Family Law

Communication is important in life and it is extremely important in a family, especially between parents communicating about their children. As is the case with a lot of things, some families are able to communicate more effectively than others, even without the strain of legal proceedings and Court orders hanging over their heads, so it makes sense that families that have gone through divorce or are going through divorce may have communication issues. What is…

Filing for divorce is not easy for anyone. Whether we are going though emotional distress or we are trying to put a quick end to a toxic relationship, we may not realize that we are not making the best decisions. In this article, we have put together a brief summary of some of the most common mistakes that we have seen parties make when filing for divorce in our years of experience here at the…

Legal Separation in Indiana – Are you thinking about divorcing your spouse?  Is divorce something that is either impossible or improbable?  What are your options?  There are other options besides pursuing a divorce.  You can, instead, file a legal separation from your spouse.  You can do this when you don’t want a divorce, but you cannot currently live with your spouse. You may be wondering what the difference is between divorce and legal separation.  They…

Can I Get My Engagement Ring Back? The courtship and engagement periods are usually happy times for a couple as they build a relationship and look toward marriage.  However, happiness may fade, circumstances may change, the relationship may end, and the planned engagement may be canceled, repudiated, or frustrated, with no marriage occurring between the parties.  When such a situation arises, one party to the courtship or engagement may seek to recover gifts of money…

Pet Custody in Indiana Divorces Which party gets the Furry Child? “Which one of us gets the dog?” A question that many parties in a divorce ask their lawyers when going through the process of dissolving their marriage. The fact is that divorce is one of the toughest things that a person can go through, and the loss of a beloved pet can put even further strain on a person, so understanding how to keep…

Stuck in the Middle:  Co-Parenting Children After a Separation or Divorce               Once you have separated from the other parent of your children, you may have an order from the court or an agreement as to who has custody of the children, and when each parent will exercise parenting time, but there is more to co-parenting than just setting up a schedule.  When you are co-parenting with your former partner or spouse, sometimes you…

Winter time is almost over, and an important deadline is quickly approaching.  If you were granted parenting time pursuant to the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) then the time is upon you to start thinking about what parenting time you will be exercising with your kids during the summer months.  Pursuant to the Guidelines, April 1st is the deadline that the non-custodial parent has to notify the custodial parent of the parenting time that…

What is a guardianship? A guardianship is a legal action that allows a competent adult to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated adult or minor child (“protected person”).  Guardianship can be over the person, over the estate, or over the person and estate of the protected person.   Guardianship over the person allows the guardian to make decisions including where the person resides, obtaining medical care, educational decisions, etc.  Guardianship over the estate addresses the…