Indiana Child Support Attorneys
Support Orders Should Reflect Real Income, Parenting Time, and a Child’s Needs.
Indiana child support is intended to make both parents contribute fairly to housing, food, clothing, education, healthcare, and the other costs of raising a child. Custom Law helps parents establish, calculate, enforce, modify, and terminate support orders.
How Indiana Calculates Child Support
Child support is governed by Indiana Code §31-16-6 and the Indiana Child Support Guidelines. Although the noncustodial parent commonly pays the custodial parent, custody alone does not decide who pays. A higher-earning custodial parent may owe support when the other parent exercises substantial parenting time.
- Determine each parent’s weekly gross income, including wages, bonuses, interest, benefits, capital gains, gifts, inheritances, and other qualifying sources.
- Adjust income for existing child support, spousal support, and support of other children.
- Combine adjusted incomes and consult the Guideline Schedule for Weekly Support Payments.
- Allocate the obligation according to each parent’s income.
- Apply parenting-time credits based largely on overnight parenting time.
Self-employment, disability, unemployment, disputed income, and unusual expenses can make the calculation more complex.
Paternity, Expenses, and Payment
When parents were never married, paternity generally must be established under Indiana Code §31-14 before support is ordered. This may occur through a Paternity Affidavit or voluntary or court-ordered genetic testing.
Additional Child-Related Costs
- Health insurance and uninsured medical expenses under §§31-16-6-2 and 31-16-6-4
- Day care, nanny, and other work-related child-care costs
- School uniforms, tutoring, special education, and other educational needs
- Post-secondary educational expenses when appropriate
Under §31-16-9, support may be paid directly or through a county clerk or state agency. Central processing creates a payment record and identifies arrears.
Support and parenting time are separate. A parent may not stop paying because visits are denied, and the other parent may not withhold parenting time because support is unpaid.
Enforcement, Modification, and Termination
An Income Withholding Order under §31-16-15-0.5 directs an employer to withhold support from wages. Other enforcement under §31-16-12 may include contempt when support is unlawfully withheld.
A Petition to Modify Child Support under §31-16-8 may be appropriate after a significant income change or a material change in the child’s medical, educational, or other needs. Recalculation can increase or decrease the order.
The source states that House Enrolled Act 1520 permits a parent to file notice seeking termination when a child reaches age 19. Support should not simply be stopped; failure to file the required notice may leave the obligation in effect.
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