Across the United States, including in Indiana, social trends and financial pressures are driving lawmakers and courts to reconsider key areas of law that are being tested and challenged each day. Since family and criminal law constitute the majority of cases, you must understand these to be an informed citizen and have awareness as it impacts your life and legal suits and those of your friends and family. This blog says in one place at one time the “unsaid” of what is known to and a ... Read More
29
Jun2017
07
Apr2017
In order to assess the value of a marital business or professional practice for proper consideration by a trial court in a trial, a business valuation is almost always called necessary; there are very advanced tools to assist in determining the value of a business that is utilized by business valuators. Knowing the best litigant is one who is informed, this blog covers three central parts of a business valuation; these individual components may have value outside the business itself, for either party:
Market Value. The market ... Read More
17
Mar2017
In polling a room full of people who have experienced divorce, some will contend their ex-spouse is "crazy". Part of this is gallows humor and a way to cope with this past or present stressor; there are those for whom the situation will be a reality. This blog post addresses divorce and mental health statistics means to obtain a diagnosis or assessment under the law, and key implications for the divorcing parties.
First, divorce itself is now recognized as a traumatic experience and possible ... Read More
14
Feb2017
A controversial topic across the United States with divorced families or children born out of wedlock is: “Who pays for post-secondary education?” Post-secondary education is generally defined as education beyond high school.
A recent national case in New Jersey brought this matter to the forefront. Here Caitlyn Ricci sued her parents for tuition at Temple University and lost that battle.1 This blog covers post-secondary education as a policy and as it applies in Indiana.
In many states, the duty to pay any support for a child, ... Read More
11
Jan2017
While most domestic cases resolve before trial, those that are tried generally involve unique legal issues, or more commonly, extremely contentious issues such as child custody, amount of parenting time or child support (the two are linked), or serious issues about valuation of assets. Indiana judges get a “hot record”, meaning they are given great deference in judging the witness’s credibility. This blog covers four ways to “torpedo” your case by being a witness that lacks credibility.
The first is ... Read More
01
Dec2016
The economic impact of divorce is clear: it costs more to operate two households than one. For this reason, spouses’ standards of living may well decline post-divorce. That said, aside from the relative percentages of gross weekly income for child support, which may differ significantly, there is the issue of uninsured medical expenses and extra-curricular activities.
Like most families, these are beyond the regular family budget and hard to manage and pay in an intact family. Therefore, this often becomes a battle ground ... Read More
22
Nov2016
Time shares and boats bring many families a great amount of joy during the marriage. However, they sometimes bring back the memory of a divorced or failed relationship and most litigants do not want the timeshare. Upon divorce, time shares are often a great deal of contention in the property settlement because in most locations, they are slow to sell and have on-going dues associated with them. Typically, neither party wants the time share. This blog addresses three (of the other) ways to address time ... Read More
11
Oct2016
Divorce trials are different from other civil and criminal trials because the events that led to the divorce are still going on and creating evidence and issues up to the point of trial. For this reason, a great deal of trial prep occurs near the time of the trial to capture the essence of the divorce dynamics. In this situation, it is often hard to determine any sort of rules to follow in presenting your case to the ... Read More
20
Sep2016
Law, trial process, and litigation is highly evolved by rules, cases, and statutes to allow trial court judges to receive the most accurate and relevant evidence, subject to tests of veracity, to make a fair and impartial decision. Often these technical rules provide confusion to divorce and custody litigants. This blog post explores the three most common evidentiary rules for these types of matters.
The first is hearsay. Other than what one party said to another ... Read More
31
Aug2016
One of the most uncertain times in life is deciding to get a divorce and end a marriage. The list of items that must be done to effectuate this is lengthy and runs from locating tax returns to potentially finding a place to live. During this time, it is also easy to feel overwhelmed by everything and anything. This blog provides three key steps to make and/or gather for a smooth divorce—so you can focus concern with productive actions.
... Read More