LEGAL Services

Divorce is an extremely stressful and difficult situation to have to go through. Our goal is to make the process as smooth as possible for you during what we know must be a highly emotional time in your life.

Divorce typically involves many important decisions, including child support, parenting time, child custody, division of assets and others.

An Indiana divorce attorney can help protect your rights and inform you of your options.

At Huettner Law, we offer a variety of options to help divorcing couples navigate the process, including mediation, collaborative law, and traditional litigation.

If you have questions about Indiana law on divorce, call today to schedule an initial consultation.

The Court has the power to divide all of the parties’ property and debts. Property includes real estate, vehicles, personal belongings, jewelry, household furnishings, pensions and retirement plans, bank accounts, businesses, and any other item of value. The Court will consider all property that existed at the time of the filing of the divorce petition, regardless of whether that property was owned prior to the marriage, acquired by one spouse by inheritance or gift, or whether the property was jointly owned. How property is titled does not ultimately determine to whom it is awarded. The Court also has the ability to determine who is to pay debts that were acquired during the marriage or brought into the marriage by a party.

Under Indiana law, there is a presumption that an equal division of property and debts is fair and reasonable. There are, however, factors that can be considered to justify a change (called a “deviation”) from a 50/50 division. These factors include the following: contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of property; the extent to which property was acquired prior to the marriage or through inheritance or gift; conduct of the parties during the marriage as related to disposition or dissipation (misuse or waste) of the property; the economic circumstances of each spouse; and the earning ability of the parties.

For more information about Indiana marital property division laws, contact Huettner Law today to schedule an initial consultation.

The Court will use the Indiana Child Support Guidelines to determine the amount of child support one parent will pay to another. The parties must provide the following information to determine child support: 1) gross income of both parties, 2) work related childcare expenses, 3) health insurance costs for children, 4) the annual number of overnights that a child spends with each parent, 5) whether either of the parents has children from a relationship before or after the current relationship, and 6) whether one or more children is attending a post-high school educational program (referred to as post-secondary education).

The data is put into the Child Support Calculator. The calculator will determine an “income shares percentage” for each parent based upon a comparison of the incomes of the parents, and some of the factors stated above. The “income shares percentage” can be used by the Court to determine child support, as well as medical, college, and extracurricular expenses of the children. The Child Support Calculator will produce a Child Support Worksheet with a recommended weekly child support amount. A Child Support Worksheet must be completed and submitted to the Court. The Court may also make an order for the cost of extracurricular activities of the children, such as art classes, piano lessons, summer camps, etc. This is usually an agreement or order separate from the weekly child support payment.

For more information about Indiana child support laws, contact Huettner Law today.

There are two aspects to a custody determination: legal custody and physical custody. “Legal custody” determines which parent has the authority to make the major decisions in the children’s life. Sometimes legal custody is awarded to only one parent. “Joint legal custody” means that the parents will share authority and responsibility for the major decisions concerning the children’s life, including the children’s education, health care, and religious training. An award of joint legal custody impacts how decisions are made regarding the children, but does not mean that the children will spend an equal amount of time with each parent.

“Physical custody” refers to where the children spend their time. In determining which parent should have primary physical custody of the children at the time of the divorce, Indiana makes no presumption favoring one parent over the other. The Court will establish custody based upon the best interest of the children. In making that determination, the Court will consider these factors: the age and sex of the child; the wishes of the child and the child’s parents; the child’s relationship with parents and siblings; the child’s adjustment to home, the child’s school and the community; the mental and physical health of all parties; evidence of domestic or family abuse by one or both parents; and evidence that another person was providing a significant amount of care for the child.

For more information about Indiana custody laws, or for help with your custody case, contact Huettner Law today.

The parent who is not granted primary physical custody is generally entitled to “parenting time” (this used to be called “visitation”).

Indiana law provides that all parents are entitled to reasonable parenting time unless the Court finds that the parenting time would endanger the child’s physical health or significantly impair the child’s emotional development.”

The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines establish rules for how parents should communicate about their children and with their children. The Guidelines also address issues such as transportation, punctuality, clothing exchanges, school and medical records exchanges, and the correct way to deal with adjustments to the parenting time schedule.

In Indiana, maintenance awards (also called spousal support) can be ordered only under very specific circumstances.

Indiana has limited such awards to three types: 1) incapacity maintenance- for cases involving a spouse with a physical or mental incapacity; 2) caregiver maintenance- for cases involving a spouse who is unable to work because he or she is caring for the parties’ disabled child; or 3) rehabilitative maintenance—for cases involving a spouse who needs assistance upgrading skills or education, for a period not to exceed 3 years (because his or her career has been interrupted for childcare responsibilities).

For more information about Indiana law on maintenance orders, schedule an initial consultation.

Item descriptioAt Huettner Law, we handle open and closed adoptions, stepparent adoptions, and adult adoptions. Adoptions can be extremely rewarding, creating and/or reinforcing important family bonds.

Huettner Law is experienced at helping families formalize a legal relationship through the adoption process.

A Guardian Ad Litem is a person appointed by the court to determine what solutions would be in the best interests of the child. The Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is typically an attorney or volunteer that is trained to deal with children. The GAL is considered a neutral representative that is there to assess the situation and provide a recommendations to the court.

The GAL is responsible for investigating the child’s situation and will interview people close to the child. This might include parents, siblings, teachers, coaches, and others to gain a better understanding of the child’s life and environment.

The GAL will provide a recommendation to the court based on their investigation. The court can either accept or reject the GALs recommendation.

For more information about the role of a GAL and whether a GAL may be needed in your family law case, call us today.

In Indiana, grandparents generally do not have specific visitation rights when it comes to their grandchildren. There are limited circumstances, however, where the Court will order that a grandparent is entitled to visitation with his or her grandchild. An Indiana grandparent can ask for visitation rights with his or her grandchild if the grandchild’s parent is dead, the grandchild’s parents are divorced, or the child is born outside marriage.

The Court will decide this fact-sensitive issue based on the best interest of the child, giving substantial deference to the wishes of the child’s parent or parents.

A civil protection order is a valuable tool to protect victims of intimate partner violence (also called domestic violence) and victims of other types of abuse, including harassment and stalking.

At Huettner Law, we routinely represent clients to obtain these orders for themselves and/or for their children.

A protection order can only be issued if the court finds that injury, threat of injury, stalking, or a sex offense has occurred.

“Stalking” means “a knowing or an intentional course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another person that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened.”

The protection order petition may request temporary orders as to custody, parenting time, child support, and the eviction of the abuser from the residence.

For help filing a protection order, schedule a consultation.

Huettner Law assists individuals and families to prepare estate plans appropriate for their needs.

We work with you to prepare wills, trusts, power-of-attorney forms, and other documents to ensure clarity and protection for your loved ones. We prepare a wide range of documents to assist clients to protect their assets when they pass, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, business succession plans, and advanced healthcare directives.

If you have questions Estate Planning, reach out to schedule an initial consultation.