Indianapolis Law Blog

Study finds binge drinking, DUIs increasing among U.S. veterans

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Thursday, July 18, 2019.

Military veterans in Indiana and across the U.S. are binge drinking and drunk driving in higher numbers according to a recent study by the American Addiction Centers. The authors of the study believe the spike in these risky behaviors could be linked to emotional and physical trauma.

For the study, AAC researchers analyzed behavioral risk factor data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to understand the reasons behind a recent rise in binge drinking and drunk driving incidents among U.S. veterans. They found that binge drinking rates among veterans increased from approximately 14% in 2013 to just below 16% in 2017. They also found that the rate increased the most among female veterans. For reference, binge drinking is defined as having five drinks within a two-hour period for men and four drinks within the same period for women.

How can an OVWI affect my career?

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office on Wednesday, July 17, 2019.

An arrest or conviction for operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVWI) can have many legal implications. It can mean jail time, fines and license suspension among others. But effects on your professional career can last much longer than the legal penalties.

An OVWI can affect you whether you currently have a job or are in the market for a new one. Here are some effects an OVWI can have on your professional career:

More couples marrying choose to keep separate accounts

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in complex property division on Friday, July 5, 2019.

Many young people in Indiana are choosing not to fully combine their finances, even when they decide to get married. According to one survey, over one-quarter of all millennials are opting to keep two separate bank accounts after marriage rather than launching a joint account. This is more than double the number of couples from older generations who manage their money in this way. There are a number of reasons for the change, including the fact that many couples both have strong careers. In addition, online apps make it easy for people to quickly transfer money from one person to the other without delay.

In some cases, however, people may see maintaining their separate accounts as a form of security against divorce. They may have seen their parents fighting over money and want to avoid the same future for themselves. However, simply maintaining separate accounts does not effectively remove them from the marital estate and therefore from potential conflict during a divorce. Of course, the two parties can simply choose to accept that each walks away from the marriage with his or her own accounts, but this setup does not provide certainty if circumstances change in the future.

Notre Dame administrator charged with drunk driving

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Thursday, June 20, 2019.

Police in Indiana have reported that a senior administrator at the University of Notre Dame was taken into custody on June 12 following a traffic stop. The 61-year-old man, who has worked as an associate vice president at the University since 2011 according to media reports, faces a raft of charges including a felony drunk driving count and a misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident count. He is being held at the St. Joseph County Jail.

Officers from the St. Joseph County Police Department pulled over the man's Hyundai SUV after being dispatched to Portage Road. A police report reveals that officers stopped the vehicle because it was traveling slower than the posted speed limit and appeared to be damaged. Officers say that they noticed severe front-end damage on the vehicle, and the man behind the wheel was incoherent and told them that he had struck a tree. The man was asked to perform a series of field sobriety exercises after officers allegedly detected the odor of alcohol on his breath.

Why choose DeVries & Kelly Law Office?

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in complex property division on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

The diverse team at Devries & Kelly have faced many of the situations that lead Indiana residents to seek out an attorney, and we call on these experiences every day to help our clients deal with the legal and emotional challenges of life's toughest moments. Our people are passionate about helping others, and we represent white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, entrepreneurs and homemakers with equal zeal.

At Devries & Kelly, we understand that each of our clients comes to us with a unique set of circumstances and challenges, and we are committed to helping each one of them to get through their legal difficulties so that they can move on and begin the next chapter of their lives. Our mission is to give our clients the professionalism and results they expect while treating them with the compassion and respect they deserve.

Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. facing drunk driving charge

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Wednesday, May 22, 2019.

A routine traffic stop during the early hours on May 20 led to a night behind bars for the former race car driver Al Unser Jr. The 57-year-old racing legend has competed in the Indianapolis 500 on 19 occasions and took the chequered flag in 1992 and 1994. He was taken into custody by police in Hendricks County after his vehicle was pulled over on Ronald Reagan Parkway at approximately 3:21 a.m.

Unser was booked on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. An Avon Police Department officer signaled his Volkswagen sedan to pull over after allegedly observing it exceeding the posted speed limit and straying between lanes. The officer says that Unser's eyes were red and glassy and his speech was slurred. He was brought into custody after allegedly refusing to take a sobriety test and stumbling down an embankment.

Why women initiate divorce more than men

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office on Monday, May 13, 2019.

Women are often big dreamers of falling in love, having the wedding of their dreams and raising children together in a fairy-tale life. However, the age-old complaint among many women is how difficult it is to get a man to commit. But interestingly, when it comes to divorce, men are not typically the initiators, women are.

After many studies conducted of heterosexual marriage couples calling it quits, the majority show women as the pursuers of divorce. Why is this? Here are some ideas to answer this puzzling question.

Maintaining good credit through a divorce

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in complex property division on Wednesday, May 8, 2019.

How the financial aspects of a divorce are handled plays a significant part in the individual lives of the parties as each person moves forward to a new beginning. The division of property is generally understood by Indiana residents as meaning assets, but it also includes debts and obligations. Sometimes lost in the big picture is the impact that property division can have on the ex-spouses' credit post-divorce, but it is a mistake to ignore the potential consequences.

A seminal consideration is that a person's status as single or married is a non-factor in establishing a credit score, and consequently, a divorce by itself does nothing to change that fact. However, financial experts caution that after a divorce, a creditor may look to either of the ex-spouses for payment on a debt. Although the final divorce order will assign specific debts to one of the parties just as assets can be assigned, the court order does nothing to alter the original creditor agreement. If the original debt is considered as a joint account, one party's obligation under the divorce decree to pay does not relieve the other's obligation to pay upon a default by the first party.

Retirement accounts can complicate a divorce

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in complex property division on Wednesday, April 24, 2019.

When Indiana couples decide to divorce, they may frequently consider the immediate financial issues, from dealing with spousal support to dividing property. At the same time, it is important to note that divorce can have a significant effect on both parties' retirement, even if that milestone remains years ahead. In many cases, retirement accounts and pension funds may be some of the largest marital assets to be handled in property division, and both parties may find themselves needing to dramatically escalate their retirement savings after a split.

Even though an IRA is owned by one individual, that does not prevent it from being considered a marital asset. In general, any type of account that is acquired during the marriage is considered marital property subject to division in a divorce. In addition, pensions are also generally considered marital property. The portion of the pension that was accumulated during the marriage is subject to division; this means that the effects can be much more substantial when people in a long marriage separate, while a short marriage may have relatively little effect.

Indiana man charged with OVWI after vehicle and foot chase

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Thursday, April 11, 2019.

A 44-year-old man was charged with a raft of offenses including operating a vehicle while intoxicated, drug possession, and resisting arrest after attempting to elude police on the night of March 27 according to a report from the Indiana State Police. Reports indicate that the man provided blood and urine samples for chemical testing before being transported to the Sullivan County Jail.

According to the ISP, the sequence of events began when a trooper attempted to pull a silver Ford sedan over on U.S. Route 41 near County Road 710 at approximately 11:40 p.m. Instead of pulling over as directed, the trooper says that the driver of the vehicle attempted to flee the scene. The ensuing pursuit reaches speeds of up to 70 mph according to media accounts, but it came to a sudden end when the Ford struck a tree. The driver of the vehicle allegedly then fled on foot into a nearby wooded area.