Where your family is concerned, legal decisions can have a significant impact on your life and your future. Family law, which runs the gamut from prenuptial agreements to guardianship to divorce, can be extremely complex. Having an experienced attorney at your side is extremely beneficial for your case to ensure that you are aware of all of your rights and obligations. An attorney can be instrumental in helping you get a fair and equitable divorce settlement.

Mediation involves a neutral third-party who helps to facilitate conversation between two disputing parties. When compared with litigation, mediation is more cost-effective, reduces the time spent resolving the conflict, and allows individuals to play a bigger role in dispute resolution.

Each divorce is different. If your case has more complicated facets, it can take a longer time to research and litigate. If both parties are willing to work together in mediation, however, you could find that you are able to successfully resolve all issues in a manner that is much less expensive. To learn more about your specific case, contact my office today for an individual consultation.

Judges make child custody decisions based on the best interests of the child. There are two primary types of custody in Indiana, physical custody and legal custody. Physical custody refers to the residential location where the children live. In some cases, parents can share physical custody. Legal custody means the ability to make critical life decisions for children regarding their education, medical care, and religion. Parents can share joint legal custody.

A guardian ad litem is an attorney appointed to represent the interests of the children. He or she is responsible for gathering evidence and speaking to pertinent individuals in order to craft a report with a custody recommendation for the judge. If a guardian ad litem is appointed in your case, he or she may wish to speak with you, children’s teachers or even children’s healthcare providers.

The State of Indiana uses a formula to determine whether a party will pay child support. That formula considers each parent’s weekly income, the cost of any necessary daycare, healthcare costs for the children, and the amount of parenting time the non-custodial parent receives. When parents share similar amounts of custody time, they can opt to forego a child support agreement in favor of each parent taking care of financial responsibilities that arise during his or her parenting time.

Spousal support is also sometimes referred to as maintenance or alimony. A court may order spousal maintenance under in three circumstances: incapacity maintenance, caregiver maintenance, and rehabilitative maintenance. In the absence of an agreement between the parties, the trial court’s authority in ordering spousal support is restricted and limited to these three statutory options. Judges look at the educational level of each spouse at the time of marriage, whether one spouse took on homemaking responsibilities and gave up employment or training opportunities to do so, and the earning capacity of each spouse, among other factors, to determine whether spousal support should be awarded.