The Office of Judicial Administration recently proposed amendments to Criminal Rule 2.1 and Trial Rule 3.1 that would require cell phone numbers to be included on appearances. The Indianapolis Bar Association surveyed attorney members on this change and subsequently, through the association's board of directors, submitted comment on the proposed amendments to the Indiana Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure

Welcome to Tip of the Week! Judicial officers will offer a tip each week for members of the Family Law Section. Feel free to send suggestions to Mag. Kim Mattingly at kimberly.mattingly@indy.gov.

For the first time, the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission will undertake an advisory role to lawyers. The Commission will provide ethical guidance through formal written advisory opinions and informal individual guidance.

Welcome to Tip of the Week! Judicial officers will offer a tip each week for members of the Family Law Section. Feel free to send suggestions to Mag. Kim Mattingly at kimberly.mattingly@indy.gov.

As part of the Family Law Section’s ongoing commitment to civility in the legal profession, your Executive Committee is preparing to launch Candid Counsel, a networking/free ask/discussion group program. Each member of the Executive Committee will head a group, and they will meet in different areas of the Indy metro and at different hours.

Stepparent visitation, or as our case law more frequently calls it, third-party visitation, is entirely a creature of case law. In order to gain an understanding of how a person can be granted third-party visitation, you need to read through and piece together all the cases.

As family law attorneys and mediators, we often receive calls asking about people filing their own paternity cases. When asked if someone should represent themselves, I remind them of the old adage that, “a person who represents themselves has a fool for a client.”

For those of us in family law, we know how emotions run very high in our cases. And, then there is substance abuse, mental health issues, domestic violence, etc., all mixed in there too. The family law bar in Indiana has not been immune from these threats and violence.

The “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (the “Act”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017.  With this sweeping tax legislation comes several changes that will impact income taxes in the context of a divorce. The following is a summary of the more significant changes to keep in mind.

We are living in an e-filing world now. Make it easy on us.