Indiana Family Law: My Job Is To Make Your Job Easier

Many people save money for an emergency. Some people save money for vacations. Others save money for purchasing cars or houses or college for the kids. But very few people save money in case they need to hire an attorney. People hire an attorney when they have a difficult legal situation that they want handled as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.

Your job is to get past your legal situation. My job if you hire me as your lawyer is to make that as easy as possible.

To do that requires 3 basic steps:

1. Developing clear goals and a clear strategy for you and your attorney to work together.

2. To be open with your attorney

3. To provide any requested information or documents as soon as possible.

These 3 principles keep the cost down by keeping the litigation focused on moving your case forward. They also help to minimize unexpected surprises and to protect any vulnerabilities in your case. An Indiana family law case is most effective when it is focused on your goals, not on simply battling your ex.

Your lawyer's job is to take the information and the strategy and apply his or her skill and experience to effectively advance toward your goals. Throughout this process, you and your lawyer are communicating and discussing how best to achieve this process.

One benefit to you and your family of taking a strategic approach is to evaluate the potential for unintended consequences of the litigation. A negative unintended consequence could be impairing what had been a workable relationship with your ex. A positive unintended consequence could be addressing emotional or substance abuse issues that had been manifesting as legal problems. Your lawyer can bring these to your attention, so you both can develop plans to deal with them.

To schedule a strategic review of your situation, please use our CONTACT page. I will apply my 20 years of experience in every area of family law, as well as my Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification (a process-control and feedback mechanism to minimize errors and reduce costs) to help you achieve your goals as cost-effectively and as beneficially to you as possible. I return every contact from the CONTACT page within 24 hours, including weekends. We can meet at locations throughout Indianapolis, Noblesville, Fishers, and central Indiana, as well as a location at your election depending on your need for discretion, or via phone or video-feed consultation.

Indiana Child Support: Why is it so difficult?

Indiana child support is governed and determined by the Indiana Child Support Guidelines, and in reality by the Child Support Obligation Worksheet.  The State of Indiana provides a free online calculator at Indiana child support.

This post is not going to explain how to calculate child support, or how to collect it, or how to raise it or lower it.  Indiana child support is designed and intended that parents can exchange their income and payment information, decide on the number of overnights the non-custodial parent receives, and calculate the child support obligation.  And like every well-intentioned government program, it almost never works that way.

My 20+ years of experience in litigating Indiana, Marion and Hamilton County child support cases - and sometimes sitting as judge pro tem in deciding child support cases - leads me to these realizations: generally, the person receiving child support views any modification downward as a "cut in pay" and the person paying child support views any modification upward as a "punishment" for making more money.  That the money is intended for the children is usually factually disputed (but never ignored by the Court).

So bitterly fought (that lawyer code for "expensive") battles rage over determining income; deciding which health insurance plan to use; fighting over the cheap daycare versus the best daycare; etc.

There can be an alternative.

Possibly the increase in child support can be paid to cover the cost of a child's new activity? Or is placed into a college fund to be credited to both parents when college time rolls around? Or can be a down payment on a child's car (cars are not considered at all in the Child Support Guidelines).

The point is that parents can develop their own personal - and family-specific - child support guidelines.  It takes creativity, experience, and the ability to think outside the box when it comes to a cash payment between parents. It is this kind of alternate approach that can satisfy the needs of both parents, give maximum assistance to the child, and not have the family die on every litigation hill.

I have over 20 years family law experience, in 2 states - Indiana primarily and Illinois - and a broad range of litigation experience (family law to patent and international trademark and domain name).  I have appeared in over half of the counties in Indiana, so my experience is virtually state-wide.  My focus is developing an aggressive strategy focused on achieving your goals as cost effectively and efficiently as possible.  Your focus is on your family.   Your lawyer's focus should be also.

Please schedule a 1 hour strategic review of your situation.  If you are in litigation, you will have a written strategic plan and goals.  We can also plan your action steps to put you in the best situation if or when litigation occurs. Use our CONTACT page and I will call you within 24 hours.