The Attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C.
Strong, Trial-Ready Advocates Protecting Your Rights
When a child is born to a couple that isn’t married, and who presumably have two different last names (surnames), non-marital parents could face the challenges of not only crafting a proper first name for their child, but the daunting decision of whose last name they should give the child, the Mother’s or the Father’s, or both? Traditionally in America,…
It is well known that legal lingo is not often the same as plain old English. If you are involved in a contested child custody case, either a divorce, post divorce, paternity, or third party custody action, you may have heard of what is called an “in camera” interview. Contrary to the plain meaning of the phrase, no cameras are…
Without a court order a grandparent does not have a right to visitation with their grandchild. In other words, unless allowed by a parent, a grandparent cannot demand certain visitation with a grandchild. There are, however, specific circumstances under which a grandparent has the right to seek visitation. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that just any third-party may…
Previous blog posts have explored several subparts and nuances of the amended statute on emancipation for purposes of child support1, passed in July, 2012. However, a recent amendment and additional terms have been added to the statute, retroactive to July 1, 2012, which clarify when college expenses can be petitioned for. Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals addressed a case…
Extended family, such as grandparents, can play a big role in a child’s life when his or her parents are getting divorced. The love and support of family is important, especially when a child is dealing with the life changes that come when his or her parents separate. Often, one parent will move back in with his or her parents…
Only a few years ago, most communications were face-to-face and in person, secondarily by phone or letter. Most of these allowed time to pass between a thought and transmittal to a third-party. The first two forms of communication were hard to memorialize (i.e., record in audio or video format). This kept ill-conceived statements to a minimum compared to present before…
In domestic matters, joint physical and legal custody can be appropriate, and in these instances, parents equally divide parenting time and jointly make decisions involving the broad topics of religion, medical care, and education of the Children1. This blog will focus on the issue of physical custody. The minimum guideline for parenting time division is by the Indiana Parenting Time…
During the course of domestic proceedings, paternity may be at issue. There are, of course, original paternity actions, but paternity may also be at issue for related cases. For example, a third party seeking to modify custody or get a guardianship of a child will need to explore if paternity has been established before filing. So, who can file a…
In domestic cases, there may be a number of experts that are called upon to testify during a hearing. For example, a doctor may testify about a child’s medical condition, a CPA may testify about the value of a business, or a clinical psychologist may testify about a custody evaluation performed. However, there are limitations to who is an expert…
In domestic law cases, one aspect of child custody is communication between a parent and child when the other parent has parenting time. Keeping those lines of communication open to allow a child access to both parents via phone, internet, mail or otherwise allows for strong relationships to continue with both parents, despite the child’s physical location. The Indiana Parenting…