Catching Unasked Questions - Indiana Family Law

John Bolch's post Q & A inspired me to try my hand to address Google queries that brought some to this blog.  The queries are in bold and my responses are in plain text.

Remember what my disclaimer says about answering specific legal questions - see it on the right hand side and down.

Who mediates child support modification in Indiana


A: Hard to tell from this query if the searcher wanted to know who made the decision about child support modifications or if they really wanted to know about mediation. If they actually meant mediation, then it is whoever is chosen as the mediator.  Otherwise, it will be left up to the court that set the original support order.  See, the court (paternity or divorce) that made the original order keeps jurisdiction of the case. (Getting a different judge is a different matter).


How to interpret the Indiana parenting guidelines

A.  Another query seriously lacking in specificity.  The general rules for interpreting a rule or statute:  1) the specific provision controls the general, and 2) the thing must be read as a whole  (the tail does not wag the dog). 

Indiana law teenager rights visitation

A.  Yes, they exist and apply to teenagers.  You need to read the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines.  You will find a link to the IPTG on the right hand of the screen and down. 


Cohabitation agreements Indiana

A.  Is it time for a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)?  We have them.  I suspect you can find a form online but there is no officially prescribed form.  Check out the cohabitation archives here.



Indiana modification of custody forms

A. I have been saying this for a long time, Indiana has no official forms.  You can find versions of forms online.  I suggest reading my for the pros and cons on forms. 


"post-nuptial agreement" +indiana

A. See my articles here. 



Successful cases winning annullment; indiana annulment laws


A.  These searchers did not stick around to read anything written on here about annulment.

Let me explain that if these people were looking for information on successes winning cases on the trial court level in Indiana they will never find this information on the Internet. As these people were searching for annulment, they probably did not see this article.  I did a search for annulment cases at  the appellate level and published my results here.



Indiana laws for unmarried fathers


A.    I am going to be very technical for a second:  Indiana has no law for unmarried fathers only for paternity cases.  The laws apply to unmarried fathers and mothers.

Unmarried fathers need to look at IC 31-14, The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines, and the Child Support Guidelines.  There you will find the general law in Indiana for unmarried parents.



Can a child determine which parent they want to live with in indiana; a child%27s right to choose

A.  No. 


Emergency custody for fathers in indiana

A.  I suspect this searcher wound up not finding what he might have found if he had just looked for "emergency custody in Indiana".  Even then he would not be happy with what he found - there really is nothing specific about what is meant by emergency custody in Indiana.

I explain this more here.



Indiana custody law attorney fees

A.  If the searcher was looking for a specific answer, they were unlucky.  I do not know of anyone who will specify their fees online. As I told someone yesterday, there are too many details needing to be known before even giving an estimate of fees for a custody case.  I will suggest that anyone thinking of a custody case budget at a minimum $3,000.00.


best family law attorneys indiana

A.  I found this one amusing.  There being more art to the law than science, judging a best lawyer is a lot like judging between Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo. 

Damned hard to think of how to define "best"  when so much depends on each case.  A terrible lawyer can do quite well with good facts while a great lawyer can do little with bad facts.  The clients bring us the facts of the case and we have to live with them.  The better lawyes know when not to take a case.


"common law marriage" indiana

A.  There is none.  Look at the articles on cohabitation here.