How Courts Decide Child Custody
Child custody decisions are sometimes easy to make, especially in cases where one parent does not have the time or resources to adequately care for a child. Often times both parents have legitimate cases in support of the child primarily living with each of them. These disagreements usually emerge at the beginning of the divorce...
Parent Relocation of a Child: Can You Challenge the Move?
Divorce and transferring back and forth between homes can be very hard on a child as it upends any sense of security and stability. Sharing child custody is not easy for the parents either, but the arrangement can become even more stressful if the parent with primary custody decides to move far away. As reported...
Who is Considered a Legal Parent in Indiana?
When it comes to issues of child custody, most children never question who their parents are. However, while it may seem straightforward in practice, legal recognition as the parent of a child is not always automatic or easily obtained. Men are not always considered to be the father from birth and same-sex couples might never...
Collection Efforts and Exempt Property in Bankruptcy
A fear someone new to the bankruptcy process might have is that the government will force the debtor to sell all their property, or seize it to pay off creditors, leaving the debtor with nothing to start rebuilding a life. While it is possible the bankruptcy trustee could take and dispose of some property to...
Child Support Enforcement for Third Party Recipients and Those Receiving Public Assistance
Being able to count on receiving child support is important for the financial stability of any single parent, but the need for regular payments is especially acute for those receiving public assistance. Because such people rely on state and local agencies to provide benefits for necessities like food, housing, and medical care, there is more...
New Alternatives for Offenders with Mental Health or Substance Abuse Problems
There are many complex reasons why someone may consider entering the criminal world, including issues that prevent them from thoroughly thinking through the consequences of their decisions. Many criminal offenders suffer from substance and mental health problems that contribute to their likelihood to reoffend and consequently are especially in need of a quality criminal defense....
Discharging Credit Card Debt in Bankruptcy
The historical policy behind bankruptcy is to give debtors, overwhelmed by debt they cannot possibly pay, an opportunity for a clean start so they are not hampered by financial burden for their entire lives. Relief from consumer credit card debt has become a large aspect driving people to file for bankruptcy. Obtaining a total discharge...
Parental Rights of Rapists: Proposed Law Says They Have None
Rape is a horrible crime with lifelong consequences – especially if the violation results in the birth of a child. Under current Indiana law, if the offender wanted to assert his parental rights, once paternity is established, there is no absolute legal roadblock to his attaining it. Lawmakers are working to change this situation with...
Divorce in Indiana
The divorce process seems pretty straightforward when you see it on television, but there are a lot of considerations and steps that come before a court will order the marriage dissolved that never make it to TV. In fact, sometimes real-life divorce stories, like the one recently featured by ABC News, involve issues more disturbing...
Modifying Child Support in Indiana
Most parents realize the importance of paying child support on time in order to cover necessary costs associated with raising their children. However, there are situations in which a parent does not have the resources to pay the child support regardless of how much the parent wants to fulfill the obligation. A recent article in...