Practice Areas

Property Distribution: The presumption in Indiana is that all marital property will be divided 50/50 if there is not a valid prenuptial agreement entered into by the parties. There are five statutory factors, which can cause a court to deviate from the 50/50 presumption. These factors address the earning ability of the parties, financial or non-financial contributions made by the parties, gifts, or inheritances received during the marriage, property brought into the marriage, and whether a spouse dissipated marital assets during the marriage. An experience family law practitioner can help you analyze what share of the marital property you may be entitled to receive.

Valuation: It is usually necessary to determine the value of some or all property and debts in a dissolution proceeding. Valuation can be achieved in several ways: by experts who appraise and value property; by business documents that are produced which show the value of an asset, e.g., quarterly statement for a mutual fund; and, by opinions of the parties. If parties can agree upon the values that are to be placed on their assets, they can avoid the involvement of third parties for costly valuations. Frequently in a divorce, the parties dispute the value of an asset. There are many appellate court cases that set forth how and when a trial court can value certain assets. An experienced family law practitioner can advise you what type of valuation problems you may have in your particular case.

Tax matters: There are numerous tax related matters that may arise in a divorce case: who will receive the exemption for any children of the marriage; who will receive the mortgage interest deduction for the year you divorce, who will be responsible for paying the capital gains on the sale or transfer of investments; whether there will be capital gains on the sale of the residence and whether someone will be responsible for paying taxes, interest and penalties if a retirement account (e.g., 401K, IRA) is transferred or cashed out in a divorce. How these issues are dealt with is a very fact sensitive determination. An experienced family law practitioner can advise you of the likelihood of your responsibilities or entitlement to any of the above mentioned tax consequences. See Internal Revenue Service

Maintenance: Alimony does not exist in Indiana. There are, however, three statutory provisions whereby a spouse may be obligated to pay spousal maintenance: where a spouse is mentally or physically disabled; where a spouse is the primary caretaker of a disabled child; or where a spouse has interrupted education or employment in order to be a homemaker or provide child care. Maintenance may continue indefinitely for a disabled spouse or for a spouse who cares for a disabled child; however, the statute provides that maintenance shall only continue for up to three (2) years where a spouse is attempting to obtain an education and/or re-enter the workforce.

Prenuptial Agreements: A Prenuptial Agreement is a very useful tool for those persons who are about to get married. Not only can it insure the distribution of property that you own prior to marriage in the event of death or divorce, it can also foster conversations between the soon-to-be spouses regarding money management, estate planning and even lifestyle choices. If you get divorced in Indiana without a Prenuptial Agreement, the state's laws and the courts may decide how your assets and debts will be divided - not you.

Child Support: In Indiana, the non-custodial parent is typically ordered to pay child support to the custodial parent. Child support is calculated using the Indiana Child Support Guidelines. The information an attorney needs to determine the amount of a child support order includes: the parties' gross weekly incomes, cost of health insurance for the child, childcare costs, and extraordinary medical or educational expenses. In some cases where parties share custody of a child, child support can be modified to take into account the shared time arrangement. An experienced family law attorney can advise you about the amount of child support you should be paying or receiving if you are overpaying and, for a custodial parent, if you are entitled to receive more child support.

Custody: There are two basic forms of custody in Indiana. The most common form is sole custody, where one parent has primary physical custody of a child and the non-custodial parent has visitation rights. The custodial parent has the primary responsibility for making decisions for the child. The other form of custody is joint custody. Under this arrangement one parent usually has primary physical custody, and the other has visitation rights; however, both parents must consult each other and discuss any important decisions, which need to be made with respect to the child. A third form of custody is joint, shared custody where the parties actually have a somewhat equal division of physical custody of the child. This arrangement works more smoothly if both parties live in close proximity and if they can cooperate and get along for the sake of the child.

Parenting Time: Indiana has enacted statewide guidelines for parenting time for a non-custodial parent. To see the complete guidelines, go to Indiana State Judiciary

You Should Know: A common misconception by divorcing spouses is that assignment of a debt to one spouse pursuant to a divorce decree will relieve the other spouse of all responsibility on the debt. This is not true. If the non-obligated spouse was a co-signer on a loan or on an account, it is generally necessary to refinance or to close the account and transfer the account balance into the sole name of the spouse assuming liability. Even though a divorce decree may assign the debt. The creditor may still pursue the non-obligated spouse for collection in the event the obligated spouse fails to pay the debt.

Home :: Firm Overview :: Practice Areas :: Attorney Profiles :: Links :: Articles :: Contact Us

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

Copyright © by Ruppert & Schaefer, P.C.. All rights reserved. You may reproduce materials available at this site for your own personal use and for non-commercial distribution. All copies must include this copyright statement.