Most situations requiring an attorney’s help bring their fair share of stress. Family law situations can be especially fraught. If you need a family law attorney, you are likely dealing with emotionally charged matters–perhaps going through a divorce, questioning or needing to confirm paternity, or navigating child custody, support, or neglect issues. Or, you may be looking to adopt a child, and while that is ultimately a happy event, the road to adoption can be challenging.
Whatever your family law needs, the Indianapolis family attorneys at The Nice Law Firm are ready to help. We will work to deliver the best outcome for your situation. Our team takes pride in handling issues as nicely as possible to minimize the stress in your stressful situation. We will treat you with respect and empathy throughout your case. However, we will also provide the effective and aggressive representation you need to achieve a favorable case resolution.
It is important to protect yourself and your family as you work through your legal situation. Relying on inferior representation or attempting to represent yourself are mistakes that could leave you with significant financial and personal consequences for years to come. Put yourself in the best position to secure an agreeable case outcome by partnering with the family law attorneys from our firm.
Helping You Through Your Divorce
It is easier to get married than to end a marriage. The divorce process is complicated, and even when both partners agree to end their union amicably, emotions run high, and “minor” decisions can become major points of contention. Whether you are initiating a divorce, your spouse is, or you both want to dissolve the marriage, you need experienced legal representation.
A family law lawyer from The Nice Law Firm will review your situation with care and protect your interests. Division of assets and debt, taxes, and retirement savings are the four most common financial issues in divorce, though not the only ones. When you go through a divorce and do not have a legal background, it can be easy to agree to conditions that do not serve you. You may take on debt that is not yours to pay or give up assets that are yours–not marital property–only to realize your mistakes after signing a divorce agreement. Our team will protect you from making those errors as we guide you through the divorce process.
Our attorneys have a full understanding of Indiana divorce laws and laws governing issues related to divorce–such as child custody, visitation, and support. We can guide you through the filing process and work to negotiate a fair divorce agreement to give you rightful access to your children. Whether you are a mother, father, or grandparent affected by divorce, we will educate you on your rights.
You can depend on the Indianapolis family lawyers from our firm to handle your case with compassion and honesty, seeking results and working to get them with as little conflict as possible.
Working Through Child Custody and Support Issues
Child custody and support issues are often the most sensitive in divorce cases. The fierce love parents have for their children can lead each half of the divorcing couple to see “their” plan as the right one. Creating an agreement that protects your parental rights and fosters your children’s well-being is critical, and a skilled, compassionate family lawyer can help facilitate that outcome.
Child Custody
In Indiana, judges determine child custody arrangements according to the child’s best interests. They consider:
- Wishes of the parents
- The child’s age and sex and relationships with parents and siblings
- The child’s connection to school and community and adjustments they will have to make to these connections
- The child’s wishes
- The health of all parties involved
Your attorney will represent your position and offer protection against unfair assertions made by your ex-spouse to deny you your parental rights.
Indiana has extensive guidelines in place governing custodial and visitation agreements. Having an attorney’s understanding of these guidelines is critical during these high-stakes proceedings. Your Indianapolis family lawyer will be there to ensure your and your child’s fair treatment under the State’s child-custody laws.
Child Support
Indiana has specific and complex regulations for calculating child support. Our experienced Indianapolis family law lawyers will help you gather the required information and documentation to make an accurate calculation. We will also work to ensure honesty from your ex-partner.
Unfortunately, matters of money–such as child support–often prompt disagreement and, in some cases, are used as weapons to “punish” an ex. This contentiousness is not good for the children or the health of the co-parenting relationship. Our team will seek to minimize discord and facilitate an agreement that serves your children’s needs, is fair to you, and reduces the potential for future conflict and trips back to court.
Sometimes, child custody, visitation, and support agreements require modification. One parent may wish to move or experience changes to their financial situation, or the child may express a desire for change. Indiana has measures and regulations in place to govern modifications, and a skilled family law lawyer in Indianapolis, IN, can help you work within those regulations and toward an agreeable resolution.
Child Visitation and Support Non-Compliance
Sadly, some ex-partners do not comply with visitation and support agreements. A primary custodial parent may deny visitation in an effort to alienate the children from their other parent or as a way to “get back” at an ex they feel has betrayed them. If your ex is denying your rightful visitation with your kids, talk to your family lawyer about recourse and legal ways to correct the situation. If you are the custodial parent and want to deny visitation because you fear your ex is abusing or neglecting your children, our team is here to help you resolve this serious problem.
Ex-partners are not allowed to withhold child support payments, yet some do. They may have fallen on hard times or may have more malicious reasons for their non-compliance. If your ex has not paid support, do not take measures into your own hands. For example, you cannot deny visitation because your ex has not paid support. Instead, seek help from our Indianapolis family attorneys. The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) has processes in place for managing delinquent payments. Your attorney will help you compile proof of lack of payment and take you through the appropriate legal steps.
Managing Paternity Issues
When you are the father of a child, you have paternal rights and bear paternal legal obligations to your child. Paternity–fatherhood–carries substantial emotional and relational weight but is also a serious legal matter.
If you are a child’s legal father, that child has the right to financial support from you. Further, according to the Indiana DCS, the child has access to your
- Social Security benefits (for dependents or survivors)
- Rights of inheritance
- Veteran’s benefits
- Life insurance benefits
- Health insurance benefits
In Indiana, a man is a child’s presumed legal father if the man and his wife are married when the child is born, or the child’s birth occurs no more than 300 days after that marriage ends. To establish paternity under other circumstances requires a paternity affidavit or a court order.
Paternity Affidavit
As per the Indiana DCS, through this legal document, a man and a woman “declare, under penalty of perjury, that the man is the biological father of the child.” A legally executed paternity affidavit solidifies legal paternity and the rights and responsibilities that come with that status, and the father’s name will be included on the child’s birth certificate by the Department of Health.
Court Order
Either parent can file an action to determine paternity. At a court hearing, both parties can agree to paternity without undergoing genetic testing, can request genetic testing, or present evidence, and the court will determine whether paternity should be established. If the court orders genetic testing, the court will issue a decision upon receiving the results.
Whether you are seeking to establish paternity or prove you are not the legal father of a child, you need representation from an Indianapolis family law attorney. Your attorney will handle all legalities and will help you proceed through all steps in the court process accurately and with your rights intact.
Terminating Parental Rights
You can terminate your parental rights voluntarily or have your rights terminated by the court. If you are facing either situation, connect with an experienced Indianapolis family attorney.
Sometimes, parents voluntarily terminate their rights because they can not properly care for their children. Your attorney will help you understand the repercussions of your decision and take you through Indiana’s termination process.
Parents who are facing court-initiated termination of parental rights and want to maintain their rights need representation from family law lawyers. Common grounds for termination cited by Indiana courts include:
- Sexual or physical abuse of the child or severe child neglect
- The parent’s mental illness or disability, if it prevents them from properly caring for the child
- The parent’s conviction or incarceration
- The parent’s alcohol or substance abuse
- Child abandonment
- The parent’s refusal or inability to address the child’s medical needs
Your Indianapolis family law lawyer will work to build a case showing the court you are able to care for your child, that separating you from your child is not in the child’s best interests, and work to disprove false accusations.
Working Toward Adoption
Adopting a child is a dream come true for many couples. In other cases, it is a loving necessity. Whatever the circumstances, the legal landscape for adoption involves many steps, and the family lawyers from The Nice Law Firm will take you through that landscape as efficiently as possible.
Not all adoption situations are the same. You may be a married couple looking to welcome a child into your family. You might be grandparents seeking to take your grandchildren into your more stable home or needing to adopt them after a tragedy. You might be a foster parent hoping to make a foster child part of your family permanently. Maybe you are a step-parent seeking to take the “step” out of your parent-child relationship. Or perhaps your adoption story has other unique characteristics. Whatever your story, our family attorneys are here to help.
Different procedures apply for different types of adoptions. If you are hoping to adopt from the foster system, we can help you through Indiana’s adoption program. If you are adopting a child from within the United States or Internationally and privately, we can help you through those legal steps as well.
Though some adoptions are more complicated than others, our team can help you through your situation. Our goal is to help your adoption story to a happy, peaceful ending as smoothly as possible.
Expectant Mothers
You may be an expectant mother considering adoption. We can support you as you think through your options and determine what is best for you and your baby. We will not rush you through your decisions or minimize the emotional toll of the choice you are making. Our team will provide you with helpful resources, inform you of your legal rights, and work with you to create an adoption plan that gives you and your child brighter, more hopeful futures.
Here for All Your Family Matters
Families are important, and so all family matters must be handled with care. If you have a legal family matter, do not try to sort through it on your own or with inferior representation. Call or send a message to connect with The Nice Law Firm. We care about your family and your legal matters. We will not simply treat your family situation as a case to be managed. Families are made up of people, relationships, and emotions, and our firm respects those relationships and will work to reduce emotional stressors for all involved as we handle your case. That said, protecting your rights and best interests is our goal, and we are prepared to fight aggressively to keep that protection in place.
We look forward to hearing from you and providing you with the responsive, attentive service we offer every client. The Nice Law Firm wants what is best for you and your family. Put our knowledge, experience, and support to work for you today. Schedule a consultation today.