Ciyou & Associates, P.C. – Attorneys At Law

The best way to find a good divorce lawyer is to search social media and Google. Ask family and friends who have been divorced if they were satisfied with their counsel or would have preferred to have had opposing counsel representing them. If you know a lawyer, ask him/her who they would recommend. By conducting multi-source queries, you will start getting the same names popping up. From there, make a pick of an attorney you believe is best suited to your case. Then set a consult with the counsel you selected to see if they are the right fit for you and your case.

A good divorce attorney may mean the difference between winning or losing custody or settling for less property than you are entitled to. Are you willing to risk this? There is a reason a good divorce lawyer is more expensive and difficult to get consults with; they are busy because they are good at what they do in handling every divorce case.

Indiana is a no-fault divorce state. So, if you relay the marriage is “irretrievably broken”, the court will divorce you.

By statute, the parties must wait sixty days before the court divorces them. This is a “cooling off” period to give the spouses time to reconcile their marriage, as marriage is favored under the law and the underlying public policy. However, divorce is a complex process and if custody and/or property is disputed, it will take at least six months to get the divorce case worked up for mediation and/or trial, maybe longer. Further, if you have a spouse who does not want divorced or wants to make you “suffer” for filing for divorce, he or she can dramatically slow down the divorce process.

To get divorced in Indiana, one party must file a Verified Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. From there, the attorneys gather information about custody and marital assets and liabilities through a process known as discovery. When discovery is complete, the case will likely go to mediation and settle. If not, the court will set a final divorce hearing.

There are no formal legal acts to take before a party can file for divorce, except perhaps select a divorce attorney. However, it is wise to gather as much information as possible about financial accounts and debts.

By statute, the divorce court must wait sixty days before it can divorce you by entering a decree of dissolution of marriage. However, if there are children and significant assets and liabilities, a divorce is likely to take at least six (6) months to prepare the case for mediation or trial.

There is no special filing for a contested divorce in Indiana. Most all divorces are contested in some aspect, whether it is child-related or stems from division of the property.

The best way to get divorce is to listen to your attorney and his or her advice, be flexible, and have realistic expectations. With this, it is possible the case will settle before or at mediation.

For Indiana residents, a divorce only can be filed in Indiana, in an Indiana state court. Any divorce from any religious tribunal, such as a Catholic Court, is not available in Indiana. Also, such a divorce from a religious court will not be recognized in Indiana and enforceable.

There is no requirement to obtain divorce counseling in Indiana. However, divorce is a grueling process, and every divorce litigant would benefit from having counseling during a divorce.

In Indiana, the cooling-off period is sixty days as set forth in the Divorce Act. This is to see if the parties can settle their differences and stay together as married; marriage is favored in Indiana as a matter of public policy.

Typically, in a divorce trial, you have a trial theme to support what you want in terms of child custody and why it is in the children’s best interests. Within the theme, you also work in what division of property is fair and equitable and why the court should grant your relief. With this developed trial theme, you then put on evidence to support your trial. This gives you the best chance at meeting your trial objectives.

The documents necessary to file for divorce in Indiana are an attorney’s appearance, Verified Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, and a summons. This is then e-filed with the required filing fee paid at that time. The filing of a financial declaration or request for preliminary hearing is also commonly filed with these documents.

At a minimum, a party must wait sixty days by statute before the court can enter a divorce decree. The only way to avoid working your way through the divorce process is to quickly reach agreement between the parties. A divorce is a complex transaction that typically takes at least six months to work up for mediation and/or trial.

An uncontested divorce means the parties agree on all issues related to the children, namely who gets physical custody, parenting time and child support. In addition, the parties would have to agree on a child support amount based on the Indiana Child Support Rules and Guidelines. Finally, the parties must agree on all terms of property division (division of assets and liabilities). When parties actually dig into these issues, very few cases are uncontested as to all legal issues.

While there is no legal prohibition to representing yourself in a divorce proceeding, a divorce is a complex legal matter that is difficult, at times, even for lawyers. Some counties provide pro bono attorneys or have forms you may be able to access for the do-it-yourself divorce.

A “mutual divorce” is not a legally recognizable action in Indiana. If both parties mutually want divorced, it will likely make the divorce go faster, smoother, and cost less.

Yes. However, if the other side wants a divorce, they can file a cross-petition for dissolution action and the divorce will proceed. While cross-petitions for divorce are not required, this is often the reason they are filed. Both parties must want to remain married or the divorce will move forward.

A divorce court is not a hearing before a jury, or as dramatic as many shows on television. The divorce hearing is before a judge. There are rarely opening or closing arguments in divorce cases. However, it is a “real” court in the sense it will decide how to award custody, decide child support, and apportion your assets and liabilities.

No. While divorce and other legal filings are electronically filed, Indiana does not have on-line fillable PDFs to file divorce.

If your divorce is contentious, dating is usually a bad-to-terrible idea. While it depends on the facts of your case, you should clearly discuss this matter with your divorce attorney before you start dating and DO NOT make any social media posts with your date. Typically, dating escalates the acrimony in divorce. Don’t do it.

If the parties, through counsel, can reach agreement on all terms or can do so at mediation (which the court will order), the parties may never set foot in the courtroom. The attorneys or mediator will draft a settlement agreement, waiver of final hearing, and proposed decree, and e-file these documents with the court. Once reviewed and approved by the judge, it will be signed, and you will be divorced.

It is unethical for an attorney to take active steps to delay proceedings. However, divorces with contested issues typically take six or more months to complete. Depending on the discovery you seek, a divorce case may take a year or more. Typically, the question is asked in reverse, which is “how can I speed up my divorce?”

If the court has good service on each party (meaning they have received notice of the date and time of the divorce final hearing), it is likely the court will dismiss the divorce case. Without good cause to reinstate the dismissed action, the parties would have to file for divorce again, pay the filing fee and restart the sixty days waiting period to obtain a divorce (typically this is much longer).

Filing for divorce is the same as a lawsuit, and suing for a divorce is a lawsuit, so the terms are one in the same. There is no material legal difference between these terms.

If one side wants a divorce and the other does not, there is no way to stop the divorce proceedings. The court will divorce the parties. All one party must do is file for divorce and allege “irreconcilable differences”.

The most important step to filing a divorce you know will be contested, is to retain a domestic attorney with significant experience and have him or her file and manage the case. A contested divorce case is a complex legal matter. The attorney can then draft the filings to be made.

An uncontested divorce is one where the parties agree on all issues of custody and property division. These are extremely rare, although in some cases the parties agree on most issues. A contested divorce is one where the child and/or property issues are not agreed upon and thus contested.

The cost of a divorce in Indiana varies widely based on the nature of the case and the issues in dispute. A divorce can cost a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars depending upon how many issues are in dispute and how contentious and litigious the parties are during the divorce.

The filing of a divorce is relatively simple and does not take long. However, many attorneys want to file a financial declaration with the divorce and gather information from his or her client to review in preparing the filing. Thus, it may take a week to actually file the divorce.

There is no hard and fast rule for how long after separation one should wait to file for divorce. If at the time of separation, you have decided you will divorce, you should file at once to start what may be a rather lengthy process. If you are trying to determine if you want divorced, you should try to make that decision before filing.

For the most part, during a divorce you should live life as normally as possible, particularly if you have children. That said, some rather hard and fast rules most divorce attorneys agree you should not do is date, post on social media, or take actions (or inactions) you know will cause acrimony. This will just delay the case and wind up costing you more in legal fees.

For the most part, there is no way to speed up a divorce. There are simply too many variables in play to appreciably speed up a divorce. However, if the parties reach an agreement to all terms, it will dramatically speed up the divorce.

Divorce court is typically unpleasant for litigants because they are uncomfortable in a courtroom, as this is not part of their normal life experience. Further, because most cases settle in mediation and do not reach court, those that do are usually very contentious with harsh cross examination.

You can use any evidence in a divorce proceeding if it is relevant. Relevant evidence is evidence that tends to prove or disprove a fact or issue in dispute. Video evidence of many types is very common in civil litigation, including divorce cases. As it relates to evidence of “abuse” this could be used in a variety of ways, but it is not necessary to prove fault to seek a divorce.

The biggest mistake or point of confusion for litigants is believing they will be divorced in sixty days. Most divorce cases will pend at least six (6) months before being resolved at mediation or set for a contested trial.

If you receive a properly served summons or subpoena for a divorce trial, and you ignore it, the divorce can impose a variety of remedies from proceeding without you present (which almost always results in a favorable result for the other side) or issue a body attachment whereby the police come to your home and take you and present you to the court.

In a divorce or paternity proceeding (or third-party custody case), the court retains jurisdiction over the children until they are emancipated. During this time, the court may modify physical custody, parenting time, legal custody, and child support. The court can also enter a higher-education order whereby the parties are ordered to contribute a reasonable amount toward their children’s college degrees.

There are two types of child custody: physical and legal custody. Physical custody is who the child will spend most days and nights with. The non-custodial parent will receive Indiana Parenting Time Guideline time at a minimum. Legal custody is who makes the children’s medical, educational, and religious decisions.

There is not a “technical” or “legal” definition of a child custody attorney. However, there are few attorneys who limit their practice to the practice of primarily domestic relations law. In highly contested cases, such counsel is more likely to help work through the case and help you obtain your legal goals.

There is simply no substitute for a great deal of experience in family law to be a good or great family law attorney. If an attorney limits his or her practice to family law, and has practiced for several years, there is a good chance he or she is a good family law attorney.

At the present time, one parent will be awarded sole physical custody and the other will have Indiana Parenting Time Guideline time at a minimum; this is the non-custodial parent and he or she pays child support. In addition, the court will order legal custody and may award joint and/or sole legal custody. Legal custody is who makes the children’s health, educational, and religious decisions.

“Legal custody” is a legal term of art referring to the parent who makes the children’s medical, educational, and religious decisions. Lawful custody, on the other hand, is the right to participate in the child’s upbringing versus any other person.

There is a strong public policy that favors permanency and stability for children. For this reason, a parent must show a substantial change in circumstances and that it is in the best interests of the children to modify physical custody.

A party may appeal any final order establishing initial custody or modifying child custody. To do so, he or she must file a Notice of Appeal within thirty (30) days after the issuance of the final order. Failure to timely file the Notice of Appeal forfeits the right to appeal.

A court always makes a child custody and parenting time (formerly known as “visitation”), decisions in the children’s best interests. The best interest standard is the driving principle behind Indiana trial courts’ decisions on child physical custody, parenting time, and legal custody.

In a divorce case, the trial court will receive evidence on the components of child support and enter a child support order for the non-custodial parent. In a case where a child is born out of wedlock, even if a hospital paternity affidavit is signed, one of the parents must open a paternity case to establish child support.

Typically, this comes up when a party moves out, takes the children, and files for divorce. Until there is an agreement or preliminary hearing and order, the parents are equally entitled to physical custody of the children. This can result in the crazy scenario of the parents “kidnapping” the children back and forth until there is an agreement or “order”.

A parent can have sole physical custody, and the other parent gets Indiana Parenting Time Guideline time at a minimum. Additionally, a parent can have sole legal custody; legal custody is who makes decisions about the children’s educational, medical, and religious decisions.

The parties can share joint physical and legal custody. With joint physical custody, the parents equally divide the time they have with the children on a rotating daily basis, such as 3-2-2-3, or weekly basis, such as week-on, week-off parenting.

Indiana has moved away from the tender year’s presumption where young children were thought to need to be with their mothers to a gender-neutral standard. A father now is on equal footing to obtain sole legal custody. A father must present evidence to establish it is in the children’s best interests that they get sole physical custody.

A temporary or pendente child custody order is an order the trial court enters after a preliminary hearing indicating who will have physical custody of the children while the divorce case pends and is worked up for trial. The preliminary order stands unless modified by another preliminary order, agreement of the parties or divorce trial and decision by the court as to the initial custody award.

Unfortunately, some spouses lie in preliminary or final hearings to try to obtain custody. However, judges who are skilled at judging character can identify an untruthful or distorted testimony, thereby making a child custody order that is truly in the children’s best interests.

There is no longer any presumption in the law that favors mothers in child custody cases. A father is just as likely to obtain custody as a mother if he identifies and presents the necessary evidence that sole physical custody to a father is in the children’s best interests.

Clearly, at one point in time in the past the legal standards the court was directed to follow by the Divorce and Paternity Acts favored mothers. However, times have changed, and when the court makes the initial custody decision, it does not favor either parent.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know how much a child-custody battle will cost. A great deal of the answer lies in how hard each party will fight for physical custody. The harder the fight, and the longer it drags on, the more it will cost.

There is no rule that allows a party to change a venue (county) for a case unless the parties agree. However, at certain points in the beginning of a case or after the divorce has been decided, they may have the ability to change judge.

At one time, the law favored mother’s having custody of younger children under the law called the “tender-years presumption”. Now, the standard is gender neutral, and fathers are on equal footing with mothers in custody disputes.

In all litigation, each side pays their own legal fees. However, under the Divorce and Paternity Acts a court may order legal fees if there is a large disparity in income between the parties.

If you think your relationship has broken down with your counsel, you should discuss your concerns with your counsel about his or her representation. If after this conversation, you are not satisfied your counsel can handle the case the way you desire and direct, you should “fire” your counsel as soon as possible as successor counsel will have to relearn your case from the beginning.

Yes. If you do not appear on time at your trial, the judge may proceed without you and only hear one side of the evidence, awarding the appearing parent child custody. In such a case, you should retain counsel to try to set aside this default judgment against you.

Fathers have the same child custody and parenting time (formerly known as “visitation”) rights as mothers do. The key is to present to the court, as a father, what you propose for custody and parenting time and why it is in the children’s best interests.

In a child custody battle, your case needs a theme as to why you should obtain custody in the child’s best interests. With this theme, you develop the evidence to support your theme and desired child custody outcome.

Under the Indiana Parent Time Guidelines, the custodial parent is responsible for getting the child to go to parenting time. With teenagers, this may take a serious discussion as they would probably prefer to be with their friends rather than either parent. Failure to get the child to go to parenting time may result in a contempt being filed by the non-custodial parent.

If you choose a child custody attorney who limits his or her practice to domestic relations, the more trial experience he or she has in developing the evidence to help you attain your custody goals. In addition, a very seasoned domestic lawyer has had about every curve ball possible thrown at him or her in trial and can respond to about anything that comes up in a custody trial and avoid it hurting your case.

Over time, a series of subtle events that amount to a substantial change may occur that could be helpful for your custody case. However, the fine details, dates and time will be forgotten over time. The key is to keep a journal and write out what happened that was not in the child’s best interests, with the time and date of the entry. This can be used at trial in a variety of ways, such as to refresh your recollection. This evidence can make your case.

With joint physical custody, the major decision for the court is to first have credible evidence that the parents want to and will make joint custody work. The second consideration the court must have presented in the evidence is what schedule will work in children’s best interests.

There is no set cost for an appeal. There are less than 4,000 appeals filed a year, which is a small number compared to a million plus cases filed in Indiana trial courts. The cost depends on the number of issues, novelty of the issues, and a variety of other factors. A typical appeal may range/average between $10,000 to $50,000.

A trial lawyer spends his or her days inside a courtroom trying cases through witness testimony and cross-examination of witnesses for the opposing side, along with the offering and objection to exhibits. An appellate lawyer does not work inside the courtroom but instead makes your arguments to three (3) judges assigned to your case in the Court of Appeals of Indiana. An appellate brief is basically a written book that tells your story and why the trial court erred in its ruling.

In domestic cases, a trial court may order a party to pay appellate fees. However, the vast majority of appeals are paid for by the appellate or appellee. Appeals are tedious, time-consuming for appellate attorneys, and correspondingly, expensive.

Trial lawyers work in the courts in Indiana’s ninety-two counties. Appellate attorneys work from their office and make your case in writing for why the trial court’s decision is erroneous and should be reversed. The two (2) roles are as different as day is from night.

Becoming a skilled appellate attorney comes with experience in briefing appeals. Ultimately, defining what is a ‘good’ appellate attorney is very subjective; that said, a hallmark of a good appellate attorney is found in your review of your brief—it should vividly tell your story and why the trial court erred and should be reversed under Indiana law.

The appellate process begins with filing a Notice of Appeal. From there the transcript and exhibits are prepared and briefs written by the appellant and appellee. When all briefing is completed, the Clerk of the Court of Appeals of Indiana transmits the briefs to the three judges who will review the briefs and decide the case and issue a written decision. These three judges are called the “writing panel”.

Appeals based on pure question of fact, like who the trial court believed, are difficult to win because the fact finder saw their verbal and non-verbal communication and decided who was more believable. The Court of Appeals simply cannot do this with a paper record. However, mixed questions of fact and law are reviewed under a different standard of review and easier to prevail on appeal. With questions of law or constitutional challenges, the trial court is afforded no deference and the cases are reviewed by the appellate judges de novo.

The Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court that reviews most appeals—few proceed to the Indiana Supreme Court. Their job is to ensure that, overall, the parties obtained a fair and just trial by a neutral factfinder.

In every case where a final order is issued as to all matters, there is the right to appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals. The aggrieved (or losing party) must file a Notice of Appeal within thirty (30) days or the appeal is forfeited.

Yes. There are two primary ways the Court of Appeals decision can be appealed. The first is to ask this Court of Appeals to rehear the case. The second way to appeal is to seek transfer to the Indiana Supreme Court. A party has thirty days to seek rehearing and forty-five days to seek transfer to the Indiana Supreme Court if rehearing was not sought.

A trial court decides the case issues between the parties. The appellate court reviews the trial court’s decision to make sure it accurately applied the law to the facts. If the trial court did not, the Court of Appeals will reverse unless it is a harmless error.

A ruling can only be appealed one time. The entire point of the legal system is to resolve disputes once and for all so the parties can move on with their lives or business. However, if an issue is reversed and remanded to the trial court, that later ruling in the trial court may be appealed in certain cases.

To properly perfect an appeal, a timely notice must be filed. The Notice of Appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days, or the appeal is forfeited.

The criminal and civil appeals process generally take around six (6) months to get a decision. With extensions, which may be necessary with a long trial, this time can be significantly longer.

No. Appellate counsel is limited to appealing the issues raised at trial. Raising new issues on appeal raises the possibility of procedural and/or substantive bad faith and appellate counsel will thus not present new issues on appeal.

All appeals in Indiana are perfected the same way. Assuming your parenting time case is final as to all issues, you must file a Notice of Appeal in the Indiana Court of Appeals. This Notice of Appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days or the right to appeal is forfeited, and the trial court’s order stands.

An effective appellate brief is one in which the appellant reads and knows their story is told; and with their story, it is clear how the trial court reached an erroneous ruling.

During trials, judges make many rulings. A few may be appealed as interlocutory appeals, but these are very rare. Most appeals are filed when the trial court issues its order as to all issues pending before the court.

Under the controlling United States Supreme Court, ineffective assistance of counsel requires a showing that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different (i.e., in other words, there would not have been a conviction).

Criminal and civil appeals probably average about six months. However, with a serious conviction and/or a lengthy jury trial, the appeal may have several extensions and take much longer to get a decision from the Court of Appeals.

As with all appeals, there is only one appeal. However, assuming the convicted sought transfer to the highest court in the state, the Indiana Supreme Court, there are other remedies available to criminal defendants that could result in appeal, such as post-conviction relief. Criminal defendants have more rights to challenge their conviction that a civil litigant does because criminal conviction results in loss of freedom and stripping of core constitutional rights, such as the right to vote.

A Court of Appeals decision is binding if rehearing or transfer is not sought. Once the time passes for rehearing and transfer, the Clerk of the Court of Appeals of Indiana or Indiana Supreme court will certify back to the trial court the appellate decision and the trial court resumes jurisdiction.