Be careful of what you get. I have said this before but not quite as well as Wiggin & Nourie , P.A . does with its Is LegalZoom Legal? “I think that people generally have a tendency to underestimate the work that goes into the preparation of an estate plan, it requires a great deal more than simply printing off forms. LegalZoom and other such services reinforce the opinion that estate planning may easily be accomplished by generating... 

If you have a family business then read the following from The Williston Herald, Family roles play a part in farm operation, succession A family death brings questions about new roles : “To help deal with in-laws, Hanson is now a firm believer in prenuptial marriage agreements. ‘It’s just good business management,’ he said, while admitting there are two points of view on the matter. The first point is from the view of the... 

Give Allinotte Law Office’s Do you want to deal with this now or let your family deal with it later? a read. I think the article points out a few things not usually thought of when thinking of estate planning. Both the things needing planned (such as a funeral trust) and why which I think the article sums up quite well here: The family will be shaken by the death of a loved one. In the immediate after math, and possibly even before death,... 

I have had a run of shared parenting issues lately. So when reading Make Smart Choices for Post-Divorce Co-Parenting Success I had those issues in mind. I am going to suggest that the following paragraphs add content and texture to the idea of shared parenting as much as splitting time. So I ask this: if you want shared …  Read More →

With some counties pushing mediation as prerequisite to ever seeing a courtroom, I getting asked more questions about mediation and articles like What is Mediation do a good job of explaining the process. I suggest following the link and reading the whole as well as my excerpts Divorce mediation is about you and your soon to be ex-spouse deciding your own divorce and what is best for the both of you and most importantly, your children. In mediation,... 

Pay attention to 10 things your children will thank you for from Woolley and Co. Solicitors: 1. Keeping arguments away from them and avoid criticism of the other parent. 2. Being able to talk to the other parent about their needs (even though it may be hard sometimes) 3. Allowing them to miss the other parent and make contact when they want to, even encouraging contact when you think they might want it. 4. Recognise they have feelings which might... 

Ah, forgetting to ask all the questions worries me. The problem of the unasked question has a tendency of coming back to haunt – if not to bite. For those of you thinking of doing your own divorce (or legal separation) agreements, I give you this paragraph from WOLSHIRE v. WOLSHIRE , 905 NE 2d 1051 (Ind Court of Appeals 2009) and suggest that you think long on it: We reach the…  Read More →

And a good example why to hire a lawyer. Such is Beaman v. Beaman , 844 NE 2d 525 (Ind: Court of Appeals 2006). First, the case demonstrates – to me – why few legal separation case are filed or go on for very long. Notice how easily the parties slipped from a separation case a dissolution case (and see what I wrote here ). Now about why this case explains why hiring a lawyer is a Good Idea…  Read More →

Recently I had a long telephone call with another lawyer who is on the side of me in two different custody cases. We were discussing why my clients were opposed to a shared parenting agreement. After finally clearing out that it was not my views driving the cases but my clients, I think we agreed to two things: 1) we execute our client’s goals so long as they do not put us into unethical territory, …  Read More →

Reading Breaking up is hard to do financially for cohabiting couples from Scotsman.com Business once again brings to mind how disadvantaged those Hoosiers who live together without getting married are compared with other places. First of all there is no legislation in Indiana protecting the property rights of those cohabitating . Hit the link below for my archived articles on cohabitation for more details. So everything in these three paragraphs... 

Having discussed jurisdiction and service in Got to Have Service on the Other Side and More on Got to Have Service on the Other Side, let me bring up a recent Indiana Court of Appeals case In re: the marriage of Anthony J. Harris v. Teasha J. Harris . Thanks to a lack of personal jurisdiction, the case had to start over. And before anyone gets overly excited, the case turns on the fact that the husband was on active military duty in Germany and... 

Krstin Nicevski v. Greta Nicevsk i was decided last year on July 9. My apologies for the delay in writing this one up – put it down to the turmoil of last Summer and Fall. However, the case points out something important and so I am going ahead on write on the case. The Indiana Court of Appeals opinion sets out the issue quite well: Appellant-respondent Krstin Nicevski appeals from the decree…  Read More →

I have to make a comment about a recent case of mine and Indiana Trial Rule 4(E) . Adding this to Got to Have Service on the Other Side seemed to make the earlier post a bit too long. This part of Rule 4 reads as follows: (E) Summons and Complaint Served Together–Exceptions. The summons and complaint shall be served together unless otherwise ordered by the court. When service of summons is made by publication, the…  Read More →

I mentioned Illinois’ new video visitation statute in What About Electronic/Online Parenting Time in Indiana . Now from pressofAtlanticCity.com comes Divorced parents keep in contact with their children via video phone calls that gives a pretty positive view of what is going on in Illinois. CHICAGO – Greg Baddick helped his 9-year-old daughter learn the state capitals of the Midwest. …  Read More →

A quick shout out to an Indonesian family law blog – Islamic Family Law in Indonesia . Interesting to see how a completely alien legal system operates. And how some of the topics never change – money and trying to understand just what was the legislature thinking (or if it was). Yes, it is apparent that English is not the writer’s first language but that makes his exposition even more impressive to me (a good deal more understandable...