Guide to Finding Indiana Divorce Lawyer

What is an Indiana Divorce Lawyer?

An Indiana divorce lawyer is certified to provide legal assistance in family law. Divorce is just one subset of family law, so a IN divorce lawyer will sometimes specialize in adoption law, surrogate law, or other form of family law. Indiana divorce lawyer are well educated on every aspect within divorce law, including:

• separation and annulment rights

• child support and child custody

• spousal support

• visitation rights

• divorce settlements

There are also a number of laws that are unique to Indiana. Your Indiana divorce lawyer should be knowledgeable on unique divorce laws, and you should have an understanding of all or most divorce laws before speaking with your attorney.

What are the steps for IN divorce?

The procedures and steps involved with divorce often span out for long periods of time, and the process is always hard on a family. The parents fall under stress, the children are torn between parents, other family members may become involved, and coworkers and peers often know of the family’s circumstances. The process is almost never easy.

Specific steps within a separation or divorce can last longer than other steps, but it all depends on the cooperation of the parents or husband and wife to seek a settlement with as much ease as possible. The specific steps involved in a divorce within the state of Indiana are as follows:

• Establishing grounds for a divorce, separation, or annulment and submitting an official form to the state clerk’s office

• Waiting until the case is brought to a hearing in front of a judge

• Establishing child support based on a variety of conditions

• Seeking and forming an agreement for child custody and visitation rights

• Establishing spousal support

• Possibly attending marriage counseling or counseling to help parents maintain a healthy relationship with their children after the divorce

• A final settlement and/or appeal

What are the grounds for divorce, separation, or annulment in Indiana?

There are numerous reasons why spouses can seek divorce or annulment in the state of IN. If a couple wants to seek grounds for divorce, the decision must be based on one or more of the following situations:

• Breakdown of marriage and incapability to save the marriage

• If a spouse is convicted of a felony during the marriage

• Impotent frame of mind during the time of marriage

• Permanent and incurable insanity prior to the divorce for at least two years

Against popular belief, seeking a divorce on the grounds of adultery alone does not apply within the state of IN. There must be additional grounds for divorce. However, if a spouse does in fact commit adultery, the act may cause the adulterer to receive a reduction in assets.

If a couple wants to seek an annulment in the state of Indiana, one of the following conditions must apply:

• If you have been compelled or forced into a marriage

• Fraud or misrepresentation

• Consanguinity

• A serious mental illness before the marriage

• If the spouse is married to another person in or outside the state of Indiana

IN Divorce Lawyer : Child Support and Child Custody

A Indiana divorce lawyer often helps establish the wishes for a particular parent concerning child support and custody. A judge can have either parent pay child support, and child support is usually based on the following conditions within the state of Indiana:

• Degree of financial security each parent possesses

• Ability to match the child’s mental and physical well-being to that of before the divorce

• The child’s age

• The child’s education

• The child’s form of employment if older

It’s important to talk about your wishes for child support with your Indiana divorce lawyer, and he or she will usually work their best to come to a fast and reasonable settlement. You should also discuss your wishes for child custody with your IN divorce lawyer. Child custody is usually based on the following within IN:

• The wishes of the child, especially if they are at least 14 years old

• The sex of the child

• The relationship between the child and particular parent

• The happiness and wishes of everyone within the same nuclear family

A judge will often order joint legal custody if the child benefits from the equal company of each parent. You should talk with your IN divorce lawyer in order to specify your expectations concerning child custody. Your Indiana divorce lawyer can work with the other spouse’s attorney in order to come to an agreement that will satisfy both parties.

IN Divorce Lawyer : Spousal Support and Settlement of Assets

Another job of your Indiana divorce lawyer involves reaching an agreement for spousal support and the distribution of assets. Within the state of IN, spousal support is often established upon the following:

• a spouse’s lack of property

• the mental and physical condition of the spouse

• the education of each spouse

• the employment and financial security of each spouse

The settlement process involved with the distribution of assets can be an ugly one. Indiana divorce lawyer will try their best to meet the wishes of a spouse, but if a settlement is not reached, the judge will split the assets. The distribution of assets is usually based upon the following conditions within IN:

• the contribution of each spouse to the property, house, and other valuable goods

• whether the assets was acquired before the marriage because of inheritance

• the conduct of each spouse during the time of marriage, including the level of fidelity or adulterous action

• the economic condition of each spouse at the time of divorce

IN Divorce Lawyer : Unique Divorce Laws in Indiana

It’s important that your Indiana divorce lawyer understands and mentions the following laws when advising you on your divorce. There are certain cases where a spouse can object to a divorce in IN, and the reasons are as follows:

1) Condonation- If a spouse gives the other spouse permission to commit adultery or a similar action, that spouse cannot use the presence of infidelity to influence spousal support, child support, or the distribution of assets.

2) Connivance- a spouse cannot legally setup the other spouse to commit an act of wrongdoing like adultery

3) Provocation- abandonment cannot be a ground for divorce if a spouse was locked out of the house or underwent a similar action.