Bumb Law Office, LLCBumb Law2026-10-06T03:17:08Zhttps://www.bumblaw.com/feed/atom/WordPress/wp-content/uploads/sites/1103827/2020/06/cropped-favicon-01-32x32.pngOn Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[Children may have strong feelings about stepparent adoptions]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477242026-10-06T03:17:08Z2026-10-06T03:17:08ZStepparent adoptions are often beneficial for the entire family. Stepparents can strengthen the family unit and protect their relationship with their stepchildren. If there is a divorce or a death in the family, the stepparent can still retain custody or at least visitation with their stepchildren.
Stepchildren gain a sense of security and belonging, as well as access to important benefits. They even have a right of inheritance after a stepparent adopts them. However, the adoption process often requires obtaining consent from the child before the adoption occurs.Even when a child may have a positive relationship with their stepparent, they may feel strongly about a proposed adoption. Stepparents and their spouses must be ready for difficult conversations if they plan to pursue an adoption.
What concerns may arise?
Stepchildren may love their stepparents, but their feelings about their biological parent may complicate their response to a proposed adoption. In cases involving a deceased parent, a stepparent adoption may feel like another loss.The child may feel as though they must sever their last remaining connection to the parent who died. They may love their stepparent but may still want to remain the legal title of the deceased parent. There could also potentially be issues with benefits to consider. If the other parent is still alive, the concern may be that the adoption could damage the dynamic or indicate a lack of love from the child to the stepparent. The legal process generally requires that children age 14 or older consent to the stepparent adoption. Stepparents and their spouses often need to have challenging conversations with stepchildren before they initiate the legal adoption process. Working with an attorney can help families navigate the paperwork and court procedures required for a stepparent adoption, including validating the consent of an older child to complete the adoption.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[What financial records should you gather for divorce?]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477182026-09-28T08:31:19Z2026-09-30T08:22:51ZStart with income and major assets
You may want to begin with documents that show how much you earn. Recent tax returns and pay stubs can help confirm your income. Bank statements might also show deposits, balances and activity in your accounts. Together, these records can give you a more complete view of the funds available to you and your household.
Next, you could gather records for larger assets. Retirement and investment statements show account values over time. Mortgage records may help explain how much you still owe on your home. Records tied to other valuable property can serve a similar purpose when you discuss what you and your spouse own.
If you own a business, its tax returns and financial records can provide more detail about your share and its earnings. Those records may matter more when the business accounts for a large part of the property you and your spouse own. They can also help separate business income from the value of the business itself.
Add records that show what you owe
You may also want documents that explain your debts. Credit card and loan statements show how much you owe and provide a record of each debt. This information might help when you discuss how those debts will be handled as part of the marital estate.
Your court may also require you to exchange financial information during the divorce. Keeping these records organized early could make it easier to provide what the court requests.
Some assets call for extra records. A life insurance policy, for example, may have cash value that matters during property discussions. Statements showing a large transfer or unusual account activity might also explain why a balance changed.
Keep your records easy to review
Organized records may make it easier to review proposed terms involving property, child support or other divorce-related finances. You might save copies while you still have access to them and note anything you cannot locate. Before selling property or moving funds, it could help to understand how that choice may affect your case.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[How much visitation can Indiana grandparents secure?]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477202026-09-28T22:12:53Z2026-09-28T22:12:53ZGrandparents generally receive limited visitation
Typically, grandparent visitation litigation is different than a custody case between parents. With rare exceptions for highly unusual and unstable family circumstances, grandparents typically only have the right to request occasional visitation as opposed to shared custody or the more regular visitation that a parent could request.
There is no statutory cap on the grandparent visitation awarded by the courts, but generally grandparents may only receive an overnight every other week or the right to visit for a few hours during the day with their grandchildren. The stronger the connection between the grandparents and the grandchildren and the more time they previously spent with the grandchildren, the greater the likelihood of the courts awarding more visitation.
Discussing family circumstances and the nature of a visitation dispute with a family law attorney can help grandparents assert their rights. Grandparent visitation laws exist to help preserve a critical family relationship, and grandparents cut off from their grandchildren may benefit from taking legal action to reconnect with them.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[What should you consider when divorcing in your 50s?]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477152026-09-28T08:06:15Z2026-09-28T08:06:15ZLook beyond what your assets are worth today
Divorce often requires spouses to divide property and debts, including assets they built over many years. After a long marriage, those decisions may affect resources that you expected to rely on well into retirement.
Retirement savings often deserve close attention when you have fewer working years left. Your share of a business might also affect the income you expect later. Your home raises a different issue. Its value matters, but so do the ongoing costs you would take on if you keep it.
A post-divorce budget could help put those choices in context. You may want to compare the income you expect with your regular bills, debt and housing costs. That review might help you see which options fit your finances over time. It may also show where you have room to adjust if your expenses change after the divorce.
Think about how your daily life may change
After a long marriage, many parts of your routine involve your spouse. Divorce may mean living somewhere else, spending your time differently or changing plans you once made together.
You do not have to settle every personal choice at once. It might help to start with the parts of daily life that matter most to you, such as where you want to live. Support from people you trust could also help as you adjust to a different routine. Giving yourself time to settle into those changes may make it easier to decide what works for you.
Take time before making major choices
A later-life divorce may affect both your current budget and your retirement years. You might want to gather key records, review your likely expenses and decide which goals deserve the most attention now. Learning the process of ending your marriage could also help you understand the issues involved before you make long-term decisions.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[3 key tips for celebrating birthdays when sharing custody]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477132026-09-16T14:26:22Z2026-09-16T14:26:22Z1. Address scheduling early
There are numerous different scheduling solutions for birthdays and other special events. Parents can alternate special days. They can split them in half. In lower-conflict cases, they can potentially even plan shared celebrations with the whole family present. Making arrangements in advance prevents conflict from arising at the last minute.
2. Coordinate gifts
Parents sometimes give gifts with ulterior motives, focusing more on outdoing one another than on making their children happy. It is often a better strategy to coordinate gifts so that they work together or at least are not duplicates of the same items.
3. Involve friends and family
When children experience the disruption of their familial foundation, they may need to lean more on other relationships. Close friends, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents are potential sources of comfort. Their presence during a birthday celebration can make a major difference for children who have gone through a difficult transition in the last year.
Keeping the children the focal point is typically the best way to prevent shared custody from destroying the joy of birthdays and holidays. Parents who have experienced legal guidance can more effectively address issues that can otherwise complicate shared custody.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[Can gray divorce affect retirement benefits?]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477112026-08-29T23:50:36Z2026-08-29T23:50:36ZSpouses can share benefits
Gray divorces can make people anxious about retirement because they usually need to divide pensions and retirement savings accounts. Under Indiana's unique approach to property division, any savings people have are potentially subject to division when they divorce.
The end of a marriage often impacts eligibility for employer-sponsored benefits, which may make people feel anxious about losing employment-related benefits. Professionals also earn Medicare and Social Security retirement benefits through years of payroll income tax contributions.
If one spouse only qualifies for benefits based on the employment history of the other or needs the other’s benefits to supplement their own lower benefits, divorce might feel like a risky step. However, there are rules in place to protect older adults who divorce after lengthy marriages.
Provided that a marriage lasts at least 10 years, the spouse who earned less or did not work during the marriage can qualify for Medicare coverage and retirement payments from Social Security based on the employment history of their former spouse. They can even request Social Security retirement benefits to augment the benefits they earned if there is a difference between the two amounts.
Ultimately, dependent former spouses seeking Social Security or Medicare do not typically reduce what a higher-earning former spouse receives.
Understanding how gray divorces can affect retirement benefits is important for financial planning. Older adults often require guidance to ensure they protect themselves financially so that they can still retire comfortably despite divorcing, and that’s okay.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[Is it time to “update” your prenup?]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477092026-08-09T00:00:53Z2026-08-09T00:00:53Zpostnuptial agreement.
When is a modification worth considering?
Some couples don’t take this step unless they’re seriously considering divorce. However, it’s better to do it when the marriage is in a good place and you can more easily agree on the terms. It’s smart to replace your prenup with a postnup if it no longer reflects your lives or what you anticipated your lives to look like. For example:
Has one of you become a stay-at-home parent or family caregiver?
Is one of you have a significantly higher income than the other?
Has one or both of you started their own business?
Has one or both of you received (or been told they will be receiving) a large inheritance?
Has one of you accrued a lot of debt on their own (for example, through gambling, bad investments or overspending)?
These are all things that can be addressed in a postnup so that you can help ensure a fairer division of property should you ever divorce.
You can also include a provision on spousal maintenance (alimony). Like a prenup, however, a postnup should not include any terms regarding child support or custody. The reasoning behind that is that if there is a divorce, a judge needs to have the final say on those matters based on the child’s best interests.
As with a prenup, you and your spouse should have your own legal representative when negotiating and signing a postnup. This can help to ensure that the agreement is legally valid and fair to both parties.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[Separate accounts can be important early in a divorce]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477072026-08-01T12:56:45Z2026-08-01T12:56:45ZSeparate accounts can help to ensure financial continuity
In some divorce scenarios, including high-conflict divorces and cases where spouses allege financial misconduct, the courts may freeze joint accounts in the early stages of a divorce. Spouses may no longer be able to use joint credit cards or trust the state availability of funds deposited into a joint checking account.
Frequently, people spend several days after a divorce filing going to their financial institutions and making arrangements to have separate financial resources. Technically, any credit card balances accumulated and any accounts opened by either spouse require disclosure during the divorce and may influence the overall distribution of property.
Even assets solely in the name of one spouse can be subject to property distribution under Indiana laws. However, those separate accounts give people the financial flexibility they need when establishing their own households and otherwise handling the practical challenges in the earliest stages of divorce.
Reviewing current financial practices and resources with a skilled legal team can make it easier for people to take the steps necessary for a smoother transition when a divorce begins. A lawyer's guidance can help spouses prepare effectively for divorce or respond quickly in a manner that keeps their life as stable as possible.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[When a business is at risk during an Indiana divorce]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477052026-07-15T00:26:53Z2026-07-15T00:26:53ZIndiana doesn't recognize separate property
In most states, there are certain assets that people can protect as separate property during a divorce. Assets owned before marriage and inherited property are often separate assets during divorce proceedings.
Indiana does not recognize separate property during the asset division process of a divorce. Instead, the state takes a unique, whole-pot approach to resources. Everything owned by the spouses is part of the marital estate, regardless of when they acquired the property, how they paid for it and whether they used marital income to maintain that asset.
A business’s value may play an important role in the overall property division process, but spouses can often protect their businesses and professional practices. Especially in cases where they negotiate settlements outside of court, they may be able to avoid sharing business authority with a spouse and can potentially avoid selling the business, liquidating assets or leveraging the company as part of the property division process.
Working with a lawyer familiar with high-asset divorces can be helpful for business owners. The right legal guidance can make it easier to preserve key resources.]]>On Behalf of Bumb Law Office, LLC<![CDATA[2 important people to notify when you divorce]]>https://www.bumblaw.com/?p=477032026-07-08T03:48:17Z2026-07-08T03:48:17Z1. Your employer
You don’t have to tell your employer that you are divorcing, but doing so can be better for you and them. Many employers are very supportive of staff going through a divorce -- perhaps more so than the employee might expect. It’s in their best interests to be so. If they can make your life a little easier, you are more likely to continue to do well at work as you go through your divorce.
Employers can sometimes make accommodations including reducing workloads, allowing employees to take a day or a few hours off to attend divorce-related meetings and allowing them to work from home on days when the emotion of it all leaves them likely to break down in tears -- which they might not want to do in front of colleagues.
2. Your child’s teacher
Letting your child’s teacher know is especially important if your child is young. As they get older, they will be better able to process their emotions and tell others what is going on themselves (should they wish to). Younger children, however, may only be able to express their feelings through things such as throwing a toy across the nursery, bursting into tears or sitting quietly in the corner.
It can be hard for teachers to understand why children behave in a certain way, so keeping them informed of major changes such as this can help. Even if you prefer not to mention the divorce personally to anyone at the school, you should at least ensure they have up-to-date contact details for you and your co-parent in case they need to get in touch in an emergency.
Learning more about how divorce works and the things you will need to address can make for a better future for you and your children.]]>