Richard Ballard Attorney at Law, lawyers in Knox, IN, Indiana

Personal Protection Orders and Family Violence Issues

A personal protection order, or PPO, is an order issued by the court precluding another individual, a respondent, from contact with the petitioner. A petitioner may file an application for a PPO after providing information that would support the grant of the order. More...

Same-Sex Marriages, Civil Unions, and Domestic Partnerships

Although many people interchange the terms same-sex marriage and civil union, they are actually two different and distinct concepts. A same-sex marriage is defined as a marriage between two individuals of the same gender. A same-sex marriage involves a certain legal status for the couple. Further, each state has its own requirements with respect to marriage. More...

Uniform Parentage Act of 2002

The Uniform Parentage Act (UPA) was originally promulgated by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) in 1973. The UPA has influenced the parentage laws of most states, although only a minority of states have enacted it in its entirety.More...

Child Custody and Religion

Religion is usually not an issue in child custody proceedings, even if the parents practice different religions. For example, if a child has a Christian mother and a Jewish father, a court will not consider the merits of either religion in determining which parent should have custody of the child. The court will grant custody to one parent, or joint custody to both parents, and the child will be exposed to both the mother's religion and the father's religion.More...

Same-Sex Marriages

A same-sex marriage is defined as a marriage between two individuals of the same gender. The issue of same-sex marriages is a hotly debated topic. In the most recent election in the United States, more than ten states voted to amend their state constitution's and define a marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Most other nations do not recognize same-sex marriages as legally valid, nor do they allow them to occur. More...