With Governor Holcomb’s “Directive to Stay at Home” order taking effect at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 to slow the COVID-19 epidemic, parents with children born out of wedlock and from divorce face uncharted waters. This is because some states with stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders have prevented custody and parenting time exchanges. There is simply mass confusion. This blog covers a reasonable application of how parents in Indiana should conduct themselves in exchanging the children during the ... Read More
24
Mar2020
24
Mar2020
Earlier today, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb issued several Executive Orders. Executive Order 20-08 - “Directive for Hoosiers to Stay at Home” – officially ordered Indiana residents to shelter in place and remain at home if at all possible, except for several provisions that exclude certain activities. Frankly, with our schools closing their physical locations, nearly all recreational businesses shuttered, and many parents working remotely, society has been placed in an unfamiliar and extremely unique situation. This blog ... Read More
20
Mar2020
Divorce brings uncertainty for parents and children. Normally, at least one parent will be moving out of the marital house and/or it may be sold because without both parties’ incomes the mortgage may be unsustainable. That said, one of the most important factors in raising well-rounded children is having stability. Certainly, moving houses (and maybe schools or districts) seriously impacts stability. In this blog, we analyze the legal aspects of keeping the children in the family home at ... Read More
20
Mar2020
In a small percentage of divorce and paternity cases, some children completely reject a parent and become estranged from this parent and effectively deny they are the child’s parent. Do these parents have to pay for higher education? This blog addresses the legal doctrine of a child repudiating a parent’s relationship and implications if he or she seeks contribution from the estranged parent toward college expenses.
In Indiana, there is no absolute ... Read More
12
Mar2020
The short answer is, it depends. Indiana has established a specific statutory code for custody modification that requires the parent moving for custody modification to establish certain facts. Depending on your circumstances, your child’s wishes may be enough to modify your current custody order. In this blog, we provide a brief overview of the requirements a parent must meet to modify their current custody order and whether a child’s wishes can be enough.
In order to modify your current ... Read More
11
Mar2020
Divorce and paternity proceedings are difficult for the parents, but even more so for children because of losing the stability of an intact family. In a small number of cases, a parent may intentionally alienate the non-custodial parent from his/her children; and in some cases, this may occur because the parent moves away and through a variety of life circumstances, lose contact with his or her children. But what happens when the “absent” parent wishes to ... Read More
10
Mar2020
Whether it be from personal experience or a movie you saw on television, most of us have some understanding of the concept of custody. However, when people think of custody, most of the time they are only thinking of physical custody. But, physical custody is just one part of child custody as a whole. Who makes decisions about school? Religion? Medical? Do these decisions have to be agreed upon? What if we cannot agree or have differing views on the subjects. These are questions that many don’t ... Read More
28
Feb2020
In today’s blended society, it is common for parents to have different religious beliefs and practices. However, if they both feel strongly about their religion and divorce, a war can erupt over how the children are raised at and after divorce. This is where the concept of legal custody comes in. On divorce or in paternity cases, the court can award joint legal custody. Legal custody covers decisions about the children’s medical care, religious upbringing, and ... Read More
27
Feb2020
Courts routinely order custody evaluations in cases so a person trained with what is key in a child’s psycho-social development can investigate the case and speak with the children and make a custody recommendation to the court of what is in the child’s best interest. Some judges place great value on a custody evaluation and others do not. Nevertheless, if you receive an unfavorable custody evaluation, it is not necessarily the end of your case. These three sound approaches to address an unfavorable custody evaluation depending ... Read More
27
Feb2020
The short answer to the question is, it depends. Whether it be a job opportunity, family, or a change of scenery, individuals are relocating now more than ever. Relocation has become somewhat of a norm, so much so that the Indiana Legislature actually created a statutory chapter to specifically deal with relocation and its applicability to child custody. In this blog we provide a brief overview of relocation and how it can affect custody.
The first thing you need to look at is who ... Read More