50 States, 50 Different Kinds of Family Law - part 1

What to do about the following:

• Person moves to Indiana from another state where he/she was divorced?
• Person moves to Indiana from another state files for divorce here?
• Person has custody of children from another state where he/she was divorced and moves to Indiana?
• Person moves to Indiana from another state with children and files for divorce here?

In the first scenario, there is not much that an Indiana attorney or court can do for the person. Most lawyers are licensed only for one state. I am licensed only to practice law in Indiana. That means I do not the law of any of the other forty-nine states. For you that means going back to the original state and the original court for custody, support and visitation matters.

The person moving to Indiana who wants to file for divorce in Indiana has to live here for six months and live in a particular county for three months. That rule applies with or without children. If you have children in the other state, then the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act may apply to you.

A person moving to Indiana who has been divorced in another state and has custody of their children can come under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Law. There may be other exceptions to this including the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.

If you have a paternity case instead of a divorce, then the above observations really do not change.

I will come back to some exceptions to these general rules but remember that divorce law is pretty much a horse of different colors between the states. But this rule does not change: an Indiana lawyer advising you on Oklahoma (or whatever state other than Indiana) law commits malpractice unless they are admitted to practice law in the other state.