Indiana Court rules Facebook information is discoverable in litigation

There was a recent order from an Indiana Federal Court regarding whether information from social networking sites (SNS) is discoverable in litigation. While this is not a family law case, the reasoning the order could equally apply to a family law case, especially if custody is at issue.

The entire order is linked here.

One side was arguing that production of all of the Facebook postings, comments and "tags" was overly broad, harassing and an unreasonable infringement on privacy. But, the Court held that the information was discoverable and noted that “Facebook is not used as a means by which
account holders carry on monologues with themselves.” If this topic interests you I encourage you to read the order.

For previous blog postings on social networking click here.

Thanks to the Indiana Law Blog for finding and posting the Order. The Indiana Law Blog is a great resource for following Indiana legal news.

New Child Support Calculator for Attorneys - Indiana Child Support

The State of Indiana has published another free child support calculator intended to be used for attorneys and other legal professionals. It is a streamlined version of the calculator designed for parents. The new version is handy to have because it allows for easy changes to the worksheet and it is quicker to run different scenarios.

It should be noted that both the online calculators handle the negative support scenario that is presumed by the Indiana Child Support Guidelines as amended, effective 2010.

See all of our support postings here.

Child Support & Divorce - Child Support Order Will Not Predate Divorce Petition

On March 31, 2010, the Court of Appeals held that a child support order cannot predate the filing of the divorce petition. The Court of Appeals stated:

If child support is requested, pursuant to the foregoing authority, this has heretofore been the point at which support commences or can commence. Prior to this event (i.e., the filing of a dissolution petition), the court has no jurisdiction to issue orders pertaining to matters involving the children of the marriage except in situations involving criminal neglect or abuse. There are no such allegations in the instant case. Until a dissolution petition is filed, the parents are free to decide between themselves financial matters involving the children, such as whether they will pay an allowance, whether they will buy cars for their children, or whether they will pay for a college education, to cite just a few examples. This autonomy ends with the filing of a dissolution petition. With the filing of the petition, the parties immediately confer considerable authority upon the court to make decisions, from that time forward, previously reserved only for the parents. In our view, that rule and the bright line it represents should remain inviolate.

However, there was a dissent by Judge Najam in this case. If you are interested in this topic I strongly encourage you to read the entire opinion.