Indiana-21 year olds emancipation

[unhappystepmom]

In October 2005, our attorney advised that we should seek emancipation from my (then) 20year old stepson.  He had not attended college for more than 4 months and he was employed full time.  However, he was still living at home with his mother.  When his mother found out we had filed, he quit his job and enrolled in school.  His CGPA is less than C (2.0).  

His mother wants us to pay room & board to her since he is attending college.  We have given her 2 choices-either all financial support ends or we will pay 100% until he turns 23, as long as he moves in with his father and I.  Our attorney continues to be wishy-washy and says that we need to attend court-ordered mediation although she was the one that requested it (she did not inform us that she was going to proceed this way).

1)  Did he meet emancipation criteria in October 2005?  
2)  Since he returned to school, does that change anything?
3)  Is there any way to get out of court-ordered mediation?  At this point, if she doesn't accept our offer, we want the court to decide.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

[mistoffolees]

What does your divorce decree state with respect to age limits?

If the decree says that you have to pay $xx per month as long as he's in college and up to a certain age, then you're going to have to pay that as long as he meets the requirements (his grades are irrelevant unless your agreement says he needs to maintanin a certain average.

It may not be fair, but you don't have much leverage. You have to do what the agreement says. You can't insist that he move in with you to obtain what the agreement says you'll give him.

In theory, I guess you could try to prove that he enrolled in school only to get money from you and had no intention of completing school, but I can't imagine any way in the world that I court would accept that argument - unless you had a letter stating that they did it only for that reason. Even then, I'm not sure you'd win.

[unhappystepmom]

The divorce decree says NOTHING about what age support will end nor anything about supporting him through college.  Basically, it says my husband will pay $$week, and cover health bills 100% until the order is updated.

[mistoffolees]

That seems odd, but if that's the case, then it would end under whatever the laws are in your state. You can probably find the relevant regulation in your state with Google.

I'm not sure, but I would guess that most states require support to age 18 or to age 22 (or 25) for full time students.

You could also ask Socrateaser, but he might just say it depends on the law in your state.

[unhappystepmom]

Believe me, I have MEMORIZED the Indiana Child Support guidelines.  From what I can see, she has no case against us.  But our attorney just seems to keep dragging this thing along.

The divorce decree was done about 18 years ago.  My husband didn't have money for an attorney and I don't think his ex's attorney covered her very well.

Any advise on mediation?  They want us to pay $200/hr for this!!!!

[Ref]

http://www.divorcenet.com/states/indiana/in_faq05

It looks to me that emancipation is 21 or younger in Indiana. You would have had the chance of having to pay some college expenses if she had filed for it prior to his 21st b-day, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

If it were me, I would stop paying now. The kid is 21 and has not filed for college expense. I would file for it myself. It seems pretty standard.


This is a forms link for emancipation.
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/selfservice/forms/eman_term.html

JMHO

Ref

[unhappystepmom]

Thanks, we did file for emancipation in October, 2005.  In November, 2005, the ex filed for college expenses.  For some reason our attorney will not explain to us, our attorney does not want to proceed with the emancipation.  She wants us to go through mediation.  We do not want to go through mediation, but she is saying that it is court-ordered.  

[mistoffolees]

I would suggest that the original poster take that link to the Socrateaser board and see what he says. If the law says it ends at 21 and he was not a student when he hit 21, your interpretation sounds reasonable. But it never hurts to get free legal advice to ensure that something that sounds reasonable really is.

[Bolivar]

It's time to Attorney Shop.

GET A NEW ATTORNEY. – you are being sold up the river.  (I know, I had an lawyer who did the same thing.  Years later after I learned a little about custody law I became aware my attorney did a horrible job for me.)

[Ref]

They make him go to mediation for any changes at all. It is just how things are done in his state.

He did bypass it last time by him and his ex (thru the attornies) agreeing that they will not come to any agreement in mediation and it would be a waste of time and expense. DH's attorney filed a motion to waive the mediation due to those factors and he and BM's attorney both signed it.

Maybe you can suggest filing a waiver based on that?

Ref

[mistoffolees]

Is there a site somehwere where you can post feedback on your attorney? There seem to be a lot of crappy attorneys out there and it would be helpful if there were a way to avoid them.

Similarly, my attorney is fantastic. I'd be happy to direct people to her (but probably not until my case is over since she's extremely busy and doesn't need any more clients IMHO).

[unhappystepmom]

If anyone knows of such a site, I would love to hear about it!  We were referred to this law firm by a reputable person that has business legal dealings with them.   Unfortunately, I don't think the firm is so good at family law!

This is the first time we have had to engage an attorney.  We didn't know if they were all this way or if we got a bad one.  Do attorney's normally offer an initial free consultation?  We have already dumped WAY too much money into this one.  We're kind of nervous about getting another involved.

Thanks for everyone's help!!!

[mistoffolees]

Some attorneys offer an initial free consultation, but not all. My experience is limited, but I don't believe there's any correlation between those who offer free consultation and how good they are.

It wouldn't surprise me if the ones who charge you for the first consultation are the busiest ones (who don't need new business as much), although I certainly couldn't provide evidence to support that.

My attorney is absolutely fantastic and she charged me $350 for the initial consultation. It was money well spent.

[Ref]

but I used this site to find the attorney for DH.
http://www.martindale.com/

It has peer ratings which, I think you should not depend on. BM's attorney was terrible and she had the same rating as DH's attorney who was very good.

You can find ones with concentrations in Family law and preferably Father's rights. I wouldn't recommend using a business lawyer for family law issues.

Many have free consultations.

Good luck!
Ref

[wysiwyg]

Indiana

 Termination of support at 21 or emancipation

 Ind. Code § 31-16-6-2 provides that a child support order may include sums for the child's education at institutions of higher learning, where appropriate. 2001 Ind. Acts, P.L. # 171 provides that excess proceeds of a forfeited child support, custody or visitation order bond must be applied toward the child's higher education or to the child's support and maintenance.
 

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/educate.htm

[mistoffolees]

You're right about peer ratings. Some attorneys seem to spend more time trying to earn awards than to do their job.

My stbx's attorney, for example, has a number of big awards on his web site, but he's done some incredibly stupid things - some of which may cost his client dearly (once everything's over, I'll be able to discuss them).