Divorce is challenging. Even divorcing couples with the best of intentions often find themselves at odds about issues such as finances, custody, and division of assets.  The last thing you need is the expense and stress of litigation, not to mention the fact that litigation can drag on for months (or even years); instead, many divorcing couples turn to mediation to come to a fair agreement. In any case that will require more than two hours of court time, most courts now order the parties to mediation. What is mediation, and how does it work in the state of Indiana? What should you ..read more

  Divorce brings a lot of challenges, and one of the challenges that can be most confusing is determining child support. There are so many questions that swirl around in a divorce: How is child support calculated in Indiana? When do you start paying child support? When does child support stop in Indiana? What will child support mean for my taxes?  Fortunately, you don’t have to figure all this out alone. Working with an experienced divorce lawyer will help you ensure that your child support agreement is fair and accurate, keeping your child’s best interests in mind.  Read on to ..read more

The bad behavior of either spouse can harm the entire family during a marriage. Irresponsible spending, overuse of credit cards and even gambling can endanger the entire family’s financial stability. These risks don’t immediately disappear when either spouse files for divorce. Certain actions can still affect the rights and responsibilities of the other spouse. It is only after a judge finalizes a marital dissolution that couples can feel confident about the separation of their finances. Misconduct in general – such as engaging in an affair – often isn’t a big player in property division matte ..read more

If you’re a divorcing father with a daughter, you’ve probably been hearing from seemingly well-meaning people that girls need their mothers – particularly as they approach or go through adolescence. Mothers often believe this as well. It’s not hard for fathers to come to the conclusion that they should let their soon-to-be-ex have primary custody of their daughter. All children benefit from maintaining a close relationship with both parents after divorce – assuming of course, that they’re both loving, responsible parents. While girls certainly need their mothers, you shouldn’t let that keep yo ..read more

It can be very interesting to look at divorce statistics and trends to find out how this institution is changing in the United States. It has historically undergone vast changes at different times. For instance, no-fault divorce laws began in the late 1960s and that led to a spike in divorce cases across the country. If you fast forward to today, however, you’ll find that the divorce rate is falling for most age groups. There are a lot of different reasons for this. One is that young people are getting married later, and getting married around 32 years old has been shown to make marriages more ..read more

It is often the case that fathers believe that they are at a disadvantage during a custody case. On one hand, they may be the breadwinners for their families and be actively involved in supporting their children, but on the other, they may not be the primary caregiver in the home. Fortunately, today’s court systems largely believe that both parents should be present in their children’s lives so long as they are positive influences and providing the care and attention their children need. The likelihood of a father losing custody or getting less than he wants just because he’s the father is muc ..read more

When your children don’t get along and you are getting a divorce, one of the things you may consider is separating your children by having a split custody arrangement. A split custody arrangement is designed in a way that will allow each child to spend time with one parent while their sibling is with the other parent. The nice thing about a split custody arrangement is that if your two children don’t get along…they don’t have to be together. However, court judges usually don’t like split custody arrangements because they separate siblings and could hurt the sibling bond. That being said, there ..read more

Divorce often blindsides men. They think that if they keep working a job that they and their spouse will get through a rocky time and recover. Their spouse may have different ideas and could file for divorce with little warning. The emotional responses that men have to divorce often include depression and even short-term substance abuse. The sad truth is that the way you respond emotionally to the early stages of divorce could have a lasting impact on the relationship you have with your children. The Indiana family courts might limit your parental rights and parenting time if they agree with y ..read more

Going through a divorce can be tough, especially when you have a lot of shared assets. One of the major assets you might have is a car or family RV that you’d like to keep for yourself. You have good memories with this vehicle, so even if it doesn’t make a big difference to you financially, you’d like to be able to keep it. Indiana is an equitable distribution state, which means that your property will be divided fairly, but that division won’t necessarily be equal. That may give you an opportunity to seek out this family vehicle for yourself if it’s considered marital property. When won’t a v ..read more

Few expenses require as much preparation as college tuition. As soon as you found out you were going to have a child, you may have started a college savings account. Given how much college costs, paying tuition will likely require the contributions of both you and your ex. Unfortunately, divorce can make paying for college even more difficult for your family. Parents may disagree about the fair way to allocate responsibility or how much the child should have a responsibility to pay. Can you expect Indiana child support to help you and your young adult cover college tuition costs in the future ..read more