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
31
Jan2020
Divorce sometimes presents unique problems for high-income earning and high net-worth litigants. These problems are diverse and present in ways ranging from making private information public through the divorce process to valuing businesses and unique assets. In this blog post, we cover three keys such litigants need to know to navigate the divorce process and flourish after the divorce is final.
The first consideration in most high net worth cases is valuations. These may range from valuing businesses to unique assets like artwork. ... Read More
21
Jan2020
Going through a divorce is hard. It is a stressful and emotional time for many. On top of this, divorce can also create complex financial issues. Financial issues tend to arise because people oftentimes forget to ask themselves the necessary questions to ensure financial stability after your divorce has finalized. This blog provides five questions every divorcee should ask themselves before they file for divorce.
Do I Have Health Insurance? One of the biggest financial concerns at divorce time is health insurance. Maybe ... Read More
17
Jan2020
The most helpful divorce litigant is one who understands the divorce process for the issues in their case (such as disputed custody or division of high assets marital estates). In this blog we will survey some of the key considerations a judge will typically utilize in dividing up high asset estates; generally, these are net marital estates that surpass one million dollars in net worth (after the liabilities are deducted).
The place to start in understanding how judges look at property division is with the presumptions ... Read More
16
Jan2020
Upon divorce, your investment accounts, whether it be a common stock portfolio, retirement account, or pension, is a property that is subject to division upon divorce. That leads many to ask the question of whether they will have to sell the investment account in order to divide it upon divorce? This blog provides a brief overview of how investment accounts are handled upon divorce and provide an answer to the question of whether you are required to sell such investments.
In Indiana, ... Read More
15
Nov2019
In most divorce and post-decree custody cases, Indiana trial courts have local rules requiring the parties to attend mediation before a hearing/trial. While the court can waive this requirement, it is constitutional to mandate the parties go to mediation before trial.1 Statistically speaking, a significant majority of domestic cases settle at mediation. However, to make the most of your mediation, there are three keys to ensuring you enter mediation prepared for a complete resolution; they are analyzed in this blog post.
The first ... Read More
08
Nov2019
There are many women (and men) who elect to stay home after the birth of their children and be a homemaker. No one doubts this is a full-job, but when divorce strikes it often leaves fear in the stay-at-home parent because he/she had been out of the workforce for so long. This is particularly daunting since Indiana presumes that the parties will divide the marital estate 50/50. There are many potential protections for the spouse who has been out of the workforce for some time. ... Read More
20
Sep2019
It is common knowledge that addiction to illicit and prescription drugs is at “epidemic” proportions in the United States. Unfortunately, families are not immune from this problem and many divorces are tied to addiction (which may be tied to mental illness diagnoses as well). Many spouses simply do not know how addiction may play into divorce, so they wait or do not file at all until it is too late. This blog covers what you need to know about filing for divorce where addiction ... Read More
12
Sep2019
With Americans increasingly living and working abroad as we expand to a global workforce, Indiana divorces with international aspects are not uncommon.1 This blog briefly highlights some of the issues you need to know if you are in this situation.
Jurisdiction. As long as one of the parties have lived in the state and county for six (6) months, the Court has jurisdiction to entertain a divorce case and it can make a custody award, divide the property, ... Read More
11
Sep2019
The importance of pets in our society is measured in terms of billions of dollars. Couples are delaying children or not having them at all--and pets are more commonly accepted everywhere—such as at hotels. They are the “kids” for many people and when a divorce comes about, they can be the central issue of contention—who gets “Tigger” the cat or “Fido” the dog. This blog addresses pets under current Indiana law.
As many readers may be surprised to learn, pets are treated as normal household ... Read More