Calculating child support payments for siblings with individual parenting time arrangements

The Indiana Court of Appeals found that separate child support worksheets do not accurately calculate child support payments for two children by the same parents on individual parenting time schedules. In Robert J. Banford v. Judy D. Blanford, the mother and father of two children divorced in 1998. In 2009, the trial court entertained various motions concerning modification of parenting time and child support. In addition, one of the children had a deteriorating relationship with the father. After…

Leaving Job to Attend School Full-Time Does Not Necessarily Allow for a Reduction in Child Support

The Indiana Court of Appeals found that a father who voluntarily left employment to become a full time student is still liable for child support payments in the amount determined when he was employed. In the case of J.M. v. D.A., the parents of two children divorced in 2003, and the father was ordered to pay child support. In 2008, the father petitioned to modify his child support payment amount. Previously, he had been earning $13 per hour,…

Indiana Court of Appeals: Adoption does not require mother’s consent

Last week, the Indiana Court of Appeals held the trial court ruling that a mother’s consent to the adoption of her children is not required if the mother knowingly and intentionally did not pay child support, and was shown to have a serious and ongoing drug addiction. In the Matter of the Adoption of K.F. and T.F.; B.F. v. L.F., the father and mother of the children divorced in 2002. The father was awarded custody of the couple’s…