Indiana Divorce Tips

Divorce Papers > Divorce Tips > Indiana Divorce Tips

In USA, every fourth person in thousand people is opting for divorce. A number of causes like live-in relationship prior to marriage, adultery, financial issues, etc. lead to divorces. Marital distress has an adverse effect on elderly people and children. Indiana divorce cases are not an exception. If you want to file for a divorce case in Indiana, you need to hire a professional lawyer. But before that you should know some basic divorce laws pertaining to your case. Reading Indiana divorce tips will help you a lot in knowing the important areas of your case.

Some fundamental Indiana Divorce Tips:

• The Indiana divorce laws require the petitioner or the respondent to be a resident of Indiana for at least 6 months. Not only this, one of the partners should be a resident of the county where he/ she has filed for the case, for a minimum of 3 months.

• Finance, often becomes the most important factor in divorce. Indiana court permits equal division of property between the spouses. A number of factors such as the financial condition of the spouse, their potential and earning ability, nature and extent of property acquired as gift or by inheritance, etc. are considered while diving the property.

• The notion of 'no-fault' and 'fault' divorce are prevalent in Indiana. In the first case the marriage has to be "irretrievably broken". But grounds for 'fault' divorce are any of the following three:
  • incurable sanity
  • impotence before marriage
  • a felony on the part of any spouse post-marriage

• Assume that a guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate has been appointed. Then, as per Chapter IC 31-17-6-9, the count reserves the right to order both or any one parent to disburse a user fee for the services to the above mentioned two persons

• The court can order a guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate not to stop supervision of a child so that it can be ascertained that the visitation or custodial terms of an order entered by the court are being executed as expected by the court

• The guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate are expected to represent and safeguard the best interests of the child. These two people carry out their responsibilities until the court issues an order for their removal

• Consider that the dissolution of marriage has taken place in a state other than Indiana. In such circumstances, the maternal or paternal grandparents of the child are free to establish visitation rights if the following conditions are fulfilled:
  • Under IC 31-17-3-14 or IC 31-17-3-3, the Indiana court has jurisdiction to award visitation rights to a grandparent in a modification decree
  • The custody decree entered in the dissolution of marriage fails to bind the grandparent under IC 31-17-3-12

• IC 31-17-5-9 has Section 1 and 10 that are related to visitation rights. As per these sections, the adoption of the child may be done by any of the following:
  • A Nephew
  • A Niece
  • An Uncle
  • An Aunt
  • A Sibling
  • A Grandparent
  • A Stepparent

• After a Petition has been filed, a copy of the Petition and the Summons is served upon the non custodial and custodial guardian or parent of the child with whom visitation is sought. The mode of this service is identical to the service of summons in civil actions.

• Visitation of a grandparent involves the following issues:
  • If the court concludes that visitation by the grandparent is in the best interests of a child, then, the court might award visitation rights.
  • The court takes into account if the grandparent has tried to establish meaningful contact with the child.
  • The court has the right to interview the child in chambers with an intent of finding out the perception of the child in this matter.

• If the non custodial parent misses visitation due to the reasons mentioned below, the parent can compensate for the lost visitation as per IC 10-16-7-22:
  • Activity in the Indiana National Guard
  • A Reserve Component of the armed forces of the United States

• A parent, who is not awarded custody of a child, is eligible for reasonable visitation rights. However, after a hearing, if the court concludes that the visitation by such a parent would endanger the physical health of the child or considerably impact the emotional development of the child, then the visitation rights are not granted.

• While taking a decision whether the parties should be referred to mediation under IC 31-17-2.4-1, the court would take into account the below mentioned points:
  • Whether mediation is a correct decision to assist the parties to find a solution to the disputes
  • The capacity of the parties to pay the fees for mediation

Follow the Indiana divorce tips that will help you to focus in the critical issues of your case. Try to utilize these tips to make the best decision possible that will reap good benefits for you and your children.

Divorce Papers