Safe Families effort wins favor in Legislature
A new law furthers the group’s power of attorney arrangement in order to keep kids out of the child welfare system.
Family Law
Articles
State’s parenthood laws ruled unconstitutional
Indiana’s married lesbian parents win the right to be listed on their child’s birth certificate.
Judge: Indiana’s parenthood statutes violate constitutional rights of same-sex couples
Indiana married same-sex couples have won the right to both be listed as parents on their children’s birth certificates.
Justices: Divorced parents don’t have to pay graduate school costs for their children
In a unanimous decision, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled divorced parents cannot be obligated to pay the graduate or professional school expenses of their adult children in a case where a mother and father were forced to share a child’s dental school expenses after she completed her undergraduate degree.
Justices: Custody petition permitted during CHINS case
The Indiana Supreme Court reversed a trial court, ruling an aunt and uncle could bring a custody action despite a child in need of services case that was pending for the child in Posey Circuit Court.
Lesbian spouses challenge Indiana birth certificate law
An attorney for eight married lesbian couples argued Friday that the state of Indiana is discriminating against them by not allowing both women to be listed on their children's birth certificates, echoing a dispute that has led to similar lawsuits in several other states.
Man gets to keep part of farming property
A man will get to keep part of his farming property after the Indiana Court of Appeals found appointing a commissioner for the property was an impermissible modification of his and his ex-wife’s divorce agreement.
Indianapolis family law attorney Strain dies
An Indianapolis solo practitioner who was active leader in bar associations died Wednesday. Jana K. Strain was 51.
Ryznar: Grandparent visitation 15 years after Troxel
Given continued high levels of divorce and out-of-wedlock births, the role of grandparents continues to be an important source of stability in some families. Thus, in 2015, grandparent visitation made several appearances on the Indiana court dockets.
Ringlespaugh: Custody issues for parents of special-needs children
When deciding child custody in a situation involving a child with special needs, it is important for the courts, parents and attorneys to consider how these situations differ from families that do not have children with disabilities.
Collaborative divorce use lagging in Indiana
Lea Shelemey learned about collaborative divorce a dozen years ago when she heard what lawyers were doing in her native Alberta, Canada. She’s been sold ever since, but she wishes more lawyers were trained in the process and more clients were willing to take the option
Married lesbian couples seek birth certificate equality
Lesbian couples in Indiana are learning the fight for state recognition did not stop with the legalization of same-sex marriage. The battle now has moved to parenthood.
Justices block Alabama court order in lesbian adoption case
The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with a lesbian mother who wants to see her adopted children, blocking an Alabama court's order that declared the adoption invalid.
Daughter’s emancipation leads to reduction in child support
A trial court should have reduced a father’s child support obligation to his three children because his daughter’s emancipation constitutes a substantial and continuing change, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Friday. The trial court denied the father’s motion because the amount of child support offered differed by less than 20 percent of the amount dictated by the Indiana Child Support Guidelines.
Same-sex couples ask for summary judgment in birth certificate complaint
Eight lesbian couples who sued the state for not putting both parents’ names on their children’s birth certificates have filed a motion for summary judgment, asking the federal court to prohibit the state from denying the presumption of parenthood to female spouses of women who are artificially inseminated.
Court erred in dividing husband’s accounts
The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with a man that a dissolution court’s valuation and division of his pension and deferred tax savings plan was incorrectly calculated, but rejected his other claims stemming from his divorce.
Erroneous jury instruction leads to DWI conviction reversal
A jury instruction given at a man’s drunken-driving trial resulted in fundamental error because it contained a constitutionally impermissible evidentiary presumption, the Indiana Court of Appeals concluded. As such, the court reversed the man’s conviction.
Man loses appeal to revoke spousal maintenance
An ex-husband who sought “all-or-nothing” relief when he asked the court to terminate his ex-wife’s incapacity support instead of reducing it after she remarried lost his appeal before the Indiana Supreme Court.
Terzo: Arbitration is viable alternative in family law disputes
It wasn’t until the 1990s that arbitration began to be seriously considered for family law cases. At that time there was no statute specifically directed to family law arbitration, and Indiana had no caselaw regarding family law arbitration. Our current statute, I.C. 34-57-5-1, et seq, was enacted in 2005. It answered many of the questions attorneys had.
Indiana seeks more foster parents because of growing need
The number of children in Indiana in foster care rose to 13,134 in June, up from 10,550 a year earlier, according to state records. The shortage of foster families is putting pressure on the pool of people who are licensed to foster and making it more difficult for caseworkers to find local placements.