Today’s society is a mobile one, and people are moving now more than ever. As such, many parents find themselves, or the other parent, moving to a different state. But, what happens if one of the parent’s wants to file for a modification of custody? Do they have to file in the state that made the initial custody determination? Can they file in the state that they just moved to? How do court’s treat custody cases that involve multiple states? Well, it depends. In this blog, we look to answer these questions and look at when Indiana is the appropriate ... Read More
Tag: custody modification
07
Jan2021
03
Dec2020
When a child is born out of wedlock or a divorce with children is filed, there is often dispute about who should have physical custody. Physical custody is the parent whom the court orders to have the most time with child. The other parent gets parenting time under the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines (herein, “IPTGs”). At the initial determination, there is no preference for either parent. This blog sets forth five mistakes parents routinely make in child custody litigation and in subsequent modification litigation.
Maternal presumption: For a significant amount of time, the maternal presumption or tender years presumption was the ... Read More
25
Nov2020
In filing for or defending against a child custody modification, there are many misconceptions that litigants should know in in order to be success in obtaining a modification or defending against. If these are not recognized and considered, it may hurt your legal position. This blog analyzes these problems so you can properly work with your counsel to address them as they come up in court.
The biggest mistake a parent may make in filing a child custody modification action is filing because of life changes, such overcoming addiction to street or prescription drugs. By itself, it is insufficient to modify ... Read More
05
Nov2020
When a couple divorces or establishes paternity, no party is a preferred parent. In other words, there is no presumption favoring either parent.1 Under the law, a father is just as likely to obtain physical custody as a mother—and fathers do obtain sole physical or primary custody in Indiana and throughout the United States. However, the parents and or children’s situations and circumstances change over time and a parent may seek to modify custody. This blog works through the basics of what you need to know about physical custody modification.
To move to modify custody, a parent must be able to ... Read More
29
Oct2020
Unfortunately, situations arise in our society where a child’s biological parent(s) may no longer be the best person to raise the child. If such a situation is present, there are different avenues a third-party can utilize in order to seek custody of a child in lieu of the biological parent. One of the ways in which a third-party can seek custody of a child is being declared the child’s “de facto custodian.” But you may be wondering “what is a de facto custodian?” or “how can I become a de facto custodian?” In this blog, we try to answer these ... Read More
16
Oct2020
As we all know, life happens, and circumstances can change quickly. That custody order that was recently put in place may seem to become impractical in a moment’s notice. Maybe you or the other parent are intending on moving to a new state. Or maybe the other parent married someone that you believe is harmful to your child(ren)’s well-being. Whatever the reason may be, Indiana has established a specific statutory code to deal with modification of custody. This blog provides a brief overview of modification of a custody order and the process behind same.
In order to modify a custody order, ... Read More
09
Oct2020
We quite frequently receive questions and complaints from clients regarding the other parent’s misconduct towards them or interference with their parenting time. These complaints tend to be followed with the question “can I modify physical custody?” Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule that can provide a ready answer to the question. Each custody case is unique, requiring an independent legal analysis. However, in this blog, we provide a quick overview of custody modification and when a parent’s misconduct or interference may rise to the level to modify custody.
It is important to note that in Indiana, child custody modification ... Read More
04
Sep2020
Parental alienation is just what it claims to be.1 It is a parent (usually the custodial parent if the parties are divorced or the child is born out of wedlock) who engages in a systematic campaign to denigrate the other parent and make the child(ren) of the parties afraid of the other parent. Unfortunately, with children of a young age, they may be more than just conditioned to be afraid of the alienated parent, but they may come to have false memories of some bad act or event caused by the alienated parent. How this plays into a contested custody ... Read More
21
Aug2020
In many cases, parents want an immediate court date to modify custody due to what they believe is an “emergency” matter. This may range from denying parenting time on a significant holiday and the children not being able to attend an important family event to a new relationship one parent develops with a person who the other parent believes is a bad influence on the children and/or puts them in harm’s way. Clearly, Indiana Courts have the authority to conduct emergency custody modification hearings (and do) to look out for a child’s best interests. However, in most cases, these types ... Read More
14
Aug2020
For many reasons, parents of children of divorce or paternity become estranged from their child. Psychological research shows that children are the most developed and have the best adult lives when they have a solid relationship with both parents. It may be a significant out-of-state move and/or re-marriage that has caused the split or, in some cases, it may be your child has been alienated by his or her other parent. This blog covers the major types of alienation and legal remedies you may utilize to re-establish the relationship.
In perhaps the most common scenario, a parent has simply drifted away ... Read More