
Alternatives to Divorce: Legal Separation in Indiana
Posted on March 06, 2009The Indiana statutes for legal separation are found in IC 31-15-3. Doing some background research for this series, I checked out West's Annotated Statutes to see what case law exists. As usual with the West annotations, they do need a close look to make sure how much they match up with the statute...
Child Support and Emancipation in Indiana - Child Removes Themselves from Parental Control
Posted on March 03, 2009Grant County Medical Expenses Local Rule
Posted on February 26, 2009Let us take our review of local rules to Marion, Indiana. Grant County rule on medical expenses has two points that need examining. Here is the first:5. If presently effective, or if available through their place of employment, both parents are ordered to pay the premiums and maintain the children on a health insurance policy, exchange insurance cards, and cooperate with the filing of health care claims for the children...
Indiana Decisions: GAL fees
Posted on February 26, 2009This news is not so much new, but still worth noting The Indiana Lawyer report on Appellate court rules on GAL fees: "A guardian ad litem must differentiate between attorney and non-legal work when billing in a paternity case, and trial courts must carefully consider guidelines set out in probate-focused Indiana Professional Conduct Rule 1...
Henry County Divorces and Child Support Worksheets
Posted on February 25, 2009The requirement in (C) about the support docket fee surprises me. Yet that is something that ought to be in all Decrees of Dissolution. The Indiana Code requires it. I think the requirement about payment for the uninsured medicals in the Decree seems duplicative of the quoted part of (A)...
Alternatives to Divorce: Annulment
Posted on February 25, 2009The interest in annulments continue, so I decided to take a look at Indiana case law. There is not much.The most recent being In the Matter of the ESTATE OF Mark R. HOLT, 870 N.E.2d 511 (Ind.App. 2007). Brother petitions court to determine on grounds that remarriage of dead brother and former wife was void due to decedent's mental incompetency...
Indiana Decisions - Grandparent visitation and adoption
Posted on February 24, 2009News from The Indiana Lawyer for the 20th, Court: grandparent visitation survives adoption: "State statute clearly allows grandparent visitation to survive a child's adoption by another biological grandparent, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled."In a unanimous decision today in Elizabeth and Terry Baker v...
Grant County Clerk, Child Support Information
Posted on February 24, 2009Clerk, Child Support: "Child Support (765) 668-6542Hours, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m Closed Noon to 1:00 p.m.///////// INSCCU Indiana State Central Collection Unit Mail Child Support Payments to: INSCCU P.O.Box 7130 Indianapolis, IN. 46207-7130 Customer Service: (317) 233-5437 (local) 800-840-8757 or (317) 241-9636 (TTY) Mon-Fri...
News: Counties wanting local video can apply now
Posted on February 23, 2009Something that could be very useful and so the whole story from The Indiana Lawyer:"Indiana counties that would like a customized self-represented litigant video can apply to the Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration Indiana Family Court Project...
Minnesota Looking to Change How to Handle Child Custody Litigation
Posted on February 20, 2009That is what I gather from Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer's Minnesota Pleased with Early Results in Pilot Program to Resolve Custody Issues Amicably Outside Court: "Minnesota is experimenting with a program to reduce litigation over child custody...
Cohabitation: From England to Scotland to Indiana
Posted on February 19, 2009Want to read how they handle cohabitation in Scotland and England? Read Cohabitation: England v Scotland ? by guest blogger Jenny Wilmot from the Marilyn Stowe Blog.In 2006 the Family Law (Scotland) Act became the first major legislation in the UK to secure unmarried couples? rights...
Grant County attorney fees
Posted on February 19, 2009What we do not often see is a Local Rule setting attorney fees but Grant County has one.1. The standard attorney fee order in all dissolutions of marriage shall be $850, payable as follows: $300 within 30 days, $300 within 60 days, and $250 on or before the final hearing...
News: Indiana Legistion About Legal Aid
Posted on February 18, 2009No, the General Assembly is not going to create a system making sure that everyone has access to a lawyer and the courts but it is improving how the indigent get to court.Bill: Legal aid services can assess indigency: "Indiana lawmakers want the state's legal aid and pro bono programs to have one less hurdle to navigate through when representing indigent clients, agreeing that there's no need to always tie up court time in establishing indigency...
Add Henry County to the list of counties with a divorce seminar
Posted on February 18, 2009Yet another local rule post, this time from Henry County.LR33-FL00-1 FAMILY COURT RULES(A) CHILD SUPPORT WORKSHEET AND CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCE. All divorcing parents with children must attend the required ?Loving Your Children Through the Divorce? program and provide the court with the original certificate of attendance at the commencement of their final hearing or accompanying their Waiver of Final Hearing...
The Costs of Collaborative Divorce
Posted on February 17, 2009I am not so sure that I am greatly surprised that collaborative divorce might have a high price tag. Thanks to Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer for leading me to this letter to The Toronto Star - Collaborative divorce not cheap: "Collaborative divorce is a translation for making lots of money...
From England, The Living Together Agreement
Posted on February 15, 2009Yes, this comes from what appears to be a news release from English Family Law Specialists Woolley & Co..But Back The Living Together Agreement has points that apply to Indiana and they are well made points. February 5, 2009 -- Andrew Woolley, Senior Partner at Woolley & Co, whose pioneering UK-wide family law firm conducts much of its work online and over the phone, said, ?Most people think that if you live with your partner for a couple of years you get the same rights as married couples, but this simply isn?t true...
Marriage Quality and Having Children
Posted on February 14, 2009I am reading Till Children Do Us Part online at The New York Times and thinking this is interesting but I was not sure whether to post or not. What got me the most was that marriage with kids is difficult and there is no one path to success."HALF a century ago, the conventional wisdom was that havinga child was the surest way to build a happy marriage...
Dogs and Divorces
Posted on February 13, 2009I like dogs but I have not had a dog for years. last night, the kids and the wife and I had another discussion about why we will not have a dog so long as we live in town. I mention all this to counterbalance my lawyer's opinion where I disagree with the premise of The Legal Week's Why you shouldn't let your divorce come between you and your dog:"Here, Shelley Hesford from SAS Daniels, says distressed dogs are increasingly becoming factors in how a divorce is conducted - and many couples are underestimating the impact the build-up to divorce and the consequent split can have upon their hound...
More News On New Indiana Joint Custody Bill (HB 1044)
Posted on February 13, 2009I have a letter from State Representative Pond, the sponsor of HB 1044 (which I first noted in New Indiana Legislation: New Joint Custody Bill). My apologies for the delay in getting this onto the blog. I also have excerpted posts from two other family law blog from outside of Indiana that I think give us some food for thought; first as to the effectiveness of a joint custody presumption and a possible alternative...
Federal legislation and COBRA
Posted on February 12, 2009Since I never deal with COBRA except in the area of divorces, I think NBGH Backs Temporary COBRA Subsidies from workforce.com is relevant:"A major employer benefits organization said Monday, January 12, that it would back federal COBRA premiums subsidies as long as those subsidies are temporary...
Collaborative divorce ...meanwhile, over in England
Posted on February 12, 2009I wanted to note this report from the Liverpool Daily Post blog The Legal Week: "Collaborative" divorce offered in Warrington. "A WARRINGTON law firm is offering clients divorces without the need to go to court.Forshaws Davies Ridgway (FDR) say 'collaborative' family law offers separation 'without the drama and stress' often seen when couples meet in court...
Tips for the Unmarried Buying Real Estate
Posted on February 11, 2009The details vary but the facts set out by Ellen James Martin in her : Premarital home buyers? Set up some guidelines in ContraCosta Times are not so so rare:"He's a mid-level manager at the Pentagon whose divorce became final five years ago. She's an elementary school teacher who's never been married...
Henry County Local Rules: Guardian ad Litem
Posted on February 11, 2009Having written before about guardians ad litem (here and here and here), I am interested to see how often GAL's actually get used in Henry Couty.(F) GUARDIAN AD LITEMS. The Courts shall utilize the Henry County Guardian Ad Litem/CASA office for the appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem...
Ideas for parents not communicating with the ex about kids
Posted on February 10, 2009A long time ago, I learned that relationships depend on communication. Here are two sites that I have seen touted for helping parents communicate during their divorce. The first is Joint Parents and the other is Family Wizard. This is not an endorsement, just a suggestion to check them out.
Parenting Time - The Best Advice fo the Week
Posted on February 09, 2009Maybe the advice for the entire year comes from California Divorce and Family Law Blog's In divorce, put focus on well-being of the kids:"Non-custodial parents must persist in maintaining contact with their children, even if the other parent makes it difficult or a child seems to push them away...
Think About It: What Goes into a Prenuptial or Cohabitation Agreement
Posted on February 09, 2009Deborah Moskovitch has written a book on divorce and is blogging on divorces with her The Smart Divorce® Weblog.Her The thinking behind a prenuptial or co-habitation agreement beigns with: "I am currently researching a book entitled Get It Right This Time and Move On: The Conversation You Need to Have...
Dealing with the collateral damage Divorce
Posted on February 08, 2009I want to share More magazine's Divorce's collateral damage. I have tried to point out the inability of the law to reach the underlying problems in a divorce and here is an other example. I do not know many lawyers capable of dealing with the emotional problems created by fractious personal relations:"Jan Schloss, a social worker, certified parenting coach and family mediator, often discusses with her clients the issues related to the loss of these relationships...
Indianapolis - Auction for domestic-violence victims
Posted on February 07, 2009This news from The Indiana Lawyer's Auction to benefit domestic-violence victims seems well worth noting here:"The Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis' Women's Caucus is hosting its annual auction Feb. 12 to raise funds for the Protective Order Pro Bono Project...
The Collaborative Family Law Association of Indiana
Posted on February 07, 2009The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals website shows the following information for Indiana:IACP: Collaborative law,collaborative practice,collaborative divorce.: "Collaborative Family Law Association of Indiana, Inc.(7 IACP members)Service Area: IN USA ContactPerson: Andrew MallorPhone: 812-336-0200Website: Email: acmallor@mcgb...
Parents and the Financial Crisis
Posted on February 07, 2009No, this post does not directly deal with divorce or other family law matters. Money does touch on the legal matters this blog's usual topics. It may be that the information in Parents and the Financial Crisis: An Update at SmartMoney.com will help you with your legal matters and it may be that it will just help...
Say the right thing: 10 ways to defuse conflict and promote harmony | Domestic Diversions
Posted on February 06, 2009Domestic Diversions reprints Laurie Puhn?s list in his post Say the right thing: 10 ways to defuse conflict and promote harmony and that seems a very good idea:1. ?Thank you for your opinion. I?ll think about it.?2. ?Is this a good time for you??3. ?Would you like my thoughts??4...
Delaware County Local Rules: Child Support Modification Orders
Posted on February 05, 2009How often do we see a problem where the the support set up card has not been changed with the County Clerk? Or where the support arrears gets automatically set up on the Clerk's records. Muncie has a solution to this problem:LR18-DR00-DLR-004 B. Order of Modification...
Local Rules on Parenting Time: Boone County
Posted on February 04, 2009Well, I got to say that Boone County, Indiana has the best local rule on visitation based on brevity:LR06-FL00-BLR-17PARENTING TIME GUIDELINESThe Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines are hereby adopted by Boone County, together with any and all modifications and/or amendments thereto, effective as of the date said Guidelines determined effective by the Indiana Supreme Court...
Parenting Time - Alternate Means
Posted on February 04, 2009Some new articles on Internet visitation. For something older, you might want to check out my Visitation by E-Mail. Meanwhile, let us take a look at the new articles.First, take a look at Ohio Family Law Blog's Virtual Visitation: Part 1 - Utilizing Technology to Supplement Parenting Time: "Not too long ago, divorced parents had limited communication options to stay in touch with their children...
Pyschological Effects of Divorce
Posted on February 03, 2009I suggest everyone read Ohio Family Law Blog's Feeling Guilty About Your Divorce?. I find the article too long and probably too important for digesting. So give it all a look.
Divorce and Valuing Property
Posted on February 02, 2009The Modern Woman?s Divorce Guide asks a question I get fairly often, What is your property worth in Divorce?:"It depends on the method you and/or your husband select or upon which the judge relies. Some of the more common methods I have witnessed being used in divorce proceedings include the following:Hiring a Certified Real Estate Appraiser to produce a real estate appraisal...
Divorce and the credit crunch
Posted on February 01, 2009Along the lines of misery loves counsel, a reminder that the credit crunch is nationwide and even world-wide. What can we learn from all this?DivorceSolicitor has Trapped by the credit crunch?:"What happens when couples can't afford to divorce? Maybe we will go the way of Southern Ireland - when it was difficult to get a divorce they divided the house in two - I predict that lots more people will live separate lives in the same house and there will be an increase in planning applications to convert houses into flats!!!"Not so sure how well that will work for my clients who rent apartments...
Cohabitation Agreements - Define carefully
Posted on January 31, 2009This applies to more than cohabitiation agreements. The following from Elliot Schlissel's New York Law Blog, Defining ?Cohabitation? in Your Separation Agreement applies to prenuptiaon and post-nuptial agreements:"I understand what the Court of Appeals said better than I understand the two lower courts...
Family Law and Summonses
Posted on January 31, 2009I want to strongly urge that we need a better summons form for divorce cases. Too often we use the same form as for civil suits. Why is this so bad?Here is the language used in a usual civil summons:The nature of the suit against you is stated in the complaint which is attached to this document...
Mandatory Discovery for Divorce and Child Support Cases - Allen County
Posted on January 30, 2009When I wrote Mandatory Discovery for Indiana?, I was not looking at the local rules from any of our counties. Several counties do have Local Rules amounting to mandatory discovery. I am going to review the counties where my practice runs for Local Rules with a bent towards mandatory discovery...
The New Jersey Family Law Blog
Posted on January 30, 2009I want to recommend the The New Jersey Family Law Blog. Good design, good writing, and, for my Hoosier readers, the contrast to how some states are different are from Indiana. Such as the subject of alimony.
Delaware County: Modifying Custody or Spousal Maintenance or Child Support in Delaware County
Posted on January 29, 2009Here lies some problems of local rules. Pay attention to this Delaware County Local Rule for Domestic Relation Cases:A. Petition for Modification. No Petition for Modification of Custody, Child Support, or Spousal Maintenance will be entertained unless a full year has elapsed from the date of the last decision of the court pertaining to custody, support or maintenance, except on showing by a verified petition requesting a hearing and setting forth in detail that an extreme emergency exists...
Are you prepared for your prenup?
Posted on January 29, 2009Give Preparing for your Prenuptial Agreement a good reading. I only ran across Linda's Law Blog Today but I thoroughly enjoyed this post. It made me think about a few things in a way I had not done so before.Here are some highlights:As part of your preparation, you should also have an idea of your plans with your future spouse...
Emergency Custody: Ripley County and Allen County
Posted on January 27, 2009Recently, a custody case took me to Ripley County. Which gave me reason to read the Local Rules for Ripley County. I found a couple of items I found very impressive and here is one:LR69-TR65-12 EX PARTE EMERGENCY CUSTODY OR EX PARTE GUARDIANSHIPS OF MINOR CHILDRENWhether in the context of a dissolution of marriage, paternity, guardianship, or any other proceeding, where one is seeking ex parte or emergency custody of a child or ex parte emergency guardianship of a minor child, the following minimum information will be required:1...
Alternative to Divorce: A Post-Nuptial Agreement
Posted on January 27, 2009I read The New Jersey Family Law Blog's If you want to divorce but cannot afford to due to the depressed housing market, then a post-nuptial agreement may be worth considering with some interest. The post suggests post-nuptial agreements as an alternative to divorce...
Prenuptial Agreements - Some History
Posted on January 26, 2009FindLaw's Writ published Prenuptial Agreements: The Iowa Supreme Court Takes a Strong Pro-Enforcement Stance which might interest those outside of Iowa."In the modern era, prenuptial agreements are tolerated to a much greater extent than they were historically...
A Collaborative Divorce Post - New York and then te World
Posted on January 26, 2009First, from Rochester, New York comes a new blog, Rochester Family Lawyer, with a post on collaborative law, Basics of Collaborative Family Law.I think the article does a very good job of describing collaborative law and is the first I can recall describing the difference between collaborative divorce and mediation/arbitration:"Collaborative divorce in New York uses informal methods of financial disclosure such as voluntary production of financial documents, four-way conferences, negotiation, and where needed, outside professionals, including family counselors, accountants and financial planners...
Local Rules
Posted on January 25, 2009I am writing a bit about local rules right now. Let me explain a bit about these local rules. First, understand that most rules are not local. The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, The Child Support Guidelines, and the Indiana Trial Rules are statewide...
Prenups and Eldercare - Premarital Agreements for Elderly Couples
Posted on January 25, 2009George Slater has been one of the big names in Indiana elder law as long as I remember. Now he has a blog Legal Issues in Eldercare. I suggest reading it for the general subject matter but I found Premarital Agreements for Elderly Couples to have relevance for this blog: "Without a premarital agreement a spouse cannot be disinherited...
Setting hearings in Madison County - Local Rules: LR48-TR40-27 TRIAL AND PROVISIONAL HEARING SETTINGS
Posted on January 24, 2009What does it take to get a case in front of a judge? Quite a few things but Madison County (and some other courts) has a local rule setting out the mechanics of setting a hearing.I wrote the following in my More counties with financial declarations, this list is not exhaustive:Please, do not think this list exhausts all of Indiana's counties...
More counties with financial declarations
Posted on January 22, 2009Having written Madison County Local Rules: LR48-FL00-17 FINANCIAL DECLARATIONS/SUPPORT WORK SHEETS and Forms - Indiana Financial Declarations, I thought a short review of other counties requiring a financial declaration might be of use. I started with the counties surrounding Madison County but only Henry County and Hamilton County have rules on financial declarations...
Electronic Recording Gone Bad
Posted on January 21, 2009The same day I published What About Recording Conversations?, The Florida Divorce Blog published Nebraska Court Rejects Relocation / Custody Tactic: Bugging Child?s Teddy Bear. Anyone reading my article will know the following would be illegal here:The Court bars use of the recordings in the courtroom, on the grounds that making the recordings was illegal...
Miami Superior judge admonished for emergency custody order without hearing
Posted on January 20, 2009Not giving the other side a hearing is bad on so many levels. We dealt with this issue years ago in Madison County. Still, it continues. I am reprinting the article from The Indiana Lawyer, Commission admonishes Miami Superior judge, just because this problem and its solution needs known by wider public:"A Miami Superior judge received a public admonition today from the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications for granting an ex parte petition in a child custody case...
What About Recording Conversations?
Posted on January 19, 2009Tape recording conversations came up in a hearing last week in Versailles. That had been the first for a very long time. As we have seen in the past few years with Alec Baldwin and David Hasslehoff, technology has changed so much that everyone has a video camera and a tape recorder in their cell phones...
Getting Noticed by The Wall Street Journal
Posted on January 19, 2009Actually, this amuses me but at the same time it reminds how close everything is on the Internet: Stories From Around The Web. I guess it is randomly chosen as I wish it had picked a different article of mine to highlight. So it goes, he says with a chagrined look.
For My Allen County Readers - Clerk's Office Child Support Information
Posted on January 19, 2009Allen County Government - Child Support: "The Clerk's Child Support Division is located in the Allen County Courthouse, Room 200, 715 S. Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, IN, 46802, (260) 449-7588. The office is closed on Saturday, Sunday, and all legal holidays...
Indiana Alternatives to Divorce: Legal Separation
Posted on January 18, 2009This will be the first of a short series about alternatives to divorce.In all my time here, I have written one article on legal separation. If you follow that link, you will see my reasons for the scarcity of of my writing on this subject. However, I ran across Julie Glade's web page and she gave me something to think about (besides wondering if Lake County sees more legal separations than I do down here - Kent A...
Following up on New Indiana Legislation: New Joint Custody Bill
Posted on January 18, 2009Thanks to an e-mail from Stuart Showalter, Executive Director of Boone County Child Advocates, I already have a follow up to New Indiana Legislation: New Joint Custody Bill. He pointed out to me that his organization's website has a page on this new Bill here...
Joint custody bill
Posted on January 17, 2009he Indiana General Assembly has a Bill pending that would change the presumption in custody cases to joint custody instead of sole custody in one parent. The digest reads as follows:Joint legal custody. Establishes a rebuttable presumption that an award of joint legal custody is in the best interest of a child...
New Indiana Case: Swadner v. Swadner Part IV (Work Related Child Care Costs)
Posted on January 16, 2009Today's issue from Swadner v. Swadner (PDF format) is not as groundbreaking as in Swadner v. Swadner Part I (Children's Names) or Swadner v. Swadner Part III (Relocation). I admit work related child care costs might not have the general interest of Swadner v...
Sometimes.... I just have to wonder
Posted on January 16, 2009Florida Divorce Law Blog has the greatest example of understatement I have seen this year with Not Your Typical Post-Divorce Proceedings ?: "Couple divorce.Ex-husband adopts ex-wife?s persona on internet ? 1,577 times.Ex-husband uploads nude photos of former wife to internet...
New Indiana Case: Swadner v. Swadner Part V (Property Division)
Posted on January 16, 2009Today I finish my discussion of Swadner v. Swadner (PDF format). Previously, I discussed Children's Names, Joint Custody, Relocation, and work related child care costs. The following comes from page 17 of the opinion:When ordering an unequal division, the trial court must consider all of the factors set out in the statute...
New Indiana Case: Swadner v. Swadner Part III (Relocation)
Posted on January 15, 2009I dealt with the child's names and contempt issues of Swadner v. Swadner (PDF format) in Swadner v. Swadner Part I (Children's Names) and joint custody in Swadner v. Swadner Part II (Joint Custody). I come now to what is for me the more troublesome part of the case...
New Indiana Case: Swadner v. Swadner Part II (Joint Custody)
Posted on January 14, 2009I dealt with the child's names and contempt issues of Swadner v. Swadner (PDF format) in Swadner v. Swadner Part I (Children's Names) . Today, I want to discuss the joint custody issue especially as it concerns whether the parents are "willing and able to communicate and cooperate in advancing the child?s welfare...
Another Remedy for Parental Alienation Syndrome?
Posted on January 14, 2009The Florida Divorce Blog gets the credit for noting this New Jersey case in her post NJ: Parental Alienation May Result in a Judgment for Damages to the Other Parent for Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress:"A New Jersey trial court has recognized a parental right to seek monetary damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress as a result of the other parent (and / or their relatives) turning their children against him or her...
New Indiana Case: Swadner v. Swadner Part I (Children's Names)
Posted on January 13, 2009Why Part I? Because this case from December 12 just too many interesting issues to write about. The Indiana Lawyer wrote up Swadner v. Swadner (PDF format) as Mom not in contempt over middle name change only makes one point out of several interesting ones...
The New Economy and Divorces
Posted on January 13, 2009Another example where Indiana, and especially the Anderson area, has a led on the rest of the country: In Housing Fall, Breaking Up Is Harder to Do. The New York Times reports a problem we have had here for a while and I expect to persist.Chalk up another victim for the crashing real estate market: the easy divorce...
Paternity - Paying the Birth Expenses in Indiana
Posted on January 12, 2009I can only describe In Re: The Matter of the Paternity of D.J. (PDF format) as a bit odd. Usually, the issue of how much a father must pay for birth expenses does not come up. What gives this case its oddness is that the child was born in 2001 and how the trial court handled the issue of child support's start date:After hearing the evidence on March 18, 2008, the trial court found that J...
Sleep Overs
Posted on January 12, 2009I want to thank Dick Price of Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas for complimenting this blog in his Are "Sleep Overs" Allowed?.I suggest non-custodial parents read this post even if it is out of Texas. (I also suggest custodial parents who are dating read it, too)...
Educating Children About the Costs of Having Children
Posted on January 11, 2009Thanks to the Florida Divorce Blog pointing out Reading, Writing and ? Calculating Child Support Payments:"Texas had a higher rate of teen pregnancy than the national average. And unmarried fathers often weren?t involved with their kids.In an effort to remedy both problems, Texas added Parenting and Paternity Awareness to its high school curriculum this year...
Finally An Indiana Cohabitation Case with a Written Agreement
Posted on January 11, 2009Unfortunately, the Indiana Court of Appeals determined Michael Poulimas v. Angel Ewing (PDF format) as a Not For Publication case. It is not available to us as precedent.Still, three points come to mind:The loser seems to have failed to understand the cohabitation agreement and then failed to present evidence and/or claims to refute the winner's theory...
2009 General Aseembly: Grandparent Visitation Comes Again to the General Assembly
Posted on January 11, 2009I saw only one family law related legislation mentioned in The Indianapolis Business Journal's New legislation streaming in:"? Grandparent visitation: Senate Bill 26, authored by Sen. John Waterman, R-Shelburn, provides that a child's grandparent can seek visitation rights when a parent or guardian unreasonably denies or restricts visitation...
COBRA in Indiana
Posted on January 10, 2009For those who do not know, COBRA has nothing to do with the snake. COBRA has everything to do with health insurance. COBRA allows for the continuance of medical insurance after a divorce. One spouse can keep coverage with the other spouse's insurance company for a monthly payment...
Family Law and Pretrial Conferences - Riffing on Marshall County's Local Rules
Posted on January 10, 2009I wrote about the possibility of using the pretrial conference rule here. From my previous foray into Marshall County's local rules, I noticed that county has a rule promoting the use of pre-trial conferences:(A) The parties and their counsel shall meet for a final pre-trial conference before a contested final hearing shall be held...
For What It Is Worth
Posted on January 10, 2009This blog now has a bit over a thousand posts. I hope there is more than prolificacy in this number. More will becoming.
Madison County Rules: LR48-TR53-19 OFFICE STAFF, REFEREES, MASTER COMMISSIONERS, SENIOR JUDGES, AND MAGISTRATE
Posted on January 09, 2009What does this Rule have to do with family law in Madison County, Indiana? A lot - I think. This Rule sets out who will hear a case and why. More often than not, the Judges do not hear family law cases. The Judges of Superior Court One and Three have a large criminal docket, and those cases must go first...
A Very Good Definition of Cohabitation Agreements
Posted on January 09, 2009Comes from wedding-junction.com's Cohabitation Agreements:"You might not know a lot about cohabitation agreements. If you are curious to know what they are, let me tell you - they are prenuptial agreements for couples who want to live together before they decide to get married...
Cohabitation and Pet Custody
Posted on January 08, 2009While not a new subject (I have posts here and here and here and here), I could not resist The London Times' Forget the kids ? now custody battles are switching to Fido. I think this is the first article discussing pets and cohabitation agreements. "Couples who lived together but never married are drawing up more informal agreements...
A Compliment from NonCustodial Parent Community Blog
Posted on January 07, 2009I noticed yesterday that NonCustodial Parent Community Blog linked to my Enforcing Visitation Rights/Parenting Time and had a few good things to say about my post. I have not had time to thoroughly check out the NonCustodial Parent Community Blog, but I do like what I have seen...
Military Health Insurance and Divorce
Posted on January 07, 2009I want to thank South Mississippi Family Law Blog for pointing out the post 20/20/20 Rule In Military Divorce from the Florida Divorce & Family Law Blog. South Mississippi Family Law Blog is a new blog for me but I think Timothy Evans is off to a very good start...
Madison County Local Rules: LR48-AR00-18 Children in the Middle Seminars
Posted on January 06, 2009Our unified courts (that is Superior Court 1, 2, and 3) and our Circuit Court require divorces with children to include the Children in the Middle Seminar. This local rule sets out how it is supposed to operate.LR48-AR00-18 CHILDREN AND DISSOLUTION PROCEEDINGSA...
Happy New Year
Posted on January 03, 2009There has been a bit of a hiatus. Things will pick up in the next week.
Marshall County Visitation Rules
Posted on December 30, 2008What gives with Marshall County? Far from my stomping grounds but I have had some visitors to this blog looking for information on Marshall County's Parenting Time Guidelines. I have had a chat with a potential client who had a case there and talked about a "no sleep over" rule...
Madison County Local Rules: LR48-FL00-17 FINANCIAL DECLARATIONS/SUPPORT WORK SHEETS
Posted on December 29, 2008For those whose have cases in Madison County, Indiana, I thought I might post a bit on our local rules. You can find these rules online here.LR48-FL00-17 FINANCIAL DECLARATIONS/SUPPORT WORK SHEETSFinancial Declarations on forms adopted by the Court and Indiana Child Support worksheets shall be completed in full, dated and filed prior to trial in all contested matters involving child support or disposition of assets...
How to Think of Prenup Agreements
Posted on December 29, 2008Prenup agreement another insurance from The Ironton Tribune makes the best point about prenups:"You probably have car insurance, home owner?s or renter?s insurance and life insurance. However, I think it?s probably safe to say that most people who have these don?t assume that they will wreck or their house will burn down or that they will die anytime in the very near future and they are surely not going to hope for it...
Points on a Pyschological Evaluation for a Relocation Case
Posted on December 29, 2008I find some good points and several things to think about in the Utah County Psychological Assessment's Relocation Child Custody Cases:"Here are some of the important points that need to be covered in a child custody evaluation that deals with relocation...
Prenuptial Agreements - A FAQ and A Contrarian View
Posted on December 28, 2008Lawfirms.com (beta) has a short FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on prenuptial agreements here. If you have read my articles here (and if you have not, then follow the label "prenuptial agreements" below) on prenuptial agreements and still have questions, this might be a good place to go...
Enforcing Visitation Rights/Parenting Time
Posted on December 28, 2008Down in Evansville, the county government created a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on Visitation Rights/Parenting Time. I think the following are good points to drag back here for emphasis. I have some comments interlaced with the original text...
Helping children survive the holidays
Posted on December 28, 2008A bit behind on my postings but going ahead with How divorced parents can help children survive the holidays from UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW. As I was reminded by my seven year old stepson last night, his Christmas vacation is not other - yet."Whatever parents do during the holidays, they should keep foremost in their minds that holidays are meant to be magical for children...
Reviewing Child Custody Coach and Some Thoughts on Lawyers and Clients
Posted on December 27, 2008I found Child Custody Coach several weeks back. I find the concept both interesting and disturbing. I suppose some will find my reaction predictable - after all, this service does tread on attorney's turf. I suggest you read on because it is not that it treads upon the turf of lawyers that disturbs me...
Merry Christmas and a Note for My Subscribers
Posted on December 25, 2008I want to wish my readers a Merry Christmas (or Hanukkah) and a prosperous New Year.For my subscribers, I want you to know that you are foremost in my mind when I write these posts. Any feedback is more than welcome.I hope all of you stay with me this coming year.
Preparing for the Holidays?
Posted on December 24, 2008Read Family Lore's Unhappy Xmas = Prosperous New Year!:"With grateful thanks to Jailhouselawyer for bringing it to my notice, today I write to urge all married couples NOT to read the article 'How to survive Christmas as a couple' that appeared in the Telegraph yesterday...
Want to Talk to a Lawyer?
Posted on December 23, 2008Mark down January 19th for 'Talk to a Lawyer Today'. This comes from The Indiana Lawyer's Volunteers needed for Talk to a Lawyer:"The Indiana State Bar Association needs attorneys to volunteer for the Pro Bono Committee's annual 'Talk to a Lawyer Today' effort on Jan...
A Brilliant Idea from Mississippi
Posted on December 23, 2008I suspect more lawyers than non-lawyers will find this interesting but The Kisselburgh Law Firm (the same firm that publishes The Mississippi Family Law Blog) now offers a Mississippi Divorce Guide - Free CD.For most of why I think this is brilliant you need to read the firm;s own description of the CD and its purpose...
Online Resources
Posted on December 23, 2008This is another of my posts for the DIY crowd.HALT has a series of articles relating to family law issues.For those wandering in here from the United Kingdom, Family Bubble has a resources page here.Although I have a critique in the works, there is Custody Coach for those looking at a custody case (especially in California).
Answer to A Case off The Beaten Path: Does French Law or New York Law Apply
Posted on December 23, 2008Court: French marriage contract rules US divorce from The International Times-Herald, provides the answer to the post A Case off The Beaten Path: Does French Law or New York Law Apply:ALBANY, New York: New York's top court says a couple's 1965 French marriage contract determines their divorce property settlement, trumping a New York law that would have required "equitable distribution" of their collective assets...
Talking About Wiki's
Posted on December 22, 2008With apologies to a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcMeA3fzn_w"Eric span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Burdon/span/a, I talked about span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"wiki's/span before a href="http://haslerlaw2...
Lawyer referral Indiana
Posted on December 21, 2008Every so often I get requests to take a case outside of my area. Not being sureof how to do this, I am posting a link to Solosez411's Indiana page. I know most of these lawyers through the Solosez listserv, and even though I cannot vouch for them, what I know of them creates no hesitation to pass along this link to you...
English Review of American Prenuptial Agreement Posts
Posted on December 20, 2008span style="font-style: italic;"The Editorial @ FamilyBubble/span provides a round up of articles on American blog about prenuptial agreements, a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.lawbubble.co.uk/family/community/editorial/?p=18"US Blawgers? Views on Pre-Nups/a...
A Case off The Beaten Path: Does French Law or New York Law Apply
Posted on December 20, 2008I offer a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--court-frenchdivor1125nov25,0,7747241.story"span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"Court to decide whether French law fits NY divorce/span /a from span style="font-style: italic;"Newsday /spanmore along the lines of an intellectual curiosity than something that will bear on Indiana family law ...
Get Your Kid a Prenup as a Wedding Present
Posted on December 19, 2008Affluent Parents Demand PreNups--for Their Engaged Children is a press release. On one level it annoys me for implying prenuptial agreements are only for the affluent. On the other hand, it may give some parents an idea or two about a wedding present...
Thoughts on late marriages from New Hampshire Magazine
Posted on December 18, 2008span style="font-style: italic;"New Hampshire Magazine/span's a style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" href="http://www.nh.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081201/NHM06/811139972/-1/NHM0101"Late Life Loving/a asks some good questions and gives some good ideas on late-in-life marriages:br /div style="text-align: justify;"/divblockquotediv style="text-align: justify;"What about the children? Are the children and grandchildren in support of our relationship? They may be thrilled for Mom?s or Dad?s happiness...
Relocation: Definitions of Relocating individual and Relocation
Posted on December 17, 2008Recently, I was looking through the family law span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"definitions/span in the Indiana Code. I have written a bit about Indiana's relocation statute (follow the "relocation" label below to find the others), but I am not sure we have take a good look at these definitions...
Indiana Protective Order Information
Posted on December 16, 2008When I started practicing law back in 1987, we commonly filed restraining orders but not so often these days. For cases of physical harm, the General Assembly has left us only with protective orders. Nor do many attorneys file protective orders in a divorce case...
Prenuptial Agreements - Great Quote
Posted on December 16, 2008I generally do not think to use material from advice columns. I am today because this is a great quote, great advice. The following comes from the Boston Herald's Prenup deal has familiar ring to it: "Marriage is about love. It?s also the start of a partnership...
Indiana Family Law Definitions
Posted on December 15, 2008Here is something I will admit to under utilizing. The Indiana Code has an entire chapter devoted to family law definitions here.Why do we not use them more often? I know for myself that it is because I will look first to see how the appellate court define the operations of the substantive statutes...
Things to think about before moving in together
Posted on December 15, 2008The Coors Credit Union Blog has Things to think about before moving in together. Mostly the same points I have been trying to make since I started writing this blog. Still, I think someone might just listen sooner or later and so I keep repeating myself...
Paternity and the Child Support Enforcement Prosecutor
Posted on December 14, 2008What is a Prosecuting Attorney doing in a paternity case? That answer I cannot easily provide but I can try. From long before I was practicing (and I think long before I was born), the Indiana General Assembly legislated that the Prosecuting Attorney had a role to play in paternity cases...
Cohabitation Agreements - Why a Good Idea
Posted on December 13, 2008Some local news from Anderson gives me the idea for this post. From The Anderson Herald Bulletin's Firefighter's injury may affect arson charge comes this little nugget:"According to authorities, Duell admitted to using a cigarette to set fire to clothes belonging to her ex-boyfriend and walking away while they burned...
Annulment vs divorce, and the Arrogance of Memory
Posted on December 13, 2008After writing Annulment versus Divorce, I noticed someone came to this blog with the following query: "what are the benefits of annulment vs divorce?." Which lead me to run the same query and to a change to my earlier article. In this post, I am going to examine some of the benefits of annulment and I get to chastise myself in a small way:The new groups are not concernedWith what there is to be learnedThis blog reminds all too often that there is much to be learned and not to rely wholly on my memory...
Cohabitation Ambiguous?
Posted on December 13, 2008Never underestimate the ability to make an argument that is imaginative. Success turns the imaginative into brilliance while failure may leave the advocate looking ... well... flaky. Which is what I thought of the Graev case and its description at Adams Drafting blog...
The Effects of Divorce on Children
Posted on December 12, 2008The Effects of Divorce on Children is a presentation made by Don Gordon, Ph.D., for the 2003 Domestic Relations Workshop. Althouhg in PDF format, it appears to have started as a Powerpoint presentation. It is about 90 slides long. I suggest everyone give it a look - even if it is geared towards judges and related professionals than laypeople...
When to Show Up At Court
Posted on December 12, 2008You get something in the mail and it says that you have to go court. Do you actually have to go? What happens if y0u do not?I actually get asked that question fairly often - every few months it seems.The correct answer is get to court. But there is a difference between a summons and a subpoena or an Order to Appear...
Attorney Fees and Flat Fees
Posted on December 11, 2008Consider this an update of sorts, I wrote about my intentions to go to flat fee regime in Where I Want to go with Flat Fees. To date, I am satisfied with the experiment.I still have one niggling concern: what judges will do with a flat fee billing. Most locally have had no problem - so far...
Paternity: Checklist for Setting Aside a Paternity Affidavit
Posted on December 11, 2008Consider this checklist as a work in progress. New cases may come along and change the questions or create new questions. It is also slanted towards a fraud case with only a slight emphasis on mistake of fact. Which means it covers two-thirds of the grounds listed in In re the Paternity of M...
Another Indiana Supreme Court Webcast: Family Law Mediation
Posted on December 10, 2008Once more a good example of our tax dollars being putto good use: Mediation in Divorce and Custody Cases: It's Your Choice. Take the 17 minutes and check it out.
So You Want To Be Lawyer
Posted on December 10, 2008With a nod at The Byrds and a truly obscure allusion, I suggest reading Ogden on Politics' Mandatory Reading Before Going to Law School:On September 24, 2007, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Hard Case: Job Market Wanes for U.S. Lawyers" written by Amir Efrati...
Indiana Alternative Dispute Resolution Fund in Domestic Relations Cases
Posted on December 09, 2008Nosing around the Indiana Judiciary Site and I ran across Alternative Dispute Resolution Fund in Domestic Relations Cases. No, I am not familiar with this program.Another page offers the following background to the program:The Indiana General Assembly passed House Enrolled Act 1034 in 2003, authorizing for the first time the creation of alternate dispute resolution programs in domestic relations cases in each of Indiana?s 92 counties...
What Women Want for Christmas
Posted on December 09, 2008I found Christmas and Divorce: What Women Want at Marilyn Stowe's blog. Some good points I took away from the article:"I do not doubt that in the run up to Christmas, in the gloom of the wet winter and with the season?s commercial pressures piling on, the prospect of Christmas can be so depressing that it can drive women to consider divorce...
Who Creates Indiana's Child Support and Parenting Time Guidelines?
Posted on December 08, 2008These come to us from the Indiana Supreme Court which delegated the actual work to the Domestic Relations Committee.The Domestic Relations Committee is working on revisions to Indiana's Child Support Guidelines. They previously completed a Domestic Relations Benchbook and child-centered Parenting Time guidelines...
Living Together - The Legal Problems by Way of Tennessee
Posted on December 08, 2008I have been writing about Indiana's law for those living together since the start of this blog. Follow the "cohabitation" link below this post to see all of those articles. Reading The Tennessean's Cohabiting couples' splits test the courts, I thought this is a pretty good summing up of Indiana's problems of dealing with unmarried couples living together...
Do You Want to Do Your Own Divorce?
Posted on December 07, 2008First, I suggest you follow the "pro se parties" link below and read all I have written on the subject.Second, the Indiana Supreme Court has a webcast, Family Matters: Choosing to Represent Yourself in Court, that you should watch (or listen while reading the articles on this blog).
Money Not The Cause of Most Divorces?
Posted on December 07, 2008Here is an article that might be of interest to both lawyers and non-lawyers - Money isn't the culprit in most divorces. Something to challenge the conventional wisdom.Jan Andersen, associate professor at CSU Sacramento, had heard the conventional wisdom, too...
Indiana Courts and Children and Looking at Australia
Posted on December 06, 2008What has Australia to do with Indiana? I found Australia's Guidelines for Independent Children's Lawyers which got me thinking about Indiana's statutes on guardian ad litems.Our family law statute gives little in the way of what I found here:The Guidelines are intended to provide guidance to the Independent Children?s Lawyer (ICL) in fulfilling his/her role...
Indiana Appellate Opinions - For Publication and Not For Publication
Posted on December 06, 2008I Think I need to publish a reminder about Not-For Publication cases. I touched on Not-For-Publication cases in Observations on Not-For-Publications opinions and on do-it-yourself appeals. I want to add some detail today.After all, why if we can see them online are they called Not-For-Publication cases? Lawyers have something that trump dictionaries: court rules...
Calculating Child Support
Posted on December 06, 2008Time to discuss case law. Here we have a case that involves overtime and bonuses and a question about parenting time. Teresa Heath v. Timothy Heath (PDF format) is also a Not-For Publication case. Lately, there has not been much in the way of cases for publication...
What The President-Elect Proposes for Families
Posted on December 05, 2008Thanks to the Family Law Prof Blog for providing the link to President-Elect Obama's agenda for families. While nothing directly impacts the subject of this blog, I think many of the proposals (such as expanding the Family Medical Leave Act) do have an indirect impact on my family law and civil practices.
New Child Support Case: State Does Not Need Court Approval for Increasing a Wage Withholding
Posted on December 05, 2008This post applies to Indiana cases where the State of Indiana collects child support through the Title IV-D Court. Here is the report from The Indiana Lawyer:The Indiana Court of Appeals examined the state's code regarding the limits of a withholding amount in child support arrearage, and acknowledged that its interpretation of the statute allowing the state to increase the amount without a court order "may cause some concern...
Is the child mine?
Posted on December 04, 2008This post has nothing to do with those cute birds in the clocks. It has all to do with what I call cuckoo cases. I thought it wise to explain why I use the term cuckoo and so the excerpt from the Wikipedia article:The cuckoo is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and western Asia, and winters in Africa...
Terminating a Child Support Order Because of Social Security Benefits?
Posted on December 03, 2008Is it possible to receive SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) or SSI and still pay child support?About Social Security Disability benefits and child support, take a look at my Indiana Child Support, Social Security Benefits, and the Indiana Court of Appeals...
When Reasonable Minds Differ - Appeal!
Posted on December 02, 2008Charles Rubin of Rubin on Tax has a lovely post, SEPARATION DOES NOT EQUAL DIVORCE, about what can go wrong (and right) between writing a prenuptial agreement and a trial judge. I several lessons to be learned for various types: 1) why there are dangers in writing your own legal documents, 2) that judges can go off the rails in Florida as well as Indiana, and 3) why we must never forget that there is a Court of Appeals...
Trial Court Reform Coming Our Way?
Posted on December 02, 2008The Indiana Lawyer reports Study to examine trial court reform:"The Indiana Supreme Court's Division of State Court Administration is working with the Indiana University Center for Urban Policy and Environment to study ways to make the state's trial courts more equitable and efficient...
Annulment versus Divorce
Posted on December 01, 2008Recently, I had a little e-mail dialog on this subject and I think it is worth repeating here. The sender, a non-lawyer, wrote the following:As far as annulment vs divorce; It comes down to a matter of principals. Women that go around pointing the finger at the most convenient target should be held accountable for doing so...
Collaborative Divorce Updates
Posted on December 01, 2008Domestic Diversions published Getting through and to the same place: Collaborative process lessens stress of divorce:?The process is so structured,? Denton explained. ?It allows folks to get through and get to the same place so they can make decisions together...
Teenagers and Parenting Time
Posted on November 30, 2008Thanks to Dick Price and his post Sharing Time with Teenagers for tipping me off to Florida Divorce and Family Law Blog's Sharing Time with Teenagers. Yes, a little confusing having the same title.Ms. Bauer begins with this:When Judges impose time sharing for children who are young, these types of rulings are very easily enforced and its likely that the children aren't really given a choice as to whether or not they should visit with one of their parents...
What Would You Like to Know About Indiana's Courts?
Posted on November 30, 2008Quite a while back I was reading the Ohio Family Law Blog and ran across Understanding the Courts: Family Relations Department of the Domestic Relations Court of Montgomery County, Ohio.Indiana law provides for domestic relations courts. We do not require them but only allow them:IC 31-12-1-1 Determination of necessity to establish court Sec...
Divorce and Retirement - What to do?
Posted on November 29, 2008Today, I can give one quick recommendation and that is read Dick Price's Retirement Planning During a Divorce. A bit too long for easy summary other than to say if you are planning a divorce or in a divorce and you have a pension, then you need to read it...
Appeals and the Bluebook
Posted on November 28, 2008What was the biggest PITA about legal writing in law school? I still think it was learning the Blue Book citations. Still, the most important thing about writing appellate briefs is knowing the Blue Book citation forms.Why? From Indiana's Appellate Rules, Rule 22...
Read How to help kids cope with divorce
Posted on November 28, 2008Short, to the point but I do not feel it is proper to just quote Domestic Diversions' How to help kids cope with divorce. Sometimes I think non-lawyers get this, but sometimes good manners and common sense can save a lot of money that might otherwise go to attorney fees.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted on November 27, 2008I hope all who read this do have a good Thanksgiving. I hope not too much turkey, not too much cranberry sauce, and no bad interactions with the relatives.At the risk of sounding like curmudgeon, for those dreading the holidays I offer Divorce and the Holidays from The Modern Woman's Divorce Guide:What are the special pitfalls to watch out for during the holidays? Because holidays can be a time of heightened emotions, look out for the old triggers that may cause conflict between you and your ex-spouse this season...
More on PAS (Parental Alienation Syndrome)
Posted on November 26, 2008Considering the response that came through here when I published oops: PAS, Ohio & Indiana, I thought I ought to note Ohio Family Law Blog's Can Parental Alienation Be Far Behind? The Warning Signs Every Family Lawyer Should Know:Our guest contributor this week is Judianne Cochran a nationally recognized expert/consultant in the following disciplines: sex offender profiling; interstate and international parental abduction; interstate custody and parental alienation...
More on Depositions and Family Law Discovery
Posted on November 25, 2008I started discussing depositions back in Family Law Discovery: Depositions. Reading Deciding Who To Depose [Part II] from Lean and Mean Litigation Blog made think it was time to get back to the subject:A high burden to say the least but its spirit is dead on...
Indiana, PAS and Interfering With Visitation; Part 1
Posted on November 24, 2008Ah, the post I meant to write instead of oops: PAS, Ohio & Indiana.The Ohio Family Law Blog's What Is Parental Alienation And Parental Alienation Syndrome? mentioned the following Ohio law:There are a number of different factors and circumstances that have an effect on the determination of custody in Ohio...
Keeping on Our Toes: Practice Traps
Posted on November 24, 2008VA Family Law Blog published Five Practice Traps (The Devil is in these details) and while #3 does not explicitly apply to Indiana this is one of those posts that ought to keep us on our toes. Yes, even here in Indiana.
The French Murder Case
Posted on November 23, 2008Sort of a follow up to my The Attorney-Client Privilege post, The Muncie Star Press reports that Jury says French guilty of murder, conspiracy.
When Does Child Support End in Indiana, Part 2
Posted on November 23, 2008I wrote part one almost two years ago under the title When does child support end in Indiana?. An recent case from the Indiana Court of Appeals points out two other grounds. While Johnson v. McNeece cannot be used for precedent, it does provide us with the law which can be used as precedent:Subject to two narrow exceptions, court orders for child support remain effective until a court changes them...
Not the best way to settle a custody dispute
Posted on November 19, 2008From Florida Divorce Law Blog comes Really Alternative Dispute Resolution ?:Police showed up at a home where a Mother and Father were engaged in a physical fight over a custody dispute.The police informed both parents that their disagreement would have to be resolved in court, which is another way of saying that law enforcement personnel can?t settle things between them...
Checklist for How Divorce Might Affect Your Business
Posted on November 19, 2008From Startups comes a pretty good article on divorce and business, How does divorce affect your business?:"A cynic might say ?stay single?. However, only a real miser would prefer such a cold and unromantic view. If you are not married but have built up a valuable business, you could consider a Pre-Nuptial Agreement to protect your wealth should the marriage not last...
Slightly Related News: Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence Honors
Posted on November 17, 2008I read ICADV honors prosecutor, magistrate judge in The Indiana Lawyer and think it does belong here:"The Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence recently honored nine individuals, including an Elkhart County prosecutor and a Lake Circuit magistrate judge, for the positive impact they have on the lives of domestic violence victims...
oops: PAS, Ohio & Indiana
Posted on November 16, 2008Well, here is a lesson to be learned: do not blog when tired. Or when the computer is sticking. Or both. I had set this original post down as a draft but it got published instead.Which actually is pretty interesting considering the comments. As originally published, I did not attribute What Is Parental Alienation And Parental Alienation Syndrome? to The Ohio Family Law Blog...
Something to Bring Reality Back Home
Posted on November 15, 2008Alexa tracks web traffic for web sites. By chance, I get to the site today and for a lark check the traffic for this blog. This is how Alexa describes this blog:Haslerlaw2.blogspot.com has a traffic rank of: 2,86501366,6883240Which reminds me not to get too puffed up about my spot on the 'Net...
From Minnesota: Thirty Years of Joint Custody
Posted on November 12, 2008I will again state my opinion that joint custody promises much but delivers little. Yet when reading something like Looking Back at Joint Custody, 30 Years Later, I am reminded that its promise is much.It was so revolutionary then that The Minneapolis Tribune ran a story about the family in 1979 with the headline ?After Marriage Break-up, Children Can Still Live with Two Parents...
Cohabitation - What Is It?
Posted on November 11, 2008How does Indiana define cohabitation? Looking back at the Indiana cases on the subject (check out the cohabitation archives link below), I think we have a rather loose definition compared with, say New York. Florida Divorce titled her post on this subject with this headline: New York: Cohabitation is ? in the Eye of the Beholder...
What is it like practicing family law?
Posted on November 10, 2008Christopher A. Pearsall has a guest post, In Divorce, the Devil is in the Details, at LemonLaw Blog that ought to be read by anyone who wants to know what it is like practicing family law. Detail, the devil and everything else is in the details.
Why Get a Lawyer? Reason 1033
Posted on November 10, 2008A New York case gives another good example of why to get and keep a lawyer for a divorce. It also serves as an example of how not to behave as a party to a divorceCorporate Legal Times reported the story in one paragraph:A New York attorney is not obliged to pay $52,000 a year in maintenance to his ex-wife even though he acknowledged crossing out a cohabitation clause freeing him to stop the payments from a copy of the separation agreement, a state judge has ruled...
Follow up on Attorney Fees and Appointed Counsel
Posted on November 08, 2008I asked in The Indiana Law Blog: Ind. Courts - More on: "If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you" what Hoosiers might think of the British legal aid program. Then came this bit of news from Scotland:Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill claims this will increase eligibility for one fifth of the entire Scottish population...
Johnson County CASA Gets Grants
Posted on November 06, 2008Something for those interested in our county CASA programs, Johnson County CASA program gets grants:"The Johnson County Court Appointed Special Advocates program has received four grants totaling more than $22,000 to fund the recovery from the June flood and expand the program's mission...
When to get a forensic accountant
Posted on November 05, 2008Pennsylvani Family Law Blog published what I think is an important post in DO I NEED A BUSINESS APPRAISER? AND JUST WHAT IS A FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT? about a ssubject that does not come up often but when it does it comes up with a vengeance.But reason needs to be part of the process...
Online Resource: Childstats.gov
Posted on November 04, 2008Here comes another example of our tax dollars at work.This website offers easy access to statistics and reports on children and families, including: family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education and health...
Indiana Child Support Caselaw: Voluntary Underemployment
Posted on November 03, 2008I think we are seeing a trend where the courts find more payors of child support as being voluntarily underemployed. On October 24, 2008, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided Ziegler v. Hunt (PDF format). The Court of Appeals found the father to be voluntarily underemployed for the following reasons:Husband?s earnings history indicates that when he filed his 2005 dissolution petition, he was employed as a salesperson by Indiana Mills (?IMMI?), at a base salary of $55,000...
The Indiana Law Blog: Ind. Courts - More on: "If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."
Posted on November 03, 2008I have written elsewhere on this blog about attorney fees in family law cases. Check out the archive labeled "Attorney Fees" under the list of prior posts by topic. I have been tardy about a post from The Indiana Law Blog More on: "If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you...
Getting the Right Family Law Lawyer - Another Post
Posted on October 28, 2008I cannot agree more with the following paragraphs from Austin Family Law Guide Blog:Great divorce lawyers educate their client about the process and effectively manage their client?s expectations from the initial meeting. They also will personally guarantee you personal attention and responsiveness...
Preparing To Divorce - A Gripe
Posted on October 27, 2008For the most part I liked what How to Divorce ? A Better Understanding has to say about preparing for a divorce.The first step, before you decide how to divorce is to equip yourself with enough knowledge about the divorce process. Divorce is a series of legal proceedings and, if you want to get the best results, it is important that you know the rules and that you are able to participate effectively...
Kiplinger's on Marriage and Money
Posted on October 26, 2008What causes more problems in a relationship? Money. So take a good look at the article.Not so fast. You'll have a much better shot at a fairy-tale ending if you take a little time at the beginning to sit down and talk about money. It may not sound like the most romantic topic, and many couples even consider it taboo...
Collaborative Divorce Hits the UK?
Posted on October 26, 2008Seems like from Domestic Diversions' Divorce American Style: Collaborative divorce post.
Polling on Prenuptial Agreements
Posted on October 25, 2008Courtesy of West Publishing:Forty-one percent of Americans say they might sign a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement if their spouse or partner asked them to. An equal percentage - 41 percent - said they likely would not sign an agreement. Eighteen percent said they weren't sure what they would do in such a situation...
The Frisky Asks My Favorite Prenup Question
Posted on October 24, 2008That question is Why Should Prenuptial Agreements Be Just For The Rich & Famous?. The Frisky blog has this to say:The point is that when a couple splits, there will always be a division of the assets. Since not all of us are rich enough to be arguing over millions (or even thousands!), I think there should be a modern day adjustment to what we consider an ?asset...
Emergency Custody - Comparing Indiana With Oregon
Posted on October 23, 2008Having written before about emergency custody in Indiana (here, here and here), I find The Oregon Divorce Blog's Can I get custody of my child now if he or she is in danger? instructive. Oregon has a statute on the subject:"Oregon courts can award emergency custody even if there is no previous custody determination between the parties...
CHINS Records Not Open to The Public
Posted on October 23, 2008Although Children in Need of Services are family law, I generally do not post on them. Then this article, Court: CHINS records aren't available to media, from The Indiana Lawyer comes along and I think I need to give it some noticeThe circumstances that led to two siblings being deemed as children in need of services and the media attention their family received don't justify the trial court allowing the media access to the children's CHINS records, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today...
New family law blog
Posted on October 22, 2008Palm Beach County Family Law Blog is a recent find and an interesting one. Of course, interesting is a slippery concept. I find all too often that blogs become too interwined in their posts to point of becoming a round-robin of saying the same thing...
Mitch Daniels Touts License Suspension to Collect Child Support
Posted on October 22, 2008I try to keep my political biases out of this blog but I cannot not comment on Deadbeat parents could face license suspensions came from The Richmond Palladium-Item (and has been noted in other media):INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Indiana could soon start taking something besides money from the wallets of deadbeat parents...
Attorney Services and Lessening Client Frustration
Posted on October 21, 2008Dick Price of Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas has a post that ought to be read in full by every person in or contemplating a divorce. That post is How to Minimize Frustration in a Divorce.I do want to pick on his second point. This concerns a subject that bothered me for years and continues to do so:"2...
busienss records and discovery
Posted on October 20, 2008The Pennsylvania Family Law Blog makes good points in OWNER, KNOW THY BUSINESS for anyone owing a business (and for spouses of business owners).Rare is the instance where attorneys get to advise the client about how to handle the business records before they are sealed into reality by submission to taxing authorities or lenders...
Indiana Family Law
Posted on October 19, 2008I found the Indiana State Bar Association's pamphlet for Indiana Family Law online here. It is a good general outline about adoption, child support, divorce and other Indiana family law issues.
Family Law in Our Time of Economic Disaster
Posted on October 18, 2008Reading around I found a couple of posts needing read by anyone looking at divorce during the time of our economic meltdown.The first comes from Minnesota Divorce and Family Law Blog - The House: Yesterday's Asset is Today's Liability. I think this paragraph applies as well to Indiana as Minnesota:For now, and for the next few years, breaking even on one's home equity is the best that most divorcing couples can hope for...
Estate Planning and Divorces
Posted on October 17, 2008Mississippi Family Law Blog has a very good post explaining the relationship between and estate planning and family law in Estate Planning after a Second Marriage: "If you have remarried following a divorce or death of a spouse and you have children from the first marriage, you will want to pay close attention to how your estate plan addresses that situation...
Why Are Clients Dissatisfied with Their Lawyers?
Posted on October 17, 2008Although written from an English perspective (just substitute lawyer for solicitor), I recognize this scenario from Marilyn Stowe's Divorce solicitors: why clients seek second opinions.So what goes wrong? In my opinion there are two important factors, which people should know about before - rather than after - they embark on divorce proceedings...
Your Untraditional Custody Plans
Posted on October 16, 2008For those dissatisfied with the traditional forms of custody, I suggest taking a good look at Untraditional Custody Plans from Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas:"There were two alternatives mentioned in the article that were interesting...
Saving Attorney Fees
Posted on October 16, 2008I wrote a similar post on this subject which can be found here. The Modern Woman's Divorce Guide has a similar post in What is your divorce ?bail-out? plan? which has the following points:Ask your lawyer to give you a ?to-do? list that will allow you to reduce your legal costs...
Collaborative Divorce Resource on Squidoo
Posted on October 15, 2008Since I keep writing the major thing collaborative divorce needs is to educate the general public, I have to note Divorce Without Drama on Squidoo.Here is a short explanation from Wikipedia of what Squidoo is:Squidoo is a network of user-generated lenses?single pages that highlight one person's point of view, recommendations, or expertise...
Mandatory Discovery for Indiana?
Posted on October 15, 2008Oregon has it. Oregon Divorce Blog describes the process in Statutory discovery - what is it?:Oregon?s legislature created a discovery shortcut in enacting ORS 107.088 and ORS 107.089. This ?statutory discovery request? can be an efficient tool to get basic financial documents from the other side...
Do You Need A Lawyer for Your Divorce?
Posted on October 14, 2008That depends on what kind of a divorce you want. I say yes if you want the case to run smoothly (and, yes, a rocky divorce case with a divorce lawyer is better than the same kind of case without one).The Missouri Divorce and Family Law Blog post sets out in Why You Need a Divorce Lawyer some very good reasons for getting a lawyer:"Judges hold pro se litigants to the same strict standards and rules as attorneys, and honestly, most judges to not like people coming into court without an attorney...
Joint Custody
Posted on October 14, 2008The Oregon Divorce Blog has an interesting point in Joint Custody:"Joint custody is subject to modification by either parent. The statute provides: ?Modification of a joint custody order shall require showing of changed circumstances and a showing that the modification is in the best interests of the child such as would support modification of a sole custody order...
Why You Need a POA and a Living Will
Posted on October 13, 2008Another who finds the Schiavo case instructive is Expecting the Unexpected from GLBT Couples Law. Stephen Hyland explains the case quite well:"In March 2005, the public became aware of the dramatic struggle involving the life ? and death ? of Terri Schiavo...
Why Get a Lawyer for an Uncontested Divorce?
Posted on October 13, 2008I have tried to make this point before on this blog (follow the ink below that reads "Uncontested Divorce), but maybe I have not made the points as this post from Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas, I Want an Uncontested Divorce:1. The Good: True uncontested divorces are cheaper and faster than contested ones, by a longshot...
Prenuptial Agreements or Post-Nuptial Agreement?
Posted on October 12, 2008Reading the following in Prenuptial Agreements from the Mississippi Family Law Blog raised this question for me:"The line between marital and non-marital property can get blurred though if it increases in value during the marriage. Should that increased value be considered marital property? The original owner sometimes risks losing his or her pre-marital property in the divorce...
Six Ways to Keep Divorce From Consuming your Life?
Posted on October 11, 2008If you divorce is taking over your life, then read The Modern Woman?s Divorce Guide's Is your Divorce Consuming your Life?. Take a look and see which one might help you.
Children Getting Caught in Parents' Conflicts
Posted on October 11, 2008Missouri Divorce and Family LawBlog has a three part post well worth reading: A Dozen Ways Children Of Divorce Get Caught In Their Parents' Conflict - Part 1 (1-4); A Dozen Ways Children of Divorce Get Caught In Their parents' Conflict: Part 2 (5-8); and A Dozen Ways Children Of Divorce Get Caught In Their Parents' Conflict Part 3 of 3 (9-12)...
Upcoming Elections: Appellate Court Retention
Posted on October 10, 2008Along with everything else, Hoosiers get to decide whether the appellate court judges should be kept or sent back to civilian life. Three Supreme Court Justices, one Court of Appeals judge, and the Tax Court judge are up for retention. This year we have a web page Judicial Retention in Indiana on the subject...
Mediation Notes
Posted on October 10, 2008Outside of Marion County, I am unaware of any counties requiring mediation. Which means mediation is a rarity for the average divorce. I do suggest reading the full articles I link to below if you want to know more about mediation.First is Indiana Family Law's How not to have a successful family law mediation:"Parents especially need to be in the right frame of mind when they sit down together in the same room with a mediator...
Reading Around the Blogs: Collaborative Divorce
Posted on October 09, 2008William Wilson has a very good post on collaborative divorce, So what is this collaborative law thing anyway?. I suggest that you read it in full. It is that informative. However, I do want to quote one paragraph:If there is one thing that characterizes the traditional divorce model it?s this: If we can?t get an agreement, we?ll let the court decide...
Why fight for custody?
Posted on October 08, 2008Why Parents Fight Over Custody -- 20 Quick Reasons from Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas is too long - and too important - for a quick summary.Mr. Price lists what he thinks are the good reasons to fight for custody. I have no disagreement with them...
New Jersey Voting Machine Case
Posted on October 07, 2008Things like this post from the Daily Dissidence Blog only stoke my innate distrust of electronic voting machines :Report on Voting Machine Security Suppressed:"A judge of the New Jersey Superior Court has prohibited the scheduled release of a report on the security and accuracy of the Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machine...
Dealing with Finances Post-Divorce
Posted on October 07, 2008Read Managing Your Finances after Divorce from Divorce and Family Law in Tarrant County, Texas.Being of a very pessimistic mind lately, I feel the need to add that both parties need to be aware that they may find themselves in bankruptcy court.Regarding bankruptcy, take a look at Divorce and Bankruptcy: When families are facing both, which should come first? from Missouri Divorce & Family Law Blog...
Planning Ahead
Posted on October 07, 2008Steve Maple covers a lot of territory in a short span in What should you do?. Please read this. He covers too many of the problems I have seen these past twenty-one years. These things could have been avoided.Most of us don?t plan as well as we should...
New Same-Sex Custody Case from Montana
Posted on October 07, 2008Indiana has case law allowing for step-parent visitation but I think in this sort of case Indiana would have the same result.Mont. same-sex parental rights ruling appealed - washingtonpost.com:"HELENA, Mont. -- A Montana woman who lost a court battle with her former same-sex partner over parental rights filed an appeal Thursday with the state Supreme Court...
How Not to Comply With a Court Order
Posted on October 06, 2008Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer | Boca Raton » Blog Archive » Former Florida Husband Held in Contempt for Complying with Court?s Order. Technically.:"A Florida family court awards Wife $5,000 as a lump sum payment from Husband...
Cohabitiation Agreements: Live Together and Lawsuits
Posted on September 29, 2008Not exactly what I might want to highlight about cohabitation agreements, but the whole scope of living together with an agreement needs to be thought about. From The Madison County (Illinois) Record comes Live-in sued for violating 'exclusive' relationship - and not paying mortgageNicole Basarich has filed suit against Robert Lane, alleging he has failed to pay money for a mortgage and has violated their agreement of an exclusive relationship...
Teaching about child support in elementary school?
Posted on September 23, 2008Florida Divorce Blog published UK To Begin Teaching Child Support System in Elementary Schools:"In the UK in 2005, there were 330,000 cases in arrears, to the extent of 3 billion UK pounds.So the Brits came up with a hoped-for solution to stem the tide...
Recessions and divorce?
Posted on September 22, 2008The Toronto Star's Do recessions foster divorce? uses data from Britain about something I think transcends borders and affects more than stockbrokers:"A recent British survey conducted among financial analysts, stockbrokers and hedge-fund managers by law firm Mishcon de Reya suggests the downturn will prompt an upsurge in divorces among high earners in London's financial centre...
Online Resource: LexisNexis Family Law Community
Posted on September 19, 2008The LexisNexis® Family Law has famlily law news from around the country - as well as ads for LexisNexis products. The site lacks an RSS feed. Here is the site's description: Welcome to the LexisNexis® Family Law practice area community, a resource for breaking news summaries, development-driven articles, and important product information for the busy family lawyer...
Brown County Resource for Supervised Visitation Cases
Posted on September 18, 2008Brown County is a bit off my usual path but The Family Access Program is sort of program ought to get more attention. We could use something similar here in Madison County.The site gives the programs' history under History of the Family Access ProgramOnce they were provided with this information, local officials determined that the best way to address these needs was to open a supervised visitation center, which would provide supervised visitation services to children and their parents in a safe environment...
Online Resource: Divorce Discourse
Posted on September 17, 2008I learned of Divorce Discourse this past Sunday. A Lew Rosen blog from North Carolina which appears fairly new. I like the clean layout and the content appears very much geared towards other lawyers.
Divorce Seminars - Evaluating Them
Posted on September 16, 2008Madison County has it Children in the Middle seminar, other counties have similar programs. When first proposed many attorneys here questioned whether the program actually would have any effect. I think many of us still wonder about this.For those interested in reading studies on the effectiveness of these type of programs, I found The Impact of an Educational Seminar for Divorcing Parents Results from a National Survey of Family Court Judges and Impact of Kids First Seminar for Divorcing Parents A Three-Year Follow-Up...
More Love and Money
Posted on September 15, 2008This version comes from The New York Times' The Key to Wedded Bliss? Money Matters. My excerpts:"TALK AND SHARE GOALS Before walking down the aisle, couples should have a talk about their financial health and goals. They should ask each other tough questions: Do we want children? When? Who will care for them? Will they go to public or private school? What kind of life do we want? When will we retire?"RUN A HOME LIKE A BUSINESS Make a budget and keep track of earnings, expenses and debts...
Tomorrow Kinship caregiver workshop in Richmond
Posted on September 14, 2008Kinship caregiver workshop set for Monday:"Grandparents raising grandchildren and other relatives who are raising family members' children are invited to learn and share support during a kinship caregiver workshop Monday evening.AdvertisementThe workshop will be 6 to 8:30 p...
Love and Money
Posted on September 14, 2008The BaltAmour blog from The Baltimore Sun makes good points in Of love and money - Tales of love, like, and everything in between:The stories of other women in Anderson's piece (which was linked to via U.S. News) not only illustrate the strain that finances can put on a break-up decision, but also show a bit about the inner workings of some women's minds...
New York Times Reviews 'I Don?t - A Contrarian History of Marriage,' by Susan Squire - Review - NYTimes.com
Posted on September 13, 2008I think this is the first time I have posted about a New York Times book review but 'I Don?t - A Contrarian History of Marriage,' by Susan Squire justifies the divergence from the norm:"It?s a testament to our national confusion about the purpose of marriage that the courts can toggle this way between four or five rationales for such a union in a single judicial opinion, with little regard for any one coherent principle...
FOXNews.com - Lis on Law: Breach of Promise to Marry - Opinion
Posted on September 13, 2008Following up on my The Marriage is Off and She Gets a Pile of Cash, comes Lis on Law: Breach of Promise to Marry from FOXNews.com:"Lydia Sartain isn't the only one who supports actions for a breach of promise to marry. Judge Kathlene Gosselin instructed the jury that these actions are a common law contract action...
Supreme Court Adopts New Judicial Ethics Rules
Posted on September 12, 2008From The Indiana Lawyer: "The Indiana Supreme Court is adopting a new Code of Judicial Conduct based on the 2007 national model of the American Bar Association. The rules will become effective Jan. 1, 2009.Indiana is the second state after Hawaii to adopt new rules based on the ABA's model...
Marion County: Child Advocate Orientation
Posted on September 11, 2008This announcement came to me via The Indiana Lawyer and think it well worth repeating here:Child Advocates Inc. is offering additional downtown orientation sessions this month for those interested volunteering as a child advocate for Marion County youth in child services and the foster care system...
Indiana Juvenile Law: The Indiana Lawyer Series
Posted on September 10, 2008For those interested in learning more about Indiana's juvenile justice system, The Indiana Lawyer collected its articles from earlier this year here.
Maintenance and Depression
Posted on September 09, 2008Although Indiana does not allow for alimony, I took an interest in What some RI Divorce Lawyers do that Judges may buy into! from Rhode Island Divorce Tips for several reasons.Initially my attraction rested on the idea that there are attorneys who foment litigation there as we have here...
Not quite my usual family law post,
Posted on September 09, 2008Not quite my usual family law post, but Florida Divorce Blog's Pilot Program in Volusia Offers Intensive In-Home Services As Alternative to Foster Care was interesting enough to note here:A pilot program in Volusia County, Florida allows thirty-five children to remain home with their families instead of being removed as a result of abuse or neglect...
Indiana Spousal Support 101
Posted on September 08, 2008Indiana has no alimony law. The Court has discretion to award maintenance to a spouse, however. There are numerous factors the Court will consider in awarding spousal maintenance. If the spouse is physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that the ability of the incapacitated spouse to support himself or herself is materially affected, the Court may find maintenance necessary during the period of incapacitation...
A Divorce Gene?
Posted on September 08, 2008Such is what I read in the UK Telegraph's 'Divorce gene' linked to relationship troubles.Researchers say it plays a role in determining how the brain responds to a chemical that is central to the bonding process between a man and a woman.Men with a variant of the gene tended to score badly on a questionnaire designed to assess how well they bond with their partner and were more likely to report having suffered marital difficulties...
The Wide World of Prenups
Posted on September 07, 2008Reading It?s Not Your Mother?s Prenup lead me to a very interesting article, Prenuptial Agreements to Lose Weight, Have Sex. This paragraph needs thought about by anyone thinking of dealing with more than assets and money in a prenuptial agreement:But putting something into a legal agreement doesn't mean it's enforceable, attorneys say...
Indiana Law: No-Fault Divorce
Posted on September 07, 2008Indiana is a ?no fault? state when it comes to divorce. This means that regardless of the reason, the couple shall be granted a divorce upon the showing that there has been a breakdown in the marital relationship to the extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed, and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved...
Indiana Divorce: Exercising Your Rights to Marital Assets
Posted on September 06, 2008Marital assets include any property, real or personal, acquired during the marriage, excluding inheritances. Such marital assets are often referred to as the ?marital pot,? since all such assets are lumped together and considered in the final distribution...
Cohabitation: What Do Ireland and Indiana Have in Common?
Posted on September 06, 2008Increasing numbers of couples living together and no legal protection for them. The following quotes from The Irish Independent's If we had married, everything would have been split... but now I have no protection at all'.Everyone may be doing it -- but not everyone is doing it successfully...
Child Support in the News
Posted on September 05, 2008Some news from New Jersay via Law.com 'Three Pony Rule' Invoked to Cut Former NFL Player's Monthly $18K Child Support:The court, in Strahan v. Strahan, A-3747-06, said that the trial judge failed to make the specific findings of fact necessary to sustain his decision to add $200,000 a year to the $35,984 annual award that the couple's twins girls are due under statutory guidelines...
Expectations for a Divorce Proceeding
Posted on September 05, 2008Let?s face it, there is no such thing as an ?easy divorce.? This can be one of the most painful times a couple can experience, especially when children are involved. Going through a divorce usually involves arguments over property distribution, the custody of the kids and even who gets the family dog...
Changing Custody FAQ
Posted on September 04, 2008When Can I Ask for a Change of Custody?Before a change of custody is granted, the Court must find that there has been a substantial and continuing change in circumstances, and it is in the best interest of the child that custody be changed. Unless the parties can come to an agreement to change custody, this is no easy task...
Problems with Relocation - from a participant
Posted on September 04, 2008The following came in an e-mail to me. I promised the writer anonymity and minimal editing. I think she expresses very well the problems with the new relocation statute. My opinion remains that the statute as it is being interpreted creates tension between the custodial parent leaving Indiana for a better job and better life for the child or avoiding the costs of a custody fight and staying in Indiana...
10 Mistakes Not to Make in a Divorce
Posted on September 03, 2008Florida Divorce Blog published Mistakes Men - And Women - Make in Divorce - and Usually Regret, Laterand these are too good not to share. Something every man and woman should know when starting their divorce.They are not (generally) legal mistakes per se, but rather tactical mistakes that both men and women usually come to regret - in time...
Child Support FAQ
Posted on September 03, 2008What is the Purpose of Child Support? Providing Financial Support to ChildrenWhen a child is born out of wedlock, or has divorced parents, he or she is entitled to receive financial support. The amount of support to be paid is based upon the Indiana Child Support Guidelines...
9 Reasons to Get a Prenuptial Agreement
Posted on September 02, 2008Thanks to Georgia Family Law Blog for the following:A prenuptial agreement is a contract between two people about to get married that shows exactly how assets will be distributed in the event of divorce or death. Such agreements have existed for thousands of years in some form or another...
Child Custody - Physical versus Legal Custody
Posted on September 02, 2008You should be aware of the following terms:Physical Custody: Physical custody pertains to where the child is going to reside. Usually, sole physical custody is granted to one parent. It is not impossible to be awarded joint physical custody, which allows the child to spend equal time with both parents...
How to protect assets from a spouse in a divorce?
Posted on August 30, 2008You need a prenuptial agreement or a post-nuptial agreement. Indiana law makes these agreements the only way to protect a spouse's assets from the other spouse. Anything else results in a more expensive divorce - the additional cost coming from having to track down the hidden assets...
Indiana Parenting Guidelines and Living With Someone
Posted on August 29, 2008I was asked recently if The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines forbid one from living with another person of the opposite sex. The former spouse stated that the Indiana Parenting Guidelines prohibited a roommate of the same or different sex. Seems the former spouse was using the Guidelines to prevent parenting time...
Rotating Custody of the Children
Posted on August 29, 2008Not a good idea in my mind for very ptactical reasons which get mentioned in Florida Divorce Blog's Rotating Physical Custody or Equal Timesharing: Good for Noncustodial Parent. What About Kids?. The post goes onto something more disturbing:"Many therapists consider this type of arrangement to be hard on kids, although perhaps ?fair? to the non-custodial parent...
Form: Verified Notice of Intent to Relocate Pursuant to Indiana Code 31 -1 7-2.2
Posted on August 28, 2008How to create a Verified Notice of Intent to Relocate? First you have to read Indiana Code 31 -1 7-2.2. That is true of just about everything that is filed with a court in a family law case.IC 31-17-2.2-1(a) tells where the relocating individual must file a notice of the intent to move and to send a copy of the notice to any nonrelocating individual...
How to avoid liability for a spouse's debts?
Posted on August 28, 2008Is there a way other than divorce to be free of spouse's future debts? That questions assumes that marriage by itself creates liability for a spouse's debts. That has not been the case in Indiana (except for a narrow exception for necessities) for many, many decades...
Good Reason to Think About Collaborative Divorces
Posted on August 27, 2008Read Grand Rapids Collaborative Divorce Blog's To collaborate or litigate, that is the question for divorce lawyers. It is a bit long but the time will probably be well spent.The American Bar Association is promoting one of its books with an excerpt that summarizes the movement toward Collaborative Law...
Parenting Time: HOLIDAY PARENTING TIME SCHEDULE
Posted on August 27, 2008I have strayed a bit from my examination of Indiana's Parenting Time Guidelines. With luck, next month will see a completion of what I started.One gift given us by The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines is the uniformity of holiday visitation. I still see disputes about who gets the children on what holiday...
Attention for This Blog?
Posted on August 26, 2008Here is an oddity that I ran across, Child Custody. The page is part of The Fantasy Blog Stock Market. Nice to see that this blog is included in its list of blogs, but I never thought of this blog as part of a fantasy stock market for blogs:Welcome to the game of BlogShares, the addictive and fast-growing web-based experience! Take the time to pop into our Forums and introduce yourself to the friendliest community on the Internet...
Prenuptial Agreements Important Part Of A Pro Athlete?s Financial Plan : Pro Athletes Only
Posted on August 26, 2008Pro Athletes Only blog has some good points in its Prenuptial Agreements Important Part Of A Pro Athlete?s Financial Plan that apply to more than pro athletes:"Neither separate bank accounts nor wills accomplish what a well-drafted prenuptial agreement can...
Indiana Court of Appeals: No Contempt
Posted on August 26, 2008Reading COA reverses contempt finding from The Indiana Lawyer makes me think Indiana has a new case worth reading on the subject of contempt."The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order finding a father in contempt of court for not complying with orders stemming from post-dissolution proceedings, ruling the father did comply with an order requiring he update his ex-wife with documents regarding a trust for his children's education...
Love Contract in Place of a Prenuptial Agreement? I Think Not
Posted on August 25, 2008Call it my Midwestern practicality (or cynicism) but I rolled my eyes when I readLoveologist, Dr. Ava Cadell Creates a Love Contract. Yes, it is a press release (thank you, Google Alerts) but still..."Dr. Ava Cadell?s MLA? is especially beneficial for those couples that are privy to temptation, which is common among celebrities...
Court of Appeals on Paternity and Child Support petition
Posted on August 25, 2008Another new case I have not had time to read the original opinion. The following excerpt is from The Indiana Lawyer's Adult son could file paternity, support petition:"A retroactive child support action brought by an adult child presented an issue of first impression for the Indiana Court of Appeals, which ruled the adult child could bring the action, but his mother would be the proper recipient of the retroactive payments...
The London Times on British Bloggers
Posted on August 24, 2008I have written a bit about British family law bloggers before ( see here and here and here for a few examples) and today I see The London Times has written Legal blogs: isn?t it time British lawyers staked their claim in the blogosphere?. While mostly about Big Law blogs, the article does mention Bloody Relations (albeit with an incorrect url)...
Cohabition Agreements on CNN
Posted on August 23, 2008CNN's Moving in together and avoiding a falling out has some good point and some not so good:The good:"There are obvious advantages to cohabitation, both emotional (living with the person you love) and financial (sharing expenses like rent).The drawbacks are just as glaring, like adjusting to annoying personal habits and accommodating your loved one's passion for knickknacks that make your cringe...
Remember the YouTube Video of the Complaining Wife?
Posted on August 22, 2008I wrote about the case here and here. Now for the rest of the story....US media: Wife's rant on YouTube falls foul of judgeA British actor who took her battle against her millionaire husband to the internet, posting videos that lambasted him on YouTube and which gained an audience of millions, has been ordered to leave her New York home by a judge who has ruled her behaviour was "spousal abuse"...
Just a Reminder: Prenuptial Agreements Have A Purpose
Posted on August 21, 2008From Best Syndication comes Purpose of Prenuptial Agreements. Some good reminders of points I have brought up before."To be specific, prenuptial agreements are signed and notarized contracts that draft how financial aspects of a marriage will be handled...
Surviving Divorce: The Love Coach's 100 Tips
Posted on August 20, 2008Healthy Separation: 100 Tips and Resources to Get You Through a Divorce has not only tips but links to blogs and online forums for support and information.I would particularly want to highlight these tips (yes, the numbers off from the original).:Set realistic goals...
Federal child support act trumps state act
Posted on August 19, 2008From The Indiana Lawyer of August 2 comes Federal child support act trumps state act:"The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today that a federal act supersedes Indiana's statute regarding exclusive jurisdiction over two parties' child support order and affirmed the transfer of exclusive jurisdiction to a California court...
The Marriage is Off and She Gets a Pile of Cash
Posted on August 18, 2008MSNBC reports on a Georgia case of alienated affections in Left at altar, she gets $150K in court: "Men (or women) who decide to get on bended knee: Be warned. You could find yourself on both knees, facing a judge instead of a justice of the peace.That?s what happened in Florida this week, when a woman was awarded $150,000 after suing her former fiancé for calling off their wedding...
Yes, I Have Been Missing Action
Posted on August 16, 2008My apologies for the lack of posts. Between work and health issues I have been feeling like a ping-pong ball, but more on that later. I have neglected my blogging and hope tomake up for lost time.You will find a miscellany of news in the posts following this one.
Something A Little Different About Marriage
Posted on August 16, 2008Once more relying on The Indiana Lawyer for this post. Their headline was Court rules marriage not valid, affirms sentence.A woman who helped her husband flee from police after committing three murders in southern Indiana can be convicted of assisting a criminal because her marriage is void in Indiana, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today***Davis claimed her marriage to Harbison in Kentucky exempted her from Indiana's aiding a criminal liability, which says a parent, child, or spouse of the offender can't be held liable for assisting a criminal...
Child Support for The Incarcerated, Growing Crops as Marital Assets, Funds for Family Courts
Posted on August 15, 2008The following were published in The Indiana Lawyer:Child support abatement starts on petition date:The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order setting the date in which an incarcerated man can receive an abatement in his child support, finding the date the man filed his order was when it could be first applied...
The Divorce Law Offices of Scott Warmuth
Posted on August 04, 2008The Divorce Law Offices of Scott Warmuth: "We strive to treat every client in a way that suits that individual's unique personality. For example: * If you come to us with a plan of action, having thought through steps you wish to take in your divorce, we will respect and support that plan vigorously...
Clarification on Use of the Federal Order/Notice to Withhold Income for Child Support
Posted on August 03, 2008PIQ-01-01, Clarification on Use of the Federal Order/Notice to Withhold Income for Child Support comes U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families' Office of Child Support Enforcement:"Our goal in issuing this PIQ is to clarify the appropriate use of the Federal Income Withholding Form...
Online Resource: Law Moose
Posted on July 28, 2008While posting about these online resources, I realized just how much has changed over the past five years of online legal resources. So much more is now available - more statutes, more primary sources of law - online. Then, too, blogs now exist at the forefront of legal resources (do check out the blog feeds and other links on this page)...
Tips for Same-Sex Couples By Way of California
Posted on July 28, 2008I came very close to not commenting on Prominent Los Angeles Family Law Firm Offers Top Ten Check List for Same-Sex Couples Marrying in California - too tied to California gays being allowed to marry (for now), too much discussion of the California ballot initiative...
Online Resources: Articles and The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
Posted on July 25, 2008The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers keeps up a portal page for articles written by its members. As with the other online resources I am writing about this month, the articles here may not apply to Indiana at all and many do not apply to specific issues as much as policy issues...
Article on Blended Family Finances
Posted on July 24, 2008I picked on Blended Family Finances from Kiplinger.com for the following ideas on prenuptial agreements but the entire article needs reading for those who have blended families:"The Sassamans, of Portland, Ore., took a cautious approach to their new enterprise...
Islamic Marriages, Dowry and Texas Law
Posted on July 24, 2008A bit off the beaten path, this post comes from the Houston Courts & Cases Blog's Texas Family Code & Islamic Marriage. I am not so sure that Indiana would not reach the same result but I am very much inclined to agree with what I read below of the dissent...
Are You on Facebook or MySpace?
Posted on July 23, 2008Ok, MySpace Mistakes & Facebook Follies from the Probable Cause Blog is not about family law. Pay attention anyway. These points apply to your online profiles:So if you find yourself in legal trouble, one of the first things you might want to do is take a look at your online social networking profiles...
Forms: Change of Address for Person Receiving Child Support
Posted on July 23, 2008The Madison County Clerk had this form on the counter for the general public and I thought I might as well add it to this blog. A big ugly thanks to scanning it in and converting the thing to text. I see no reason why it could not be converted for use in other counties...
Paternity and Adoption
Posted on July 22, 2008The Court of Appeals decided IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF THE UNBORN CHILD OF B.W. (Pdf format) last week. Consider this an object lesson on why a father needs to get paternity established:Appellant-petitioner Wilfrido Garcia appeals the trial court?s refusal to set aside its grant of adoption regarding his minor child, T...
Indiana's Court Costs for the Year
Posted on July 22, 2008As effective July 1 and continuing until the next General Assembly: COURT COSTS EFFECTIVE JULY 1ST,2008 THE CHANGE IS BASED ON INDIANA CODES.. ..THIS SECTION APPLIES TO ALL CIVIL, CRIMINAL, INFRACTION AND ORDINANCE VIOLATION ACTIONS: CASE TYPE CASE CLASS COSTS BREAK DOWN CODE 100% RECEIPTS CRIMINAL CRIMINAL FELONY FA,FB,FC,FD $164...
Online Resource: FindLaw for the Public -- Divorce & Family Law Center
Posted on July 21, 2008As part of my ongoing listing of online resources comes FindLaw for the Public -- Divorce & Family Law Center. Geared more to lawyers (the site includes links to lawyer jobs and Findlaw newsletters).
Indiana Lawyer Reports on Child Support Guideline Committee
Posted on July 21, 2008Some interesting points from Committee gets feedback on child support rules:"Robert Monday with the national Children's Rights Council had three suggestions: college support orders need to be clearer as far as the tax treatment for custodial parents, such as whether credits are being recognized and filtered down to child support guidelines; being able to pay for college expenses directly through the school, rather than through the custodial parents; and how to decide support relating to extracurricular activities, such as soccer or hockey expenses...
What Are The Grounds For Divorce In Indiana?
Posted on July 21, 2008Reading the Pennsylvania Family Law Blog's What Are The Grounds For Divorce In Pennsylvania? made me think of comparing this with Indiana's grounds for divorce.In Pennsylvania: "A divorce may be granted in Pennsylvania divorce law using either ?Fault? or ?No-Fault? grounds...
Indiana Child Support Payments - News From the Clerk's Office
Posted on July 20, 2008Excuse any typos because they are actually defects in scanning the handout from the Madison County Clerk's Office and turning it into text I can post: IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGES FOR PAYING YOUR INDIANA CHILD SUPPORT Effective immediately, Indiana law requires your child support payments be made to the Indiana State Central Collection Unit ?INSCCU? at the address below: INSCCU P...
Online Resources: Jurist and Family Law
Posted on July 18, 2008I cannot remember when I stopped using the Jurist site on a regular basis. As with most online resources this one changed from a sort of portal for law professors with links to papers and articles to one about news and law professors.I find that I still have a link to its Family Law page...
Children and claiming them on taxes
Posted on July 18, 2008Here is one to file away for next year when doing your taxes.When does a parent get to claim a child as an exemption on the federal income taxes? This depends on the Order creating the child support obligation. That would be - generally speaking - the Decree of Paternity or the Decree of Dissolution of Marriage...
Tomorrow is the Child support guidelines hearing
Posted on July 17, 2008A reminder from The Indiana Lawyer that I am passing along:"A public hearing about the state's Child Support Rules and Guidelines will be Friday at the Indiana Statehouse.The Domestic Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana, chaired by Steuben Superior Judge William C...
How does Indiana value the marital pot?
Posted on July 16, 2008The following from Mathes v. Mathes (Ind.App. 2008; PDF format) sums up the general outlines on Indiana's law of dividing the marital pot quite well. Strictly speaking, this is how Indiana's appellate courts will review a property division.We apply a strict standard of review to a trial court?s distribution of property upon dissolution...
I Kicked up Some Dust - Following Up on "Parents Rules Contradict the Law"
Posted on July 15, 2008Seems that my Parents Rules Contradict the Law kicked up some dust on Second Wives Discussion. I think they generally got the idea. I was unaware of this discussion group until I saw the hits coming from the site (thanks for that, but could none of them stayed to have read more?)...
Online Resource: Hiero Gamos' Family Law Portal
Posted on July 14, 2008Hieros Gamos has been an online resource for many years now. It takes a more world-wide view than most but its Family and Elder Law portal has some good resources.
Encforcing An Indiana Child Support Order Outside of Indiana
Posted on July 14, 2008You have an Indiana support order and the payor is now living outside of Indiana - how to get the money if payor decides not to pay. (After all, no problem exists if the child is being paid.)What to do depends on where the non-custodial parent works...
Parents Rules Contradict the Law
Posted on July 13, 2008For an example a father left the following comment (with some editing from me) in another post:... After all these years and allowing calls to/from son and parents, my ex now claims she has a rule of no cell phones for children under 15 (son is 13). She refuses to allow him to have it this summer let along answer it...
Property Division: Vesting Rights
Posted on July 12, 2008Pensions, real estate may or may not be property because the supposed owner has no vested rights in the property. The following are some Indiana cases dealing with vesting of property.IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF ELKINS (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2002; text version): "Pursuant to Ind...
Financial Advice for Married and Divorcing Women
Posted on July 12, 2008Some good points from Massachusetts The Sun Chronicle's Wise women: Area lawyers offer facts every woman should know. I cannot quarrel with the following as an Indiana lawyer:Every woman should have a credit card in her own name - not as an authorized user under their spouse...
Online Resources: Child Support and The Administration for Children and Families
Posted on July 11, 2008Not that most think of the federal government when thinking of child support, but The Administration for Children and Families runs the Child Support Enforcement Office and well as the following: Child Support Federal Parent Locator Service Frequently Asked Questions about Child Support Collection/DistributionFrequently Asked Questions about Child CustodyFrequently Asked Questions about Child Support EnforcementFrequently Asked Questions for Non-Custodial ParentsFrequently Asked Questions about Child Support OrdersFrequently Asked Questions about PaternityFrequently Asked Questions about Child Support and Tax Refunds
Federal Government Finds Benefits for Gay Couples
Posted on July 11, 2008I am very late reporting this. The following came from The Washington Post's Justice for Gays:"How could the OLC, which gained notoriety for putting ideology before the rule of law to justify extreme interrogation techniques, come to such a conclusion? By reading the law governing Social Security benefits neutrally and correctly -- and by keeping politics out of the analysis...
Future Law Practice
Posted on July 11, 2008Does Family Lore have it right in Divorce-Online: The Way of the Future??"It seems to me that there are two primary reasons why clients are attracted to the service: cost and convenience. With fewer people entitled to legal aid and money now becoming tighter, the appeal of a service that seriously undercuts solicitors is obvious...
The Pre-nup as Estate Planning
Posted on July 10, 2008The Sun Chronicle Online's Wise women: Area lawyers offer facts every woman should know makes some points that I do make enough of my own discussions on this blog about prenuptial agreements:"Prenuptial agreements, for example, 'have been, at times, given a bad rap,' said Taddeo who specializes in estate and tax laws...
Paternity: New Case on Setting Aside Paternity
Posted on July 08, 2008Not having had time today to catch up on my reading, I dropped in on The Indiana Lawyer Blog to find this:In In re the Paternity of M.M.; Bryan F. v. Liana M. , a 6-page opinion, Judge Bailey writes:Bryan F. (?Bryan?) appeals the denial of his motion to rescind a paternity affidavit and request for paternity testing...
Something Different from Irish Law
Posted on July 08, 2008Not current Irish law but ancient Irish is the topic of A life chronicle's Law of the couple. Some thing s to think about out of a much longer post:"Question: how many couples of cohabitation and procreation are there in Irish law? Answer: ten-(1) union of common contribution; (2) union of a woman on a man's contribution; (3) union of a man on a woman's contribution with service; (4) union of a woman who accepts a man's solicitation; (5) union of a man who visits the woman, without work, without solicitation, without provision, without material contribution; (6) union by abduction; (7) union of wandering mercenaries; (8) union by criminal seduction; (9) union by rape; (10) union of mockery...
Online Resource: Legal Information Institute and Divorce
Posted on July 07, 2008Cornell University's Law School maintains the Legal Information Institute. The LII is one of the oldest online legal resources and worth checking out for many reasons. The LII breaks down the law into subject areas and then provides a general guideline for that area of law and also provides links to sources for the law...
DivorceNet - Indiana Divorce
Posted on July 04, 2008With DivorceNet's Indiana Divorce we have a portal page for Indiana: "Our Indiana divorce page includes a directory of divorce lawyers, mediators and other professionals, and family law articles on child support, alimony, custody, and property division...
From Ireland - An Idea for Indiana and People Living Together
Posted on July 01, 2008Those following this blog have read my articles on cohabitation. (For those who have not, just click on the link below that reads "cohabitation".) You should know Indian ahas no statutes protecting those living together such as we have for divorcing couples...
Marion County Pro Se Procedures
Posted on June 30, 2008For those filing their won divorces in Marion County, Indiana (Indianapolis) had better read this post. Those in other counties can learn from 2 - 7. I got the following from Marion Civil Superior Court 1 a few weeks back: NOTICE TO PRO SE LITIGANTS RE: DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE PROCEDURES If you are representing yourself in a dissolution of marriage proceeding, the laws of the State of Indiana and the Marion County Rules require the following: I...
Indiana Law: Divorce and Paternity Colliding in a Custody Dispute
Posted on June 30, 2008What happens when a marriage with four children begins as a divorce in one county and then mother files a paternity case in another county - and proves that one child of the four has another father? And what about the divorce court's decision to give the husband custody of all four children?What happens? The case goes up on appeal...
Justices: Indiana OK to dismiss jurisdiction
Posted on June 29, 2008The Indiana Lawyer reports on a new interstate custody case, Justices: Indiana OK to dismiss jurisdiction:In an Indiana custody case that started before a married couple's only child was born, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that either Indiana or the state where the child was born could have jurisdiction over proceedings...
Taking a Look at Cohabitation in Canada
Posted on June 29, 2008From reading the Real Estate Blog's Thinking of Living Common Law?. I think there some similarities (no, the house is not yours equally just by living there) but we also lack any notion of support for the common law spouse: "Often, couples living common law will mistakenly believe that they have equal ownership of the family home...
Enforcing The Decree: Real Estate
Posted on June 27, 2008What happens when after the divorce, the spouse getting the marital residence stops paying the mortgage? The answer depends on your Divorce Decree. If the Decree says that the other spouse was to hold you harmless on the debt, then you need to (at least) head back to the divorce court for a hearing on contempt...
Paternity leave checklist
Posted on June 27, 2008Thanks to Maryland's Father's Rights Blog for the link to BabyCenter's Paternity leave checklist. As I read the checklist, it is most useful for FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) requests. I see no reason - with some twaking - it could not also be used for divorced parents.
New Resource: LexMonitor
Posted on June 26, 2008I added a feed to Lexmonitor to this is blog. Which leads to what is LexMonitor and why should you care? Since I think the idea of this blog is to give you access to as much information as possible, LexMonitor seemed like a good idea. This site provides feeds from a wide range of law blogs and journals...
Cohabitation: Financial Planning for Gays and Lesbians, a Blog
Posted on June 26, 2008Thanks to Google News Alerts I learned of Queercents. This blog describes itself as follows:As gays and lesbians writing about money, we?ve grown weary of reading all the personal finance content that?s written from the perspective of straight marriages...
Child Support: Increase in Federal Minimum Wage Goes to $6.55
Posted on June 25, 2008Thanks to Labor Law Center Blog's Federal Minimum Wage Goes to $6.55 because I forgot there would be an increase this year. "On July 24 2008, the federal minimum wage will increase by 70 cents from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour. The federal wage affects every employer with annual revenue over $500,000 per year, and those who engage in interstate commerce...
Better Google Searches
Posted on June 25, 2008I think we probably ought to be teaching high schoolers (junior high schoolers?) how to use Google and the other Internet search engines. They are becoming that important. Since we are not and some of us are far, far removed from high school, let me offer Top Search Tips as way to improve your Google searches...
An Online Divorce Seminar - For Texas
Posted on June 24, 2008Warning - this post may interest lawyers more than non-lawyers: how can we disseminate the necessary information to the general public on Indiana family law in a format that is truly helpful? Luck and Google News Alerts lead me to Online Austin Divorce Seminar...
Fathers and Custody: What It Takes
Posted on June 24, 2008I want to gripe. When I hear that the courts are biased against fathers, I get annoyed. I will happily agree that the courts are not perfect. Find me a lawyer who says they are and I suspect you will find one that does not go in front of judges. Those fathers who I hear say that the courts are biased against them fall into two groups - or such is my experience...
Divorce and Kids: A Website
Posted on June 23, 2008Thanks to California Divorce Blawg for A Divorce Website For Kids:"A Kid's Guide to Divorce is a nice little web page providing therapeutic information for children of divorcing families. Published by KidsHealth.org, the information is clean and simple...
Marriage Planning, Financial Planning, Prenuptial Agreements
Posted on June 22, 2008I found Start your marriage off right with some sound financial planning at The Oklahoman site. Of course, I think it makes great points when it gets to prenuptial agreements but it also makes sense before it gets to that point. Give it a read. Remember that I am available if you want a prenuptial agreement created or have a lawyer review a prenuptial agreement...
Should Indiana Have Alimony?
Posted on June 22, 2008Indiana has not had alimony as part of its divorce statutes for about three decades. While we do have maintenance, that is not the same thing.During one of the recurring bouts of decrying the divorce rate and offering suggestions of how to make divorce harder, I thought bringing back alimony might offer some help...
Reviewing Online Cohabitation Agreements
Posted on June 21, 2008Today I am writing about two online sources for cohabitation agreements. Law Depot and findlegalforms.com both have cohabitation agreements you can fill out online. My short answer is that neither substitutes for an attorney but should work quite well for a draft to take to an attorney...
Should the Unemployed Spouse Return to Work?
Posted on June 21, 2008Florida Divorce * Child Custody * Domestic Violence Law Lawyer Blog brings up a subject in To Work or Not to Work? That is Sometimes the Question that is worth bringing up for many reasons in our current economy even though the original context of alimony does not apply in Indiana...
You Want To Save Money on a Divorce by Getting One Attorney?
Posted on June 20, 2008Don't even think about it. You are not really saving a dime.Getting one attorney does not mean that both you of have an attorney. Representing both sides of a divorce is clearly a conflict of interest. Only if the lawyer has both sides sign off on a waiver of the conflict do both sides have a lawyer...
Things That Judges Hate
Posted on June 20, 2008South Carolina Family Law Blog published Things That Judges Hate. I read it and read thinking what can I add to this post? I decided there just is not anything to add, this is the list. Here it is in full:"Judges are particularly annoyed by lawyers (and their clients) who:* ignore the rules of court;* fail to prepare;* arrive late;* repeat themselves;* act rudely;* make frivolous arguments;* mislead the court;* argue with the judge;* refuse to talk settlement; and* request a last-minute continuance...
Mediation for Marion County and Beyond
Posted on June 19, 2008Marion County Courts love pushing cases into mediation. They also provide a nifty brochure for people going into mediation. But you need to go into the court's office to get the brochure and I did not find its parallel on the website for the Marion County Courts and that is why I am posting this information here...
Cyberbullying: What To Do If It Happens To Your Kid
Posted on June 19, 2008lexisONE(R) reprinted Cyberbullying: What To Do If It Happens To Your Kid. I think the following are good points to remember:"Parents need to be aware of cyberbullying by monitoring their teen's online activity. If a cyberbully harasses your teen, the California Association Marriage and Family Therapists offers the following tips for parents:* Encourage your teen not to respond to the bullying...
Parents Handbook: Non-Lawyer Manual From The ABA
Posted on June 18, 2008I do not like using this blog for touting products, but I think Coparenting During and After Divorce-A Handbook for Parents (Family Advocate Vol. 30, No. 1) from the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association justifies an exception:"This Client Handbook issue of Family Advocate aids divorcing parents so that their children will continue to derive the benefit of nurturing, guidance, and support by both parents...
Divorce and Bankruptcy
Posted on June 18, 2008Until 2005 I had a consumer bankruptcy practice, and I can say divorce is one of the greatest - if not the greatest - causes of bankruptcy. Bankruptcy law comes into play in divorce at two places: during the divorce case or after.Bankruptcy impacts divorce before the Final Hearing in dealing with your debts...
Fixing Up The Blog
Posted on June 18, 2008I did some rearranging tonight of the links in the sidebar. Blogger now gives us some ability to add feeds from other blogs. I picked ten of my more favorite family law blogs and you can see their latest posts. Look under My Family Law Blog List.I had already set up Family Law Feed - Justia Blawg Search...
Indiana Law on Expenses for child's education 3: What Are Educational Expenses?
Posted on June 17, 2008Today, I am reviewing the Indiana Child Support Guidelines on Extraordinary Educational Expenses. I suggest using the search function at the top of the page for further search or browse the posts on child support for cases and more specific information...
Got An Opinion About Indiana's Child Support Guidelines? Comments sought on child support rules
Posted on June 17, 2008This in from yesterday's Indiana Lawyer:"The Domestic Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana is seeking public comment concerning Indiana's Child Support Rules and Guidelines as part of its review process to propose changes to the Indiana Supreme Court...
Dating for Those Past 50
Posted on June 16, 2008Thanks to Fiona of Divorce Survivor for her e-mail alerting me to Dating After Divorce: 50 Tips to Get Back into the Groove. The social life post-divorce seems one of the great stressors of divorce. As I come closer to fifty years of age, the less I like the prospect of dating and prefer my marriage...
Indiana Law on Expenses for child's education and health care 2
Posted on June 16, 2008I see many people coming here seeking information on child support and educational expenses. Today, I am reviewing the Indiana Child Support Guidelines on Extraordinary Educational Expenses. I suggest using the search function at the top of the page for further search or browse the posts on child support for cases and more specific information...
New Property Division case
Posted on June 16, 2008The Indiana Court of Appeals decided Barry Wanner v. Jill Hutchcroft on June 10, 2008. It has some interesting points on property division and pre-existing property, deviating from the 50-50 presumption, and the impact of tax consequences on a property division...
How to file for divorce
Posted on June 15, 2008Assuming you have decided to handle your own uncontested divorce, what do you do after you have prepared your paperwork?Go to your local courthouse with all the papers (and these depend on if you have children or not) and locate the Clerks Office. At the Clerk's Office, tell them you wish to file a Dissolution of Marriage...
The Attorney-Client Privilege
Posted on June 14, 2008A murder case out of Muncie, Indiana provides an extreme example of how the attorney-client protects a client. From the Muncie Star Press' Judge: Divorce papers protected in Teresa French murder case:"Attorney Linda Clark Dague had requested a protective order after the Delaware County prosecutor?s office issued a grand jury subpoena seeking ?any and all pleadings, orders, notes, tape recordings, photographs, billing statements, correspondence? and other items stemming Dague?s representation of Teresa French in the divorce case...
New legal center opens in Marion County
Posted on June 13, 2008The Indiana Lawyer Daily reported on New legal center opens in Marion County that sounds like it could be useful for some of you visiting this blog from Indianapolis:"The center will provide resources and referrals for various services such as domestic violence, protective orders, substance-abuse treatment options, and how to find an attorney...
Children Cope with Seminars
Posted on June 13, 2008Some information I picked up last week in Indianapolis. Visiting Nurse runs the Children Cope with Divorce seminars in Monroe, Marion, Shelby, Hamilton, Brown, and Ripley Counties. The following information is from the Visiting Nurse brochure.Contact information:Direct registration calls to RegistrarChildren Cope with Divorce (Tuesday-Friday 9 AM to 5 PM) (317) 722-8201 or 1-877-840-COPE (2673)Costs:The fee for Children Cope with Divorce is $50 per person and is payable when you attend the class...
Latest on the family farm, a step-father and a dead mom
Posted on June 12, 2008The Indiana Supreme Court issued its opinion in Emma McPeek, et al. v. Charles McCardle, . I wrote before about this case in The family farm, a step-father and a dead mom and Updating the family farm, a step-father and a dead mom. The following is from the Indiana Lawyer Daily:Instead, the court relied on Indiana law as the two lived here before and after the marriage ceremony and that both likely anticipated the marriage would be valid...
Indiana Law: What are The Limits for Parent Discipling a Child?
Posted on June 12, 2008The Indiana Supreme Court determined the line between permissible parental discipline and criminal battery. In Sophia Willis v. State of Indiana (PDF format), the mother was arrested and convicted of a class D felony for spanking her eleven year old son with a belt...