Going through a divorce is one of the most stressful events in a person’s life. On top of the emotional and mental aspects of divorce, it can also create complex financial issues. Common questions include “who gets the house?” or “who gets the retirement fund?”. Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule to answer those types of questions. Each case is fact sensitive. This is where seasoned divorce attorneys and clients spend their time; trying to figure out what makes sense financially and ... Read More
10
Oct2019
26
Sep2019
By statute, the Indiana Department of Child Services (“DCS”) has to investigate every claim of abuse or neglect by a parent reported to the hotline number. Unfortunately, DCS is understaffed and its primary investigators are not trained sufficiently to handle the onslaught of parental neglect reports including those who make false reports to gain some tactical advantage (such as in a divorce case). Thus, it is not uncommon for a parent to be falsely accused of neglect/abuse of their ... 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
04
Sep2019
A question most every experienced divorce lawyer has been asked is “Can I obtain joint physical custody?” Joint physical custody literally means the children spend equal (or near equal) time with each parent. There are some standard ways this may be accomplished such as parents having the children on a 3-2-2-3 schedule or 5-2-2-5 (days). In some cases, the parents may even go week-on, week-off. This blog explores the current law on (joint) physical custody, how it may be reached and ordered at trial, and problems that ... Read More
03
Sep2019
In most counties, the trial courts make parties fill out financial declarations shortly after filing for a divorce and exchange it with the other side. These forms cover everything from income to weekly bills and assets and liabilities. Most litigants reel at this fact because the form takes some time to complete. However, the courts are doing parties a great favor by this mandatory “informal” discovery because it saves time and expense later, as it gives each divorcing party ... Read More
23
Aug2019
Everyone who begins a divorce watches television or has a friend who has certain beliefs in the divorce system that often shape how they talk about the process, view it and sometimes advise their friends. In this blog, we address three myths that are commonplace in Indiana. Avoid these and make the most of your divorce and expectations.
Sixty-day divorce. Under the Divorce Act, the court can divorce parties in 60 days. However, divorce is a complex financial transaction and where there are children involved, one that their ... Read More
20
Aug2019
In many affluent states who have significantly different divorce laws, the concept of alimony is common. Generally, alimony is a weekly or monthly stipend paid after the divorce to maintain the other spouse’s standard of living if they had not divorced. This is particularly the case where one spouse has not worked and become accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Indiana does not follow this model and “alimony” is not recognized under Indiana’s divorce act. However, there are at least three ways deft trial counsel can assist with this situation ... Read More
19
Aug2019
Indiana trial court judges are tasked with the duty to make sure that at the time of divorce (or paternity) adjudication the children’s best interests are met. If the parents have an agreement on custody and it is not contested, they may infer that agreement of the parties is in the children’s best interests. However, where physical and/or legal custody is contested, there are four key ways a trial court judge determines what is in a ... Read More