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She could not provide an exact figure for her income, but the court estimated it at $30,000 to $40,000 a year. It also pointed to a $70,000 settlement she had received, financial assistance from family members and the fact that her landlord was her own mother.
The court said it found her income and expenses difficult to reconcile and concluded that she had the ability to pay both her fees and her child support. The court was not convinced by the mother’s financial claims.
In a memorandum decision , the appeals court upheld the fee orders against the mother but struck down the condition that barred all further hearings until she paid the $21,020 in attorney fees. Because a parent has not paid legal fees, an Indiana appeals court ruled on Wednesday, October 28, that a trial judge cannot stop a custody case from moving forward simply.
The custody battle began in 2021, when the father filed a paternity action concerning his two young children. The children were born out of wedlock in July 2017 and November 2018. The parents lived together until February 2020. The father filed for paternity in February 2021. About five months later, on July 26, the court confirmed that he was the children’s father. In April 2022, the parties agreed to increase the father’s unsupervised parenting time in stages. However, in November or December 2022, the mother took the children and left the court’s jurisdiction, and their whereabouts became unknown. In January 2023, the judge ruled that the mother’s behaviour had endangered the children and constituted a material change in circumstances. The mother was ordered to repay $1,448.34 in child support overpayments and pay $208 a week. The father was granted sole custody in February 2024. In March 2026, the court ordered her to pay $15,000 in preliminary fees. She also owed $6,020 in sanctions for unpaid child support, a deposition she had cancelled at the last minute and a motion she had withdrawn just before a hearing.
The trial court said her July 2024 request to change custody, parenting time and child support was “bordering on the frivolous”, as she had only recently started transitioning to supervised, in-person visits. That August, the father faced a criminal case over alleged domestic violence against the mother, and a criminal court barred him from contacting her and the children. It granted the mother sole legal and primary physical custody while the proceedings continued. It also granted the father supervised parenting time and ordered him to pay child support. The father filed a contempt petition, and the children’s guardian ad litem recommended that he be granted emergency custody. The father was granted temporary custody, while the mother was found in indirect contempt and allowed supervised visits. The court also found that the mother was a flight risk and posed a danger to the children’s emotional well-being. She was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation and anger-management assessments, and to complete the recommended treatment before she could progress towards unsupervised visits with her children. The mother later approached the court seeking to change custody and child support arrangements.