Scottsburg Indiana Divorce Lawyers
Divorce usually is not easy. But is does not have to turn into a scorched-earth battle.
Our divorce practice is focused on achieving the objectives most meaningful to clients in an expeditious, cost-effective manner whenever possible.
What Does the Law Provide?
In Indiana, there are number of presumptions that exist concerning divorce, such as that both parents are fit for legal custody and parenting time, and that the spouses will share in assets (and debts) acquired through the marriage. Indiana courts do not assess “blame” for the cause of the divorce; thus, a cheating spouse will not be punished by the courts through a worsened property division or prevented from seeing their children.
We help educate clients as to what the law provides with respect to divorce, because understanding the “ground rules” will be beneficial in achieving a settlement. As an example, a spouse is entitled to receive a portion of a pension that is accrued as the result of work performed by the other spouse during the marriage. When clients understand these and other basics, they are then in a better position to negotiate the items that may be in contention.
Mediation, Negotiation, and Creative Resolution
Most divorce matters in Indiana are resolved through mediation and negotiation between the attorneys for the divorcing spouses and their clients. Mediation is an opportunity to work with a professional neutral, who is experienced in helping divorcing spouses and their counsel work to develop agreeable resolutions with respect to custody, parenting time, property allocation, and other issues.
Should I Go to Trial?
We believe that trial should usually be a last resort. Not only can it be expensive, but more importantly the court will not have the same incentive to work out a good solution as the divorcing spouses. Divorcing spouses, for instance, will usually be better able to negotiate custody and parenting time schedules which will be conducive to work and other personal situations than will a judge, who will not have the same level of appreciation and understanding about these personal matters.
Some matters, however, are worth going to trial. When a matter cannot be resolved to our client’s satisfaction through negotiation, we will to go court, where we will be fully focused on securing a favorable outcome for our client.