Indiana Family Wiki, 6-19-2010

[Prudence finally strikes. I skipped over two entries on Indiana family law, since I have not looked at the family law statutes since my return. While there is only so much time left me, and I am grumpy this morning, I am in no state of mind for research and I ought to see if what I wrote in 2010 has any relevance to 2022. No sense wasting your time, either. The following seems to be relevant, unless I missed something. sch 11/14/22]

I thought I might be able to work on this idea even though incarcerated. Nope, no access to resources. I did give the idea to a friend of mine, and have heave heard nothing from her. 

I assume the friendship over, the wiki beyond her. Nothing I can do about the friendship (not when I intended to lose friends when I got arrested), but I can do something about the wiki idea. If you do not know what a wiki looks like, go look at Wikipedia. John Bolch began a U.K. family law wiki. The only obstacle for creating an Indiana family law wiki lies in finding the people willing to contribute to its creation.

I say "people" because the sheer scope daunted me. The topics I saw needing addressed at the start were:

1. Dissolution of Marriage
2. Paternity
3. Child Support
4. Child Custody
5. Parenting Time
6. Annulment
7. Appeals
8. Forms

I saw each article following the format of Wikipedia: 1) statute; 2) commentary; 2a) Article synthesizing statute, case law, and scholarly commentary;  2) case law; 2c) off site commentary (blogs, etc); 3) forms (if any).

Google Scholar makes linking to case law easy.

Every author has a bio and contact information. Only authors have the ability to edit.

The one point I insisted on with my friend was that the forms be free. Lawyers may find this shocking. Better think on what you are and what you do: scrivener or lawyer? I see this as an exercise in teaching the public what lawyers do - that there is more to lawyering than pushing paper. Secondly, we lower the entry costs for new lawyers. Thirdly, you improve the practice by producing the best possible forms possible. 

The bar and the public both benefit. I cannot offer any better idea as my atonement to my former profession and the people of Indiana.

sch