The Attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C.
Strong, Trial-Ready Advocates Protecting Your Rights
Because every divorce case with children is a little to a lot different from every other case, Indiana’s voters, appellate court’s and General Assembly give domestic trial court judges wide latitude (called “discretion”) to make child custody decisions. Indiana’s judges often agonize over the unfortunate situations they see, hear and must decide. To help judges, there are four key legal…
In child custody ligation, where one parent is seeking primary physical or legal custody over the parent, the “why” the trial court ruled as it did is often important to the parties to help better understand and accept the decision. This rationale is set out in cases with special findings. This is also considered by Indiana’s appellate courts on appeal,…
The Holiday Season is a time of joy and stress for everyone. This is particularly the case for parents who have children from divorce or paternity with child exchanges. Holiday time is magical for children and there is a finite amount of this holiday time. Both parents want their time. However, the legal system cannot get back this time by…
Many divorce lawyers receive requests for guidance from their clients on “changing venue.” In Indiana, this is not common and is generally associated with moving the case from one county to another. This occurs in rare occasions in criminal cases in order to ensure an impartial jury. In a limited number of cases, first, the case may be filed in…
In every disputed custody case, the difficult decision facing the judge is who should have custody of the children and what parenting time the non-custodial parent should receive. The trend between litigants is seeking something close to equal time with the children. Whatever your objective, there are simple tips you can used to help your case for custody. First, don’t…
Lawyers do a great job of presenting a client’s best position in court in obtaining their legal objective. Judges sort through it. Often sitting in the courtroom as a casual observer, it is difficult to tell which story is accurate and what evidence the court should rely on to decide the division of property (presumption being equal) and child custody…
In Indiana, the Department of Child Services (DCS) investigates all allegations of abuse and neglect of Indiana’s children. There is a hotline where any person who suspects abuse or neglect of a child may make a report: 1-800-800-5556. Reports often come from doctors, teachers, and counselors. As a parent of underage children, it is possible you will receive a DCS…
In paternity and divorce cases, parties sometimes do not fully understand “legal custody.” Legal custody has nothing to do with who a child stays with for parenting time or custody. Instead, it is which parent(s) has the authority to make decisions about the child’s health, education, and religions decisions.1 If it is in a child’s best interests, the court may…
In each state, in Indiana and across the nation, there has been an acute focus over the last several years on Father’s rights to custody of their children. Law is slow to change and remnants of the “tender years presumption” continued pushing father’s rights groups harder. The tender years presumption is a older legal policy that children of a young…
A common set of questions or concerns with clients or litigants in divorce is why does a divorce take so long (since the statute only says sixty days have to pass), and why can the divorce process become expensive in terms of costs (custody evaluations) and legal fees. At a simple level, a divorce lawyer has had to untangle the…