Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

Change of judge

My husband & I are doing our own divorce & we agree on everything including the kids. At the preliminary hearing (civil court) the judge spoke of the class that we'd be taking then also spoke of a 16 week class that there is now also available but hes never forced anyone to take it & wasn't going to start now (The 16 week classes are called Right Relations, and the required by law marriage classes for Indiana before a divorce are called Families in Transition) But...he did. Every Sat morning for 16 weeks with the kids....7, 13, and 16. We feel wronged by him and his decsion & this is just gonna put more strain on us all. We both need an ending to all this after several years of contemplating divorce. There was no fighting in court between us, & the judged explained several times that this was not to help get us back together. We've wrote to the judge asking him to reconsider but he wouldn't, we even explained to him that our son is already angry that he'll have to miss half his wrestling & show choir season practices.

So my question again is there any hope in being able to ask for a new judge or being able to take it a step further to the supreme court, or are we stuck And if so how do we go about obtaining a new one?


Asked on 11/09/04, 8:12 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mary Ann Wunder Wunder & Wunder

Re: Change of judge

In divorce cases you may seek a change of judge only during the first 30 days after the case is filed. It is not likely that a different judge in the same county (or even a judge from a surrounding county) would change the order. If you appeal his order, you must file an interlocutory appeal to the Appellate Court before trying to file something with the Supreme Court. Even though it appears stressful to you and to put a further burden on your relationship, the purpose of these programs is to prevent problems from arising in the future because one of the adults wants to have the final say-so and/or the children want to manipulate the parents into something.

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Answered on 11/12/04, 8:54 am


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