Hitting Enter, Tab, changes previous tab setting

[roman]

I'm trying to type a legal document in "numbered outline" format (it has
headings, subheadings, sub-subheadings, etc.). When I am in a subheading and
I hit Enter, in addition to sending me to the next line, it will also often
change/screw up the tab settings of the line/subheading that I was just on.
Often, when I hit Tab, it will also change the tab setting of one or more
previous lines. In a numbered outline format, is there a way for me to hit
Enter or Tab without it changing the tab setting of any of my previous
content?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you're using built-in heading styles, the style for the following
paragraph is usually different. For example, the next style for Heading 1,
Heading 2, etc., by default is Normal. If pressing Tab gives you an indent
instead of a tab character, there is a setting you can change (the location
depends on the version of Word you have, which you haven't told us). But if
indenting changes all the paragraphs in the document, see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/WholeDocumentReformatted.htm.