The Attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C.
Strong, Trial-Ready Advocates Protecting Your Rights
In most civil litigation, when you are sued, such as in a divorce, which is technically a complaint, you have to provide an answer to avoid a default judgment and losing.1 However, in divorce, there is no requirement to provide a cross-petition (or answer in a technical sense).2 Yet in a few instances, it may make sense to cross-petition. This…
While many types of evidence might help establish a substantial change1 to modify physical custody, some key statutory and evidentiary rules may help you understand how or if your proposed “evidence” might be offered and admitted at trial. For instance, a child’s attendance records, if he or she has excessive absences, may be evidence to show a substantial change, as…
The Indiana Civil Protective Order Act (“Act”) provides powerful relief to help ensure the safety of certain covered Hoosiers who find themselves in dangerous situations, such as a victim of domestic violence. Additionally, the Act covers certain minor children in harmful situations or individuals, such as from an abusive or drug-addicted parent. While protective orders issued under the Act are unique…
In a divorce in Indiana, everything a party has coming into the marriage and acquired during the marriage until the date of filing is all part of the one-marital pot for the trial court to divide.1 There is a rebuttable presumption the trial court should divide the marital pot equally.2 Effectively, this is everything you both own, minus what you…
Maybe. As a general rule, the Indiana Department of Child Services has a hotline that parents and others may call1 (or must if they are a mandated reporter) to report cases where children are in danger. These reports are immediately investigated, and if need be, the children can be removed from one or both parents, followed by an emergency detention…
Most divorce cases, even those involving complex property issues and hotly contested custody matters resolve at mediation. Those that do not often wind up in final hearings that may go over several non-consecutive days over the expanse of weeks or months. After numerous witnesses, arguments over the admission of exhibits, and cross-examination, most litigants cannot wait to get their divorce…
In domestic cases, trial courts are given wide discretion to decide matters initially, such as when the parties divorce or later in child-support and/or physical and/or legal custody modification proceedings. Further, because so much time, emotion, and judicial resources go into domestic cases, Indiana’s appellate court gives trial courts vast leeway to judge the credibility of witnesses when deciding issues.2…
As stay-at-home orders continue for Indiana, many parents have been denied parenting time on the grounds of COVID-19. The Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, Loretta Rush, issued an order on March 31, 2020 that parenting time orders remain in force during COVID-19. This means that drop-offs and pick-ups should continue.1 Governor Holcomb’s stay-at-home orders have all made exceptions…
The special aspect of a trial is you are able to have a neutral judge (who is a lawyer) hear the unique facts of your case and receive evidence in the form of exhibits (documents) and live testimony from witnesses before applying the relevant law and deciding your case. This does not occur with appeals to a higher court. However,…
Maybe? In Indiana, almost all divorce laws are created by statutes, generally called the Divorce Act. The Legislature specifically created the right to divorce.1 As long as one party puts on evidence of a valid reason for divorce, the other party cannot refuse to divorce. The reasons are irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, conviction of either spouse subsequent to the…