Indiana Child Custody, Parenting Time And Child Support Attorneys With Proven Experience
Perhaps the most difficult types of family law cases are those involving children. Where will the children live? When will the parents see the kids? Who is responsible for making major decisions that affect the child’s well-being? How is custody, once determined, modified?
At the Blanford Law Office, our custody and parenting time lawyers are highly experienced and knowledgeable. They have more than 65 combined years of legal practice. They draw from their backgrounds in mediation as well as litigation to advocate for you tenaciously yet compassionately.
How Do Indiana Courts Decide Child Custody And Parenting Time?
If parents cannot agree on arrangements for the children, a judge will make the decision for them. Whether the parents are involved in a divorce or a paternity matter, the single most important consideration that guides the judge in determining custody is the best interests of the children.
If the court is making a child custody decision for the first time in a particular case, both parents begin on an equal footing. A judge cannot assume that one parent is inherently better suited to be a primary caregiver than the other parent. The judge will look at all relevant factors to determine in whose custody the children’s best interests will be served.
How Does Parenting Time Work In Indiana?
Indiana family law courts strongly support the idea that it is in a child’s best interests to have frequent, meaningful and continuing contact with each parent (this language comes directly from the Indiana Supreme Court Parenting Time Guidelines). In Indiana, the parent who does not have physical custody of his or her children is entitled to meaningful time with his or her children. Put in a better way, children are entitled to meaningful time with their parents.
When parents can’t work out appropriate arrangements, the court will impose them. In many instances, a court will implement a schedule of parenting time consistent with the schedules recommended by the Indiana Supreme Court Parenting Time Guidelines. This is a set of rules, guidelines and considerations designed to provide contact for a noncustodial parent. If a custodial parent believes there is reason to restrict or limit the other parent’s time with the children, that parent must establish that the parenting time will endanger the child’s physical health or significantly impair his or her emotional development.
Establishing And Modifying Child Support Obligations
In Indiana, as in every state, a parent has both a legal and a moral duty to financially support his or her children.
In determining child support, Indiana courts will consider the financial resources of the parents and the needs of the children. The obligation is based on the Indiana Child Support Guidelines and is calculated with the use of the Indiana Child Support Obligation Worksheet. The principal factors are the parents’ gross income from all sources, the costs of health insurance, childcare, if necessary, and the number of overnights each child spends with each parent.
A child support order may be modified when there has been a meaningful change in circumstances or when a calculation applied to an obligation older than a year shows that the new amount would differ by at least 20%.
How Do You Pay Child Support?
If you have been directed to pay child support, payment is your responsibility. Period. Regardless of what arrangements are put in place to best ensure your child support is paid – wage withholding, personal delivery to the child support clerk, carrier pigeon, whatever – if the payment doesn’t make it where it’s supposed to go, you will suffer the consequences for nonpayment of child support. The best way to meet your child support obligation is for your employer to take it out of your wages by way of an income withholding order (IWO) and pay it directly to the Indiana Child Support Bureau.
But you can also pay your child support in cash. You can take it directly to the child support clerk in the county in which the child support order was established. And believe it or not, you can now pay your child support at some convenience stores and pharmacies. If you’re paying by credit card or debit card, you can make a payment over the telephone. Most county child support clerks, as well as the Indiana Child Support Bureau, will take personal checks, money orders and cashier’s checks.
Reach Out To Our South Bend Child Custody Lawyers
Get a clear view of your options and what you can do to achieve your desired result. Give our South Bend office a call at 574-303-6459 or fill out my contact form to schedule a consultation with a St. Joseph County family law attorney.