Child born out of wedlock; cooperate in establishing paternity and child support; good faith effort to cooperate required; presumption of good faith effort; other considerations
Ind. Code § 12-14-7-3
in effectSec. 3. (a) If a child is born out of wedlock, the mother shall, when establishing the paternity of the child and obtaining a support order, cooperate with the state agency responsible for administering Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, in compliance with federal regulations governing Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act.
(b) If a child is residing with a nonparent guardian or custodian, the nonparent guardian or custodian shall make a good faith effort to cooperate with the division and with any agency responsible for administering Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act by providing any information known to the nonparent guardian or custodian regarding the potential paternity of the child.
(c) If a child is residing with a nonparent guardian or custodian, the nonparent guardian or custodian shall make a good faith effort to cooperate with the division and any agency responsible for administering Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act in the establishment and enforcement of a child support order.
(d) The nonparent custodian or guardian is presumed to make a good faith effort under subsections (b) and (c) if the nonparent custodian or guardian does one (1) or more of the following:
(1) Responds to telephone calls from a prosecutor or correspondence from a prosecuting attorney.
(2) Appears for an appointment, in person or by telephone, with a prosecuting attorney.
(3) Appears at a court hearing when requested by a prosecuting attorney.
(4) Does one (1) or more of the following:
(A) Provides information described in IC 12-7-2.1-88(b), to the extent the information is known.
(B) Affirms that the information described in IC 12-7-2.1-88(b) is not known.
(e) Before making a determination that the nonparent custodian or guardian is not making a good faith effort to cooperate, the prosecuting attorney shall consider one (1) or more of the following:
(1) Whether the nonparent custodian or guardian could reasonably be expected to provide the information.
(2) The age of the child for whom child support is being sought.
(3) The circumstances surrounding the conception of the child.
(4) The age and mental capacity of the nonparent custodian or guardian.
(5) The time that has expired since the nonparent custodian or guardian has last had contact with:
(A) the alleged father of the child;
(B) a parent of the child; or
(C) a relative of the persons listed in clause (A) or (B).
(6) Any credible information that demonstrates an inability to provide correct information about an alleged father or a parent of the child because of deception by the alleged father or parent.
(7) Any other credible information obtained by the prosecuting attorney that demonstrates the nonparent custodian or guardian has knowledge of the information sought by the prosecuting attorney.
[Pre-1992 Revision Citation: 12-1-7-1.1(c).]
As added by P.L.2-1992, SEC.8. Amended by P.L.80-2010, SEC.19; P.L.145-2026, SEC.72.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/12Fetched: 10/17/2026