Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

Re: custody

You have the right to write up your own contempt petition to enforce your visitation rights. The rights were established when custody was granted. There is no self-executing mechanism to enforce visitaiton other than bringing the matter to the attention of the court. This is precisely why the courts generally have a remedy for contempt involving ordering the person disobeying the court order to pay the other person's attorney fees. Most generally an attorney helps you present a coherent case to the court for a short hearing and prompt ruling. An attorney also helps you get the paperwork written properly and all documents submitted in a manner acceptable to the court. But, no, you do not have to hire an attorney. Just be sure that your petition is correctly captioned and makes the proper allegations.