Provisional Hearing, Personal Property Questions

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

I came home from a business trip to find my wife and toddler son gone. The house was cleaned out, and a eviction notice was left for me on the kitchen counter. Two days later I was served with the divorce papers. We have our provisional hearing soon, and my questions are the following:

Per my lawyer, I must continue to pay for her medical insurance, car maintenance, car insurance, and half of the daycare costs (which are extreme) and medical bills. I was told that I must do this because we are still married, and I paid for those things while together....Fine.....my question is, will that go away after the divorce is finalized? We were only married a few years, and per the lawyers, no ongoing maintenance for her would be awarded.

Secondly, Most of my personal items were taken, even my electric razor...... Some items that were taken were given to me before I was married as a gift (my brother threw me a "tool" shower) such as power toold, hand tools, etc. I have asked for them back through my lawyer, but she has refused. Can she do that?

There is also a hunting rifle that I was using that isn't mine. It is my dad's passed down from my grandfather that I won't own until my dad passes. She refuses to give that back too. Can my father press charges since they have his property?


Thanks for any help, as my lawyer doesn't seem to offer much.

After the divorce, she will have to support herself, including all the costs of insurance, etc.

HOWEVER, you will have to support your child. Most states have online child support calculators which give you an idea of what it will cost based on your (and her) income. It is often desirable for the non-custodial parent to maintain health insurance on the child(ren) and this is included in the support calculation. Support can be fairly expensive, depending on your relative income levels and amount of time the child spends in each home. Things like child care are usually included in the support calculation.

She can refuse anything she wishes at this point. However, when you have your hearing, you can easily request that your personal items be returned - and most courts will order that. Particularly, your father's rifle will need to be returned. While he could technically charge her with theft, it's not worth the trouble -- and would make the process even more acrimonious than it already is.

You didn't mention custody, though. Whatever role you want with your child(ren), you need to request an immediate temporary custody decision and parenting plan. The longer she has your child away from you, the harder it will be to reinstate your rights later. If you can make the case that you are at least as good a custodial parent as she is, then you can ask for custody on the basis of her moving the child away from you and the child's home.

So far, she has only agreed to supervised visits (by her and her father at an open area like a park, or restaurant) for 2 hours per week. I asked my lawyer to file a temp custody order and he said that it wasn't worth the trouble......

We have agreed upon joint custody of the child, and yes, I am already paying child support and medical insurance on him....I would do that whether the court ordered it or not contrary to some fathers today. It's a good amount of child support $$$ per month though, I just wonder if I'll still have to pay 1/2 of the daycare costs still.

As for the personal property, I really don't care if I get anything back except for the rifle that isn't mine yet. There isn't anything that really has any sentimental value. I guess we will see what the judge says. If my father's rifle isn't awarded/turned over at that time, it will get less acrimonious.

sneed21 said:

So far, she has only agreed to supervised visits (by her and her father at an open area like a park, or restaurant) for 2 hours per week. I asked my lawyer to file a temp custody order and he said that it wasn't worth the trouble......

We have agreed upon joint custody of the child, and yes, I am already paying child support and medical insurance on him....I would do that whether the court ordered it or not contrary to some fathers today. It's a good amount of child support $$$ per month though, I just wonder if I'll still have to pay 1/2 of the daycare costs still.

As for the personal property, I really don't care if I get anything back except for the rifle that isn't mine yet. There isn't anything that really has any sentimental value. I guess we will see what the judge says. If my father's rifle isn't awarded/turned over at that time, it will get less acrimonious.

Click to expand...

As I said, child care costs are included in the calculation. Look up your state calculator to get an idea.

I think you need to have a serious discussion with your attorney. You're getting infrequent SUPERVISED visitation while, legally, you have every right to be with the child whenever you wish (as long as there's no court order saying otherwise). You're getting a raw deal and if you let it go on, you'll have a hard time getting reasonable custody/visitation later on. Tell your attorney you want that to be addressed immediately.

Thank you, I will!!!