Sam Hasler's Indiana Divorce & Family Law Blog: Indiana

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Indiana Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Indiana

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: 14.5/day

Last Entry: March 21, 2010 at 18:36:00

For Those Using Free Forms From The Internet

Posted on March 21, 2010
Be careful of what you get. I have said this before but not quite as well as Wiggin & Nourie, P.A. does with its Is LegalZoom Legal?"I think that people generally have a tendency to underestimate the work that goes into the preparation of an estate plan, it requires a great deal more than simply printing off forms...

Prenuptial Agreements Are Good For Family Businesses

Posted on March 20, 2010
If you have a family business then read the following from The Williston Herald, Family roles play a part in farm operation, succession A family death brings questions about new roles: "To help deal with in-laws, Hanson is now a firm believer in prenuptial marriage agreements...

Why Estate Planning?

Posted on March 19, 2010
Give Allinotte Law Office's Do you want to deal with this now or let your family deal with it later? a read. I think the article points out a few things not usually thought of when thinking of estate planning. Both the things needing planned (such as a funeral trust) and why which I think the article sums up quite well here:The family will be shaken by the death of a loved one...

Are You Ready To Co-Parent?

Posted on March 18, 2010
I have had a run of shared parenting issues lately. So when reading Make Smart Choices for Post-Divorce Co-Parenting Success I had those issues in mind. I am going to suggest that the following paragraphs add content and texture to the idea of shared parenting as much as splitting time...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

What is Mediation - And When Can It Help

Posted on March 17, 2010
With some counties pushing mediation as prerequisite to ever seeing a courtroom, I getting asked more questions about mediation and articles like What is Mediation do a good job of explaining the process. I suggest following the link and reading the whole as well as my excerptsDivorce mediation is about you and your soon to be ex-spouse deciding your own divorce and what is best for the both of you and most importantly, your children...

Another Post On How To Avoid Litigation

Posted on March 16, 2010
Pay attention to 10 things your children will thank you for from Woolley and Co. Solicitors:1. Keeping arguments away from them and avoid criticism of the other parent.2. Being able to talk to the other parent about their needs (even though it may be hard sometimes)3...

Writing the Property Settlement - Make Sure You Cover Everything

Posted on March 15, 2010
Ah, forgetting to ask all the questions worries me. The problem of the unasked question has a tendency of coming back to haunt - if not to bite. For those of you thinking of doing your own divorce (or legal separation) agreements, I give you this paragraph from WOLSHIRE v...

Indiana Legal Separation Becoming a Divorce Case With a Post-Nuptial Agreement

Posted on March 14, 2010
And a good example why to hire a lawyer. Such is Beaman v. Beaman, 844 NE 2d 525 (Ind: Court of Appeals 2006).First, the case demonstrates - to me - why few legal separation case are filed or go on for very long. Notice how easily the parties slipped from a separation case a dissolution case (and see what I wrote here)...

Thinking About Custody Issues

Posted on March 13, 2010
Recently I had a long telephone call with another lawyer who is on the side of me in two different custody cases. We were discussing why my clients were opposed to a shared parenting agreement. After finally clearing out that it was not my views driving the cases but my clients, I think we agreed to two things: 1) we execute our client's goals so long as they do not put us into unethical territory, and 2) there is no good definition of joint and/or shared parenting...

Living Together & Breaking Up - Comparing Indiana With Scotland

Posted on March 12, 2010
Reading Breaking up is hard to do financially for cohabiting couples from Scotsman.com Business once again brings to mind how disadvantaged those Hoosiers who live together without getting married are compared with other places.First of all there is no legislation in Indiana protecting the property rights of those cohabitating...

Military Service, Jurisdiction and A New Case from The Court of Appeals

Posted on March 11, 2010
Having discussed jurisdiction and service in Got to Have Service on the Other Side and More on Got to Have Service on the Other Side, let me bring up a recent Indiana Court of Appeals case In re: the marriage of Anthony J. Harris v. Teasha J. Harris...

Case law - Marital Property Titled to Someone Else

Posted on March 10, 2010
Krstin Nicevski v. Greta Nicevski was decided last year on July 9. My apologies for the delay in writing this one up - put it down to the turmoil of last Summer and Fall. However, the case points out something important and so I am going ahead on write on the case...

More on Got to Have Service on the Other Side

Posted on March 09, 2010
I have to make a comment about a recent case of mine and Indiana Trial Rule 4(E). Adding this to Got to Have Service on the Other Side seemed to make the earlier post a bit too long.This part of Rule 4 reads as follows:(E) Summons and Complaint Served Together--Exceptions...

Parenting Time - Illinois Video Visitation in Action

Posted on March 08, 2010
I mentioned Illinois new video visitation statute in What About Electronic/Online Parenting Time in Indiana. Now from pressofAtlanticCity.com comesDivorced parents keep in contact with their children via video phone calls that gives a pretty positive view of what is going on in Illinois...

Thoughts on Preventing Problems Between Parents

Posted on March 07, 2010
I have not mentioned in what seems a long time how you people have the means to prevent spending unnecessary time in a courtroom. Put plainly, being a jerk results more often than not in a visit to the lawyer and probably to a courtroom.If you want to prevent problems, read the following from The Mother of All Parenting Blogs (and you might want to check out the rest of the blog, too)...

A Slightly Different Family Law Blog

Posted on March 07, 2010
A quick shout out to an Indonesian family law blog - Islamic Family Law in Indonesia. Interesting to see how a completely alien legal system operates. And how some of the topics never change - money and trying to understand just what was the legislature thinking (or if it was)...

Remaining Family Law Legislation for This Year's General Assembly

Posted on March 06, 2010
I culled the following list from The Indiana Lawyer Capitol Watch newsletter of the remaining legislation pending in this year's General Assembly. I have not had time to double check the list or what changes exist from earlier stages of the legislative process...

Got to Have Service on the Other Side

Posted on March 06, 2010
The Indiana Lawyer's COA rules on service of summons issues does not report on a family law case, this is subject still needing attention.Gohl filed his motion arguing the judgment against him was void for lack of service of process. The Court of Appeals judges agreed and reversed, finding the trial court didn't have personal jurisdiction over Gohl when it rendered the default judgment against him...

Grandparent's Visitation - Latest Case from The Court of Appeals

Posted on March 05, 2010
Paternal grandmother files for grandparent visitation after her son kills child's mother. Father voluntarily terminates his parental rights. What happens to grandmother's visitation?In VISITATION OF CRP v. JJP, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided that grandmother lacked any standing for grandparent visitation...

Islamic Prenuptial Agreements - A Case Out of Washington

Posted on March 03, 2010
The Google Alerts blurb caught my eye and I spent some time yesterday evening reading IN RE MARRIAGE OF OBAIDI. Here are some of the facts:Ms. Obaidi and Mr. Qayoum were married for approximately 13 months. At the time of the marriage, Ms. Obaidi was 19 and Mr...

The Mediation Channel Blog

Posted on March 02, 2010
Just found The Mediation Channel Blog on March 1 and I am intrigued by its style and its content. Not another dreary, look-alike blog for sure. Two posts that I notice that might interest my readers were The cost of conflict: what happens when we frame divorce as combat which was cited in Zero sum game show: celebrities decide who?s right or wrong in The Marriage Ref...

Coming Soon to An Indiana Supreme Court Near You

Posted on March 02, 2010
Way too quiet this morning. Secretary is not in and spent some time catching up on e-mail. I am beginning to think that catching up on e-mail is akin to the hamster actually getting somewhere when its runs on its wheel.But The Indiana Lawyer Update did bring news of cases being transferred from the Indiana Court of Appeals to the Indiana Supreme Court and included this one:Anne M...

News - Child Support and Casino Winnings

Posted on March 01, 2010
I reported on this Indiana legislation here. A bit of follow up here from The Anderson Herald Bulletin Indiana House backs taking deadbeat parents' winningsThe bill approved unanimously Thursday would withhold gambling winnings from parents who are behind on their child support payments...

An English Idea To Pay Attention To: Collaborative Prenups

Posted on February 28, 2010
From Family Law Week comes Collaborative prenuptial agreements find favourAccording to The Law Society?s Gazette, a rising number of clients contemplating marriage are asking for prenuptial agreements to be prepared using the collaborative law model. The report records a shift in attitude among clients who would prefer to adopt a more consensual approach to agreeing a pre-nuptial agreement rather than employ the more traditional, oppositional method of negotiation.

News - Indiana Paternity Affidavits

Posted on February 27, 2010
Checking the e-mail this morning, I noticed an update on the paternity affidavit Bill making its way through the Indiana General Assembly (SB 0178)(which I have written about here). This comes from the notice i received:This bill does the following: 1...

Indiana Divorce - What Is a Child of The Marriage?

Posted on February 27, 2010
Something here that we lawyers might take for granted but seems to elude non-lawyers. Children from an earlier marriage or relationship are not included as children of the present marriage - even if they are living with you and your spouse.Something trickier occurs when a question arises as to whether the husband is the father of the wife's child...

How To Approach The Prenuptial Agreement Idea

Posted on February 26, 2010
Esther Schonfeld wrote what I think is perfectly sensible way to approach prenuptial agreements:While not an antidote to a difficult divorce, a prenuptial agreement certainly can make divorce less painful. I often describe prenups as insurance policies that protect against a protracted and brutal divorce proceeding...

So You Think Common-Law Marriage Will Protect You?

Posted on February 25, 2010
Since I keep getting surprised by people who think Indiana permits common law marriage (as well as other states), I offer Common-Law Marriage: A Nineteenth-Century Relic with Continuing Relevance: "But here's the hitch: Common-law marriage is not allowed in most states today...

New Indiana Court of Appeals Case - Grandparent Visitation and Step-Parent Adoption

Posted on February 25, 2010
From today's Indiana Lawyer came COA: inequity in grandparent visitation actA.B. and N.E. opposed L.D's adoption; the trial court granted some visitation to N.E. before the adoption was finalized. Once the adoption petition was granted, the paternal grandparents told N...

Indiana Prenuptial Agreements - Setting them Aside for Fraud or Unconscionability

Posted on February 24, 2010
Let us go back to 1996 and Rider v. Rider, 669 NE 2d 160 for a description of unconscionability:In this case, there is no evidence of fraud, duress, misrepresentation, or unconscionability at the time the contract was made. Leslie brought most of the property to the marriage; Charles brought few personal assets and a modest income from more than 35 years of work at the Delco Remy factory...

Related Law Bulletins

Foreigner in U.S. on Visitor’s Visa Does Not Fulfill Nevada’s Divorce Residency Requirement
A Canadian wife who had lived in Nevada for 3Â½ years on a v...

EU Member States Attack Divorce Conflict of Laws Scheme
16.11.2006 - 09:30 CET | By Teresa KÃ¼chlerEUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS -...

Same-sex Couple Seeks Divorce in Rhode Island
"A lesbian couple married in Massachusetts should have the same ri...

California divorce is often a time-consuming process
California divorce is often a time-consuming process By Ron Sokol,...

There are Two Ways to Prepare for an International Divorce
Are you someone who always runs at the last minute to catch a plan...