Indiana Divorce Laws- Dissolution of Marriage

Indiana Child Support

In actions involving an Indiana divorce, legal separation or child support, Indiana child support laws mandate that courts may order one or both parents to pay any reasonable amount for Indiana child support of a child, without regard to marital misconduct. The court may consider all relevant factors, including:
1. the financial resources of the custodial parent and
2. the standard of living the child would have enjoyed if:

• the marriage had not been dissolved; or
• the separation had not been ordered
• the physical or mental condition of the child and the child's educational needs; and
• the financial resources and needs of the non custodial parent. Recipients to child support must have or establish a bank account into which child support payments may be made.

Indiana child support terminates when the child becomes 21 years old, unless any of the following conditions occur:

	The child is emancipated before becoming 21
	The child is incapacitated. In this case the child support continues during the incapacity or until further order of the court.
	The child:
	1. is at least 18 years old;
	2. has not attended a secondary or post secondary school for the prior 4 months and is not enrolled in a secondary or post secondary school; and
	3. is employed, or is capable of supporting himself or herself through employment.

An Indiana child support order may also include basic health and hospitalization insurance, where appropriate, as well as provisions for the child's educational expenses.

Annual Support Fee (ASFE)

The Annual Support Fee (ASFE) or sometimes referred to as a docket fee by County Clerks, is $55 per year, and is due each January by all payors of IN child support. The state mandates that this fee must be paid by all those individuals whose court order requires them to pay support or maintenance payments through the Indiana State Central Collection Unit (INSCCU) or through the Clerk of Courts.

In cases where there is an income execution order (wages garnished), the employer will receive a notice each year and must remit this fee with ordinary child support deductions, to the INSCCU. If you are paying directly to the INSCCU and not with a wage assignment through work, you can remit your annual $55 to:

INSCCU - ASFE
PO Box 6271
Indianapolis, IN 46206-6271

Are you are looking to get an Indiana divorce, and need a blueprint, or advice, on what to do and NOT do? Have you looked in our divorce articles section yet? There are many articles written by experts that provide the full spectrum of issues on getting through the dissolution process in the best manner possible.

Indiana Child Custody

Indiana courts determine child custody and enter a custody order based on state guidelines in accordance with the best interests of the child. You will be given an opportunity to put together your own Parenting Plan during your divorce. Should you not be able to come to an agreement with your spouse and fail to craft a parenting plan, the court will impose a plan of its own. In either case, the family court will determine what are in the best interests of the child, with primary custody not favoring either parent. As part of the Parenting Plan, it will include a Child Visitation Schedule and get that approved by the court. The court will evaluate various factors, including the following:

	The age and sex of the child,
	The wishes of the child's parent or parents,
	The wishes of the child, with more consideration given to the child's wishes if the child is at least fourteen (14) years of age and
	The interaction and interrelationship of the child with the child's parent or parent, the child's sibling; and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests.
	The child's adjustment to the child's home, school, and community
	The mental and physical health of all individuals involved
	Evidence of a pattern of domestic or family violence by either parent
	Evidence that the child has been cared for by a de facto custodian

The court may interview the child in chambers to ascertain the child's wishes as to his or her

custodial arrangements and preferences for who will have child custody.

Joint Legal Custody Guidelines

The court may award joint legal custody if it finds that to be in the best interest of the child. The court can award joint legal custody without awarding joint physical custody of the child. In determining whether an award of joint legal custody would be in the best interest of the child, the court shall consider it a matter of primary, but not determinative, importance that the persons awarded joint custody have agreed to an award of joint legal custody. Based upon laws on child custody, the court will also consider:

	the fitness and suitability of each of the persons awarded joint custody;
	whether the persons awarded joint custody are willing and able to communicate and cooperate in advancing the child's welfare;
	the wishes of the child, with more consideration given to the child's wishes if the child is at least 14 years of age; and
	whether the child has established a close and beneficial relationship with both of the persons awarded joint custody;
	whether the persons awarded joint custody live in close proximity to each other and plan to continue to do so; and
	the nature of the physical and emotional environment in the home of each of the persons awarded joint custody.

Child Visitation
Co Parenting

The parties can agree to a Child Visitation Schedule for the non-custodial parent (parenting time) and a defined schedule, and if they are unable to, the court will arrange a standard schedule that may include the following: alternate weekend visitation (3-day weekends included), mid-week visitation, sharing of the children during periods of school recess-winter, spring and summer, New Year's Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with one parent or the other in alternate years, Father's Day with Father, Mother's Day with Mother, alternate years on the children's birthdays, and open communication by phone and computer. We suggest you have as much in writing as possible. Include who drops off and picks up, the times involved, what to do if one is consistently late, etc.

Be aware that you have to guide your side of the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will think of everything. You set the course; your lawyer navigates. If you anticipate any problems with custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child Custody Strategies.   

Spousal Support
Indiana Alimony
Maintenance

A court will consider the following concerning spousal support (aka maintenance) and will likely grant alimony if:

	If the court finds a spouse to be physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that the ability of the incapacitated spouse to support himself or herself is materially affected, the court may find that maintenance for the spouse is necessary.
	a spouse lacks sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to the spouse, to provide for the spouse's needs; and
	the spouse is the custodian of a child whose physical or mental incapacity requires the custodian to forgo employment; the court may find that maintenance is necessary for the spouse in an amount and for a period of time that the court considers appropriate. Further considerations can be:
	the educational level of each spouse at the time of marriage and at the time the action is commenced;
	whether an interruption in the education, training, or employment of a spouse who is seeking spousal support occurred during the marriage as a result of homemaking or child care responsibilities, or both;
	the earning capacity of each spouse, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, and length of presence in or absence from the job market; and
	the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the spouse who is seeking spousal support to find appropriate employment; a court may find that rehabilitative maintenance support for the partner seeking spousal support is necessary in an amount and for a period of time that the court considers appropriate, but not to exceed three years from the date of the final decree.

Grounds For Divorce

Grounds for divorce in Indiana are:

Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage,
The conviction of either of the parties, subsequent to the marriage, of a felon,
Impotence, existing at the time of the marriage,
Incurable insanity of either party for a period of at least 2 years.

Adultery is not available as divorce grounds.   

Marriage Annulment
Marital Annulment

A judgment of annulment (called a nullity) to a marriage effectively treats it as never having occurred. One must petition the court in much the same way as divorce, except that an annulment requires a greater burden of proof than does a divorce. Grounds for annulment in Indiana include:

If you have been threatened, coerced or compelled (under duress) into a marriage,
Fraud or misrepresentation,
Incest (consanguinity) by marrying a person too closely related,
Unable to consummate the marriage, if
Your spouse has some mental illness, permanent or temporary, or
If your spouse was already married (bigamy).  

Divorce Mediation
Marriage Counseling

Guided by IN divorce laws, the court can require the parties to seek divorce mediation for themselves or for a child of the parties under such terms and  conditions that the court considers appropriate if: either party makes a motion for counseling in an effort to improve conditions of their marriage; a party, the child of the parties, the child's guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate, or the court makes a motion for counseling for the child, or the court makes a motion for counseling for parties who are the parents of a child less than eighteen (18) years of age. Joint counseling. The court may not require joint counseling of the parties:

	without the consent of both parties; or
	if there is evidence that the other party has demonstrated a pattern of domestic or family violence against a family or household member.

Marriage Separation
Legal Separation
Marital Separation

Filing for and getting a Legal Separation does not end the marriage. The legal separation looks just like a divorce, however. In each case for legal separation (sometimes referred to as a marital separation), the custody of the children, the amount of child support and alimony, the division of property and the responsibility for the payment of debts must be resolved in the separation agreement, filed before the court and approved. A legal separation can last up to one year. After one year you should be ready to decide if you want to get a divorce or get back together with your spouse. The parenting agreement can be automated, using Parenting Plan software, making your life much simpler. If either spouse files for a divorce during the legal separation period, then the divorce case will take over and the legal separation will end. All orders of a legal separation end when the legal separation ends.   

Waiting Period

Sixty (60) days must have elapsed after a petition is filed in an action for dissolution of marriage in order for the court to enter a summary dissolution decree. The parties may jointly sign a waiver for a final hearing and have the 60 day period waived.   

Grandparents Rights

A child's grandparent may seek visitation rights if the child's parent is deceased; the marriage of the child's parents has been dissolved in Indiana; or the child was born out of wedlock. A court may not grant visitation rights to a paternal grandparent of a child who is born out of wedlock if the child's father has not established paternity in relation to the child.     

Divorce Settlement
Distribution of Assets

In the divorce or separation process the parties will have an opportunity to reach a divorce settlement of their marital assets and debts. Should they be unable to reach a divorce settlement, the court will divide the property of the parties, separating the pre-marital assets from the marital assets, and do so in an equitable fashion, although that may result in an uneven division.

The court will presume that an equal division of the marital property between the parties is just and reasonable. However, this presumption may be rebutted by a party who presents relevant evidence, including evidence concerning the following factors, that an equal division would not be just and reasonable:

	The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the property, regardless of whether the contribution was income producing
	The extent to which the property was acquired by each spouse before the marriage or through inheritance or gift
	The economic circumstances of each spouse at the time the disposition of the property is to become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family residence or the right to dwell in the family residence for such periods as the court considers just to the spouse having custody of any children
	The conduct of the parties during the marriage as related to the disposition or dissipation of their property
	The earnings or earning ability of the parties as related to a final division of property and a final determination of the property rights of the parties.

Your divorce settlement will include the Parenting Agreement if you have children from the marriage.

Did you come into this marriage owning a house? Concerned about the equity in that house that you brought into the marriage? Worried a pre-marital asset may end up in the divorce settlement? Here's how it works based on state divorce law: What you brought into the marriage is usually all yours. However, any appreciation of the house or the property value is normally treated as a 'marital asset', meaning that you will likely forfeit a third to a half of that appreciation to your spouse in the divorce.   

Parenting Plan Template

Residency Requirements

No divorce will be granted unless one of the parties has established residency in Indiana or that one party lived in Indiana for at least 6 months or is a member of the Armed Services and is stationed outside of Indiana. In summary a party must be:

	a resident of the county; or
	stationed at a United States military installation within the county; where the petition is filed for three months immediately preceding the filing of the divorce papers.