Madison County Children in The Middle Seminar - 1/10 -4/10

The Children in The Middle Seminar schedule for January through April of this year is here.

madison county children in the middle seminar 1-20010 to 4-1-2010

Financial Declarations: Madison County, Indiana

For those wanting a copy of the Madison County Financial Declaration can go here.

 As for our Local Rule governing Financial Declarations, it follows.  It might be worth comparing this to the Fayette County Local Rule that I wrote about in Fayette County Local Rules: FINANCIAL DECLARATION FORM.

Truthfully, I think all of us miss a few points on applying the rule such as attaching the pay stubs) but they are generally admitted without them.

LR48-FL00-17 FINANCIAL DECLARATIONS/SUPPORT WORK SHEETS

Financial Declarations on forms adopted by the Court and Indiana Child Support worksheets shall be completed in full, dated and filed prior to trial in all contested matters involvingchild support or disposition of assets. Financial Declarations, with current pay stub attached,shall be filed with the Court two (2) days before any preliminary or final hearing. Child support worksheets shall be filed with the Court on the hearing date. Absent objection, the financial eclaration shall be considered as received in evidence subject to cross-examination. Direct examination on matters in the financial declaration shall be confined to unusual items or factorsrequiring explanation or correction.

The Children Middle Seminar Schedule for November -Dec 2009

Uploaded the Madison County, Indiana Children Middle Seminar Schedule for November -December 2009.  I have no idea why our courts will not  also post this to the Internet.

Madison County Children Middle Seminar Schedule November -Dec 2009   

The Madison County Financial Declaration Form

Since the Madison County Courts will not post this online, I thought I might just as well.  Just follow this link.

Remember if you have a divorce, child support, visitation/parenting time, or child custody case, this Declaration needs filed with the court.

Remember, if you want more information about retaining me for a case, please give me a call at 765-641-7906.

Indiana Child Support Payment Options

The powers that be indicate that the only way to pay child support nowadays is through ISETS. A while back I am talking to the support clerk in the Madison County Clerk's office and noticed Options in Making Child Support Payments. From what the clerk told them our support clerk is taking child support payments just as in the old days. You can see a copy of this document here. (Of course, no one has thought to put in on the County web page).

I know of no reason the information here does not apply to other counties but check with your local clerk's office to make sure.

Setting hearings in Madison County and Elsewhere (local rules)

What does it take to get a case in front of a judge? Quite a few things but Madison County (and some other courts) has a local rule setting out the mechanics of setting a hearing.

I wrote the following in my More counties with financial declarations, this list is not exhaustive:

Please, do not think this list exhausts all of Indiana's counties. Remember that the rules requiring financial declarations are local rules. However, the Indiana Judicial System has a trial courts page and from this page a one can find a county's local rules. Scroll down the page till you see a box indicating local rules and a link.

Starting off with Madison County:

LR48-TR40-27 TRIAL AND PROVISIONAL HEARING SETTINGS
A. Causes shall be calendared in consultation with opposing counsel and the
Court. In the event counsel are unable to agree upon a trial setting, the moving party may file a motion for trial setting with the Court. A proposed CCS entry shall be submitted by moving counsel, or party, confirming the hearing date, time, and hearing officer.
B. All motions for trial setting shall include:

1. a statement indicating whether the matter is to be tried by jury or by the Court;
2. a statement indicating the estimated time required for trial;
3. a statement indicating efforts to set the cause by agreement have been unsuccessful.

C. Except by special leave of Court, provisional hearings shall be scheduled not less than fifteen (15) days after the filing of the motion.

I wish "C" operated as the judges thought it would, but see my Madison County needs a new court for more on why it does not.

Hamilton County has a rule similar to Madison County:

LR29-TR00-205. TRIAL SETTINGS
205.10 All requests to schedule trials and hearings shall be in writing and shall contain the
following information:

a. Type of trial or hearing (i.e., jury trial, court trial, final hearing in dissolution, etc.).
b. A good-faith estimate of the total court time needed for the trial or hearing.

205.20 Each request under LR29-TR00-205.10 shall be accompanied by a proposed written order with appropriate blanks for date and time and shall further include reference to those items set forth in LR29-TR00-205.10(a) and (b).
205.30 Every opposing attorney or pro se litigant who receives such an order and disputes the estimate of court time needed for the trial or hearing shall notify the Court in writing within ten (10) days of the receipt of the original order and give their own good-faith estimate of the total
court time needed.

Here is the Blackford County rule:

LR05-AR00-3 SCHEDULING OF HEARINGS AND TRIALS
(A) Calendar – The Court staff shall develop and maintain a calendar for all hearings and trials.
(B) Priority - Whenever the case load of the Court requires that trials and other matters be subject to multiple settings on the same date, the order in which said matters proceed will be determined by the Judge based on Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 4 in criminal cases, the age of the civil case and to the extent any priority issues are present.
***
(D) When counsel requests the Court set a hearing in a civil case, counsel shall contact opposing counsel and provide Court with tentative dates.
***

And now Marion County:

LR49-TR40-214. SETTING CASES FOR TRIAL
A. Setting Cases for Trial. Litigants desiring their cause of action to be set for trial shall file a written Praecipe for Trial which indicates whether a jury or court trial is requested. No trial date will be set unless a Case Management Order pursuant to Rule 16.1(B) has been filed. The Praecipe shall state the number of days needed to try the case.
B. Notice in Dissolution and Paternity Matters. In all dissolution or paternity matters, the Moving party or their counsel shall give notice of the time and place of the hearing or trial by subpoena, notice of hearing or letter, served upon the adverse party at least seven days prior to the trial date and file a copy of said notice with the Court on or prior to the trial date.

Henry County does not have a rule such as we have seen above but does have this:

(E) FRIDAY HEARINGS. Hearings scheduled in provisional matters, IV-D Child Support Matters, Contempt Citation and Visitation matters set on Fridays are not recorded and are set for a maximum of 15 minutes with only the parties as witnesses. If a party desires to have the matter recorded, has additional witnesses or believes the matter will take longer than 15 minutes then a continuance should be requested and the matter set on a day other than Friday.

Allen County has two rules that bear on this subject:

LR02-TR16-722 Case Management
(1) An initial Case Management Conference (CMC) shall be set in
every case where at least one-half day of trial is sought. When either party requests a Case Management Conference, the CMC shall typically be scheduled to occur within 30 days of the request. Absent leave of Court, trial dates for those matters of at least one-half day will not be assigned until after the CMC is held and after mediation had occurred. Trial dates for such cases will be assigned at a Pre Trial Conference (PTC).
(2) At the Case Management Conference, the Court will address and very likely order mediation, discuss family law arbitration, inquire of the matters at issue, discuss discovery, and schedule a Pre Trial Conference. Absent leave of Court, mediation must occur before the PTC is conducted.
(3) Should the case not be resolved at mediation, then at the PTC, the Court will inquire of the matters at issue, schedule primary and/or secondary trial dates, schedule a Final PTC, and establish discovery and other deadlines.
(4) Hearings requiring less than one-half day may be set upon request without a CMC. However, if the case involves matters where mediation is required regardless of the length of the hearing, such as one involving any issue concerning parenting time (e.g., parenting time modification, custody modification, contempt regarding parenting time, child support modification where the number of overnights is at issue) mediation must occur prior to the hearing unless prior leave of Court is otherwise
obtained. When mediation is required for hearings of less than one-half day, the moving party shall also file a motion for mediation prior to, or with the notice of hearing.
(5) Case Management Conferences may be set in any matter and at any procedural phase if helpful to assist the parties and the Court in efficient management of the case. Parties represented by counsel need not personally appear at the CMC or PTC unless otherwise ordered by the Court. The party requesting the CMC shall submit a “Notice of Case Management Conference” (similar to a Notice of Hearing) when requesting the date for the CMC.
(6) Cooperative Divorce. Parties formally engaging in the Cooperative Divorce process shall be provided priority settings for Case Management Conferences and will be afforded other such procedural assistance as appropriate to assist in expediting their cooperative process.

LR02-TR73-723 Hearings
(1) Hearings will be limited to the time scheduled on the calendar, and it shall be the responsibility of the moving party to ensure adequate time is reserved for the completion of the hearing. Should the parties be unable to complete the hearing within the scheduled time, the hearing will be continued and reset on the calendar, unless otherwise directed by the Court. In the event a party files subsequent motions after the matter is set for hearing, the subsequent motions will be heard only if time permits. If
time does not permit the subsequent motions to be heard, the motions shall be reset.
(2) Not all family relations hearings are electronically recorded. It is the parties’ responsibility to request an electronic recording if they desire the same. Absent such a request, the recording might not be made.
(3) At a hearing for provisional orders, a party may elect to present
evidence in a summary manner or by direct testimony. If evidence is presented in a summary manner, then the party presenting the evidence shall be sworn under oath and verify the representations made by counsel. The rules of evidence with respect to hearsay shall apply unless waived by the parties. If an attorney makes a representation by an individual who is not a party during a summary presentation of evidence, that individual must be present to verify the statement. At a provisional order hearing each party shall be allotted one-half of the total hearing time, with the initiating party having the right to reserve a portion of their allotted time for rebuttal. (4) Protective Order hearings shall not be heard in summary manner absent leave of Court. However, Protective Order hearings must be concluded in the time allotted. The Court may set parameters to ensure the timely conclusion of the hearing.
(5) Subject to approval by the Court, the parties by agreement may present evidence at any hearing in a summary manner consistent with the procedures used for a provisional orders hearing.

Of the other counties I generally practice in, these counties lack a local rule on trial settings: Tipton, Boone, Grant, and Hancock. Delaware County has a rule (LR18-AR00-DLR-002)about setting criminal and civil jury trials but nothing about family law cases. Likewise, Howard County has a rule that I do not read as being applicable to family law cases:

LR34-TR4O-15 TRIAL SETTINGS

Unless otherwise ordered by the court at the pre-trial conference, when more than one case is set for trial on a given date, the case set second shall be required to stand for trial if counsel is given five (5) days notice, excluding Saturday and Sunday, that the case first set will not be heard.

Counsel for all other subsequent settings are required to comunicate with each other and counsel for the first and second settings to determine priorities.

Counsel shall inform the court at least fourteen (14) days before the trial is scheduled to commence excluding Saturday and Sunday, of the need to call a jury.

Madison County Rules: LR48-TR53-19 OFFICE STAFF, REFEREES, MASTER COMMISSIONERS, SENIOR JUDGES, AND MAGISTRATE

What does this Rule have to do with family law in Madison County, Indiana? A lot - I think. This Rule sets out who will hear a case and why. More often than not, the Judges do not hear family law cases. The Judges of Superior Court One and Three have a large criminal docket, and those cases must go first. Madison Superior Court Two Judge deals with a juvenile court docket instead of a criminal docket. All of which leaves to commissioners and Senior Judges the family law cases and they have all developed a strong familiarity with this area of the law.

(All of this is also true of other counties, but this Rule does not apply to them.)

As for the Rule itself:

A. Each presiding Judge shall appoint appropriate office staff pursuant to statute. If a Judge shall appoint a Commissioner, Referee or Master Commissioner, then said Judge shall define said responsibility of said appointee. A Commissioner, Referee or Master Commissioner shall not have jurisdiction over or be allowed to conduct hearings of any type in matters filed in divisions of Superior Court in which they are not employed.

COURT COMMISSIONERS
B. Preliminary matters may be scheduled on a Commissioner’s calendar. There shall be no automatic right to have preliminary matters set on the calendar of the presiding Judge or removed from the Commissioner’s calendar to the Judge’s calendar.

SENIOR JUDGES
C. Senior Judges who are assigned to a court shall serve the court as deemed appropriate by the Court's presiding Judge. Said service may include assignment to specific cases, to specialized cases or to all cases placed on the Senior Judge’s calendar (See also Supreme Court Administrative Rule 5).

COUNTY COURT JUDGES AS COMMISSIONERS
D. Judges of the Madison County Court shall be appointed Civil and Criminal Commissioners for the Madison Superior Court. Said commissioners shall be authorized to sit in any division and shall devote such time as their calendars will permit to the work of the Superior Court.

MAGISTRATE

E. Pursuant to I.C. 33-33-48-7.5, the Judges of the Madison Superior Court shall appoint a full-time, state-paid Magistrate and assign to said Magistrate such duties as they may designate from time to time.

For all of Madison County's local rules, follow this link.

Madison County Local Rules: LR48-AR00-18 Children in the Middle Seminars

Our unified courts (that is Superior Court 1, 2, and 3) and our Circuit Court require divorces with children to include the Children in the Middle Seminar. This local rule sets out how it is supposed to operate.

LR48-AR00-18 CHILDREN AND DISSOLUTION PROCEEDINGS
A. In all dissolution actions where there are minor children of the marriage, the Petitioner and Respondent shall separately attend a dissolution education workshop approved by the courtSeminars must be completed within thirty (30) days after a petition for separation or dissolution is filed.
B. Children over the age of 6 and under the age of 17 shall attend the court approved dissolution education program for minor children.

C. Seminar scheduling shall be arranged with the Office of Court administration (phone 641-9503), Room 417, Courthouse, Anderson, Indiana. Each party shall pay a fee of twenty five dollars ($25.00) for the dissolution education seminar. The parties shall equally divide the cost of ten dollars ($10.00) per child (not to exceed twenty dollars ($20.00) per family) for the dissolution education seminar for children. Seminar fees may be deferred upon a showing of indigence. The Clerk shall maintain a trust account for the collection of these fees and said fees shall be
disbursed by Court order.

D. The Clerk shall bring this rule to the attention of all dissolution petitioners and shall collect the petitioner’s fee at the time of filing. The respondent’s fee is due at the time of scheduling. The Clerk shall cause a copy of the rule to accompany the summons for service upon respondents.

E. Failure to comply with this rule may be considered civil contempt, and may delay the issuance of a final decree.

F. Upon its own motion or upon the motion of a party, the Court may require compliance in all cases involving the custody of children or in redocketed cases.

In all the years since the rule went into effect, I have not seen the use of contempt under E or any use of F. I do have a case where the mother still has not completed the seminar and the court has delayed signing the Decree.

For all of our local rules, follow this link.

Madison County Local Rules: LR48-FL00-17 FINANCIAL DECLARATIONS/SUPPORT WORK SHEETS

For those whose have cases in Madison County, Indiana, I thought I might post a bit on our local rules. You can find these rules online here.

LR48-FL00-17 FINANCIAL DECLARATIONS/SUPPORT WORK SHEETS
Financial Declarations on forms adopted by the Court and Indiana Child Support worksheets shall be completed in full, dated and filed prior to trial in all contested matters involving child support or disposition of assets. Financial Declarations, with current pay stub attached, shall be filed with the Court two (2) days before any preliminary or final hearing. Child support worksheets shall be filed with the Court on the hearing date. Absent objection, the financial declaration shall be considered as received in evidence subject to cross-examination. Direct examination on matters in the financial declaration shall be confined to unusual items or factors requiring explanation or correction.

The Declaration shows monthly gross income, monthly deductions from pay, net monthly income and also a list of assets and liabilities. It is supposed to give a general financial picture of the parties.

The Declaration has its best use in divorce cases. I have seen more problems with its use in support modification cases.

In support cases following a second marriage, there are some who show all expenses and their income without showing any sharing of expenses by the new spouse. It annoys my clients a good bit when they see the Declaration filled out this way. I get a little bit annoyed as this will mean discovery to get the correct numbers and a bit longer cross-examination to clean up the Declaration that was supposed to be a true and accurate description of assets, liabilities and income.

I still think the Declaration (and those from other counties) would be a great basis for a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet could then be used to present the financial affairs to the court. I know that sounds like a neat-o kind of thing but I think it could be more than that. As I understand spreadsheets, they allow for the showing of different scenarios. This seems to me to allow for showing the effect of different divisions of marital property.

What are Lawyer's Fees in Madison County, Indiana?

The Madison County Bar Association conducted a lawyer fee survey for a variety of family law cases (divorce, child support, visitation, and custody). They got 31 responses received and from those responses they got the following numbers:

HOURLY RATES:
Median 180.00
Average 179.44
High/low 100/250


SUGGESTED FEE AWARDS IN DIVORCE CASES:

Provisional hearing
Median 600.00
Average 626.32


Contested final (no custody/complex property)
Median 1200.00
Average 1235.29


Contested final (custody or complex property)
Median 2500.00
Average 2734.38


Contested final (both custody and complex property)
Median 3500.00
Average 3921.88.


Post-judgment enforcement of support or visitation
Median 750.00
Average 648.68

Which does not mean that the fees in a particular case could not be higher or lower than set out here. I had a case last year where opposing counsel asked the court for my client to pay his fees of $5,000.00 in a custody case (the court refused). I would also point out - for those who get particular about their statistics - that 31 represents about one-third of the Madison County Bar. Still, I hope this proves educational.

Madison County Children in Middle Seminar: February to June, 2008

The Madison County Court Administrator gave us a listing for the year, I got the dates from now till June typed up for here:

February 2d Children 6-l2yr. s 9:30 am-10:45 am

February 2d Children 13-17 yr s 11:00 am-12:30 pm

February 9th Children 6-12 yr s 9:30 am-10:4~5 am

February 9th Children 13-17 yr. s 11:00 am-12:30 pm

February 9th Adult 1:00 p.m-3:00 pm and 3:OOpm-5:00 pm

February 19th Adult 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

March 1st Children 6-l2yr. s 9:30 am-10:45 am

March 1st Children 13-17 yr s 11:00 am-12:45 pm

March 8th Children 6-12 yr s 9:30 am-10:45 am

March 8th Children 13-17 yr s 11:00 am-12:30 pm

March 6th Adult 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

April 17th Adult 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

April 19th Children 6-12 yr s 9:30 am-10:45 am

April 19th Children 13-17 yr. s 11:00 am-12:30 pm

April 26th Children 6-12 Yr s 9:30 am-10:45 am

April 26th Children 13-17 Yr s 11:00 am-12:30 pm

May 3rd Children 6-12 Yr. s 9:30 am-10:45 am

May 3rd Children 13-17 Yr s 11:00 am-12:30 pm

May 8th Adult 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

May 17th Children 6-12 Yr. s 9:30 am-10:45 am

May 17th Children 13-17 Yr s 11:00 am-12:30 pm

May 17th Adult 1:00 p.m-3:00 pm

May 17th Adult 3:OOpm-5:00 pm.

These take place at the Anderson Public Library.

Still Thinking About Court Sponsored ADR in Indiana

After writing up the last article on Indiana's court-sponsored Alternative Dispute Statute, I am reading Settle It Now Negotiation Blog and I see this article: WantYour Case Decided by a Really Cranky Arbitrator? Litigate Your Case in an Arizona Superior Court.

"Want an angry tax attorney serving as the arbitrator on your personal injury case? Then head on down to Arizona where the Ninth Circuit has just held that he can be forced by State law to serve as your neutral for $75 per day -- all without violating the U.S. Constitution."

I assume that Arizona lacks a state constitutional right possessed by Hoosiers. Article I, Section 21 contains the following: "[n]o person's particular services shall be demanded, without just compensation...." (I make this assumption because the fellow filed a federal case pursuing a case under his federal rights.) I make this point in the hope that Indiana's judges do not think they will be getting mediators on the cheap rather than just inexpensively.

Following up on Family Law: Indiana Statutes on Domestic Relations Alternative Dispute Resolution

After I wrote Family Law: Indiana Statutes on Domestic Relations Alternative Dispute Resolution, I spoke with the court administrator for the Madison County Unified Courts about the ADR statute. It seems our Unified Courts have considered the program but have not finalized a plan.

The court administrator mentioned one hold up being resistance from the local bar. That the program would drain fund for attorney fees. Since the statute says the charge is to be $20.00, I find it hard to believe that we are opposing any such program. Since I know we have not had a county bar meeting in over a year, I wonder who is speaking for the local bar.

If I can find some time this week, I will see what is going on in the surrounding counties. For those with any information on the subject of Madison or other counties, feel free to use the "Post a Comment" link below.

About mediation/conciliation efforts, the English have some results on their usage. Family Law Week blog reports in In-court conciliation: not quite a roaring success? that "New research by Liz Trinder & Joanne Kellett from UEA shows that 40% of agreements reached at court through Cafcass & similar intervention needed further litigation...." While Family Lore published In-Court Conciliation about the same report:

I would say that these findings are in line with my own experience. There have been occasions when I have attended hearings in cases where the parties were so far apart that it seemed impossible that any agreement could be reached, only to find that the CAFCASS officer had brought them together. Of course, success rates can vary, depending upon a number of factors, not least the skills of the CAFCASS officers involved and the time they have available to each case. Typically each conciliation meeting is allowed about thirty minutes - to expect all matters to be resolved long-term in such a short time is obviously a little unrealistic, although an agreement reached in conciliation can be the catalyst for better relations between the parents.

All good points to remember if we consider such a program locally. I would think that if we get a plan for court sponsored ADR that the plan must include the means to evaluate its success.

Madison County news: Indigent cases and forms

With absolutely no fanfare or information given to the local attorneys, the judges of the Madison County Unified Courts have set up a process for dealing with indigent (pauper) custody cases. Actually, a bit more than just custody cases. You can also apply for a court appointed attorney for your civil case (that is anything that is not a criminal case).

You go up to the Court Administrator's Office on the fourth floor of the Madison County Government Center, and tell them that you are indigent. If it is a custody case, you get a form petition and an affidavit to prove you are indigent. Now the online Merriam-Webster dictionary defines indigent as being impoverished. That could mean most of Madison County, Indiana but it certainly means being something more than just between paychecks.

Now Indiana has long had a statute allowing for appointing an attorney for poor people in a civil case. I think Madison County has actually done something innovative here by creating a process for implementing the statute. We will see how much dedication they put in carrying out the statute to its fullest.

This statute may still impinge on those who are not indigent. At least Judge Brinkman requires the indigent affidavit if you are seeking to waive the filing fee in a case. A client of mine lacked the $132.00 for court costs and I filed a request that the court costs not be paid up front. Judge Brinkman declined to do so until the indigency affidavit was signed and filed. The moral of this story is: do not file in Madison County unless you have the filing fee in full or are truly indigent.

2007 Madison County Children in the Middle Seminars

The schedule for the resto f the year:

These take place at the Anderson Public Library.

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Saturday 1:00p.m. to 3:00p.m. or 3:00p.m. to 5:00p.m.
Limit of 15

February
Sat. 24th
Wed. 28th

March
Wed. :7th
Sat. 10t1I

April
Wed. 11th
Sat. 14th
Wed. 25th

May
Sat. 5th
Tues. 15th
Wed. 23rd

June
Sat. 2nd
Wed. 6th
Wed. 27th


July
Tues. 3rd
Wed. 11tb
Sat. 28th

August
Wed. 22nd
Sat. 25th
Thurs. 30th


September
Wed. 19th
Sat. 22nd
Wed. 26th


October
Wed. 3rd
Sat. 6th
Wed. 10th


November
Sat. 3rd
Tues. 6th
Wed. 2Pt


December
Sat. 1st
Tues. 4th