An Indiana trial court improperly considered a father’s active duty status when awarding custody of his child to his estranged wife, but that error does not change the custody determination, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
A father ordered to purchase a horse for his daughter in a paternity order cannot be held in contempt for failing to first buy a saddle if he wasn’t held in contempt for failing to buy the horse, an appellate court held Friday.
Off-the-shelf DNA test kits and online genealogical searches are connecting previously unknown extended family members and sometimes alerting children their dad is actually not their biological father. Could a claim to an estate be far behind?
The Indiana Court of Appeals has rejected the petition of two biological parents to establish paternity for their child after the appellate court concluded the mother could not collaterally attack a previous paternity finding for another man who assumed he was the father.
As Senate Enrolled Act 1 was heading for its third and final reading in the Indiana House of Representatives, Rep. Vanessa Summers reminded her colleagues that their work in helping reform the Department of Child Services is not finished.
Proposed revisions to the Indiana Child Support Guidelines are currently open for comment. The guidelines are reviewed every four years in accordance with federal law, and attorneys described the proposals as tweaks and adjustments to align the courts with the ongoing evolution of family structures.
The Indiana Court of Appeals reiterated that a pair of grandparents seeking to visit their deceased son’s child should be given their day in court.
Arguments for and against vaccinations have grown in the national conversation as 12 states are currently battling an outbreak of measles. A recent Indiana trial court decision in a custody dispute demonstrated that disagreements over vaccinations also happen within families.
A father ordered to pay half of the attorney’s fees incurred by the mother of his child during a paternity action was denied his appeal to be rid of them Thursday when appellate judges found the high fees were a result of his behavior.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a trial court ruling setting aside a Lawrence County adoption, finding the child’s mother and grandfather committed fraud on the court by falsely claiming they did not know who the child’s biological father was in an effort to allow the grandfather to adopt the child.
The Domestic Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana is seeking comments on Indiana’s Child Support Guidelines and will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. Friday in the Indiana Supreme Court Courtroom at the Statehouse to discuss the guidelines.
Two times a year, the Alternative Dispute Resolution section of the Indianapolis Bar Association organizes a Paternity Court Mediation Day where volunteer attorneys try to help fighting parents reach an agreement about the care of their children. The cases are selected by the court and deal with issues that arise after paternity has been established — custody, parenting time and child support.
An Indianapolis woman who is not a licensed attorney but has consistently provided legal assistance to Indiana residents with child support and parenting time issues has been enjoined from continuing in her unauthorized practice of law.
A bill that would have given immunity to guardians ad litem and court appointed child advocates stalled in the Indiana House, but other measures covering foster parents and placing new requirements on the Indiana Department of Child Services all passed through the Statehouse with little or no opposition.
A Pike County paternity case involving a child’s legal and biological fathers will continue in trial court after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined the legal father was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the biological father’s paternity action.
An Indiana trial court erred in ordering parties in a paternity dispute to abide by the terms of a mediation agreement because the man who initially brought the paternity action did not have standing to do so, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.
An Indiana trial court abused its discretion in denying a father’s petitions to modify custody of his child and to hold the child’s mother in contempt of a paternity decree, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled, finding the mother intentionally circumvented the terms of the decree that required her to vaccinate their child once the girl went to school.
The Supreme Court of the United States on Monday struck down part of an unusual law that treats fathers and mothers differently when it comes to conferring citizenship on children born outside the U.S.
A divorce involving a troubled husband, unfaithful wife and a 12-year lie unraveled into a child support and paternity dispute that ended with a split Indiana Court of Appeals ordering the non-biological father to provide financial assistance. Any other ruling, the majority reasoned, would leave the minor without a dad.
A divided Court of Appeals panel has affirmed an order requiring a non-biological father to pay child support for his wife’s child, finding that because the man supported the child throughout his life, he is legally estopped from challenging the child support order.