Ind. Code ch. 31-18.5-3

in effect

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-1 Proceedings; filing petition

Sec. 1. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this article, this chapter applies to all proceedings under this article. (b) An individual petitioner or a support enforcement agency may initiate a proceeding authorized under this article by filing a petition in an initiating tribunal for forwarding to a responding tribunal or by filing a petition or a comparable pleading directly in a tribunal of another state or a foreign country which has or can obtain personal jurisdiction over the respondent. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-2 Proceeding by minor parent

Sec. 2. A minor parent, or a guardian or other legal representative of a minor parent, may maintain a proceeding on behalf of or for the benefit of the minor's child. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-3 Application of law

Sec. 3. Except as otherwise provided in this article, a responding Indiana tribunal shall: (1) apply the procedural and substantive law generally applicable to similar proceedings originating in Indiana and may exercise all powers and provide all remedies available in those proceedings; and (2) determine the duty of support and the amount payable in accordance with the law and support guidelines of Indiana. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-4 Duties of initiating tribunal

Sec. 4. (a) Upon the filing of a petition authorized by this article, an initiating Indiana tribunal shall forward the petition and its accompanying documents: (1) to the responding tribunal or appropriate support enforcement agency in the responding state; or (2) if the identity of the responding tribunal is unknown, to the state information agency of the responding state with a request that they be forwarded to the appropriate tribunal and that receipt be acknowledged. (b) If requested by the responding tribunal, an Indiana tribunal shall issue a certificate or other document and make findings required by the law of the responding state. If the responding tribunal is in a foreign country, upon request the Indiana tribunal shall specify the amount of support sought, convert that amount into the equivalent amount in the foreign currency under applicable official or market exchange rate as publicly reported, and provide any other documents necessary to satisfy the requirements of the responding foreign tribunal. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-5 Duties and powers of responding tribunal

Sec. 5. (a) When a responding Indiana tribunal receives a petition or comparable pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly under section 1(b) of this chapter, it shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and notify the petitioner where and when it was filed. (b) A responding Indiana tribunal, to the extent not prohibited by other law, may do one (1) or more of the following: (1) Establish or enforce a support order, modify a child support order, determine the controlling child support order, or determine parentage of a child. (2) Order an obligor to comply with a support order, specifying the amount and the manner of compliance. (3) Order income withholding. (4) Determine the amount of any arrearages, and specify a method of payment. (5) Enforce orders by civil or criminal contempt, or both. (6) Set aside property for satisfaction of the support order. (7) Place liens and order execution on the obligor's property. (8) Order an obligor to keep the tribunal informed of the obligor's current residential address, electronic mail address, telephone number, income payor, address of employment, and telephone number at the place of employment. (9) Issue a bench warrant for an obligor who has failed after proper notice to appear at a hearing ordered by the tribunal and enter the bench warrant in any local and state computer systems for criminal warrants. (10) Order the obligor to seek appropriate employment by specified methods. (11) Award reasonable attorney's fees and other fees and costs. (12) Grant any other available remedy. (c) A responding Indiana tribunal shall include in a support order issued under this article, or in the documents accompanying the order, the calculations on which the support order is based. (d) A responding Indiana tribunal may not condition the payment of a support order issued under this article upon compliance by a party with provisions for visitation. (e) If a responding Indiana tribunal issues an order under this article, the tribunal shall send a copy of the order to the: (1) petitioner; (2) respondent; and (3) initiating tribunal, if any. (f) If requested to enforce a support order, arrears, or judgment or modify a support order stated in a foreign currency, a responding Indiana tribunal shall convert the amount stated in the foreign currency to the equivalent amount in dollars under the applicable official or market exchange rate as publicly reported. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-6 Inappropriate tribunal

Sec. 6. If a petition or comparable pleading is received by an inappropriate Indiana tribunal, the tribunal shall: (1) forward the pleading and accompanying documents to an appropriate tribunal of this state or another state; and (2) notify the petitioner where and when the pleading was sent. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-7 Duties of support enforcement agency

Sec. 7. (a) In a proceeding under this article, a support enforcement agency of Indiana, upon request: (1) shall provide services to a petitioner residing in a state; (2) shall provide services to a petitioner requesting services through a central authority of a foreign country as described in IC 31-18.5-1-2(5)(A) or IC 31-18.5-1-2(5)(D); and (3) may provide services to a petitioner who is an individual not residing in a state. (b) A support enforcement agency of Indiana that is providing services to the petitioner shall: (1) take all steps necessary to enable an appropriate Indiana tribunal or a tribunal of another state or a foreign country to obtain jurisdiction over the respondent; (2) request an appropriate tribunal to set a date, time, and place for a hearing; (3) make a reasonable effort to obtain all relevant information, including information as to income and property of the parties; (4) within ten (10) days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after receipt of notice in a record from an initiating, responding, or registering tribunal, send a copy of the notice to the petitioner; (5) within ten (10) days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after receipt of communication in a record from the respondent or the respondent's attorney, send a copy of the communication to the petitioner; and (6) notify the petitioner if jurisdiction over the respondent cannot be obtained. (c) A support enforcement agency of Indiana that requests registration of a child support order in Indiana for enforcement or for modification shall make reasonable efforts: (1) to ensure that the order to be registered is the controlling order; or (2) if two (2) or more child support orders exist and the identity of the controlling order has not been determined, to ensure that a request for such a determination is made in a tribunal having jurisdiction to do so. (d) A support enforcement agency of Indiana that requests registration and enforcement of a support order, arrears, or judgment stated in a foreign currency shall convert the amounts stated in the foreign currency into the equivalent amounts in dollars under the applicable official or market exchange rate as publicly reported. (e) A support enforcement agency of Indiana shall request an Indiana tribunal to issue a child support order and an income withholding order that redirect payment of current support, arrears, and interest if requested to do so by a support enforcement agency of another state under section 19 of this chapter. (f) This article does not create or negate a relationship of attorney and client or other fiduciary relationship between the support enforcement agency or the attorney for the agency and the individual being assisted by the agency. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-8 Powers of department of child services

Sec. 8. (a) If the department of child services determines that the support enforcement agency is neglecting or refusing to provide services to an individual, the department of child services may: (1) order the support enforcement agency to perform its duties under this article; or (2) provide those services directly to the individual. (b) The department of child services may determine that a foreign country has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with Indiana and take appropriate action for notification of the determination. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-9 Private counsel

Sec. 9. An individual may employ private counsel to represent the individual in proceedings authorized by this article. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-10 Duties of the child support bureau

Sec. 10. (a) The child support bureau is the state information agency under this article. (b) The state information agency shall: (1) compile and maintain a current list, including addresses, of the Indiana tribunals that have jurisdiction under this article and any support enforcement agencies in this state and transmit a copy to the state information agency of every other state; (2) maintain a register of names and addresses of tribunals and support enforcement agencies received from other states; (3) forward to the appropriate tribunal in the county in Indiana in which the obligee who is an individual or the obligor resides, or in which the obligor's property is believed to be located, all documents concerning a proceeding under this article received from another state or a foreign country; and (4) obtain information concerning the location of the obligor and the obligor's property within Indiana not exempt from execution, by such means as: (A) postal verification and federal or state locator services; (B) examination of telephone directories; (C) requests for the obligor's address from income payors; and (D) examination of governmental records, including, to the extent not prohibited by other law, those relating to: (i) real property; (ii) vital statistics; (iii) law enforcement; (iv) taxation; (v) motor vehicles; (vi) driver's licenses; and (vii) Social Security. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-11 Pleadings and accompanying documents

Sec. 11. (a) In a proceeding under this article, a petitioner seeking to establish a support order, to determine parentage of a child, or to register and modify a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country must file a petition. Unless otherwise ordered under section 12 of this chapter, the petition or accompanying documents must provide, so far as known, the name, residential address, and Social Security numbers of the obligor and the obligee or the parent and alleged parent, and the name, sex, residential address, Social Security number, and date of birth of each child for whose benefit support is sought or whose parentage is to be determined. Unless filed at the time of registration, the petition must be accompanied by a copy of any support order known to have been issued by another tribunal. The petition may include any other information that may assist in locating or identifying the respondent. (b) The petition must specify the relief sought. The petition and accompanying documents must conform substantially with the requirements imposed by the forms mandated by federal law for use in cases filed by a support enforcement agency. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-12 Nondisclosure of information in exceptional circumstances

Sec. 12. If a party alleges in an affidavit or a pleading under oath that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be jeopardized by disclosure of specific identifying information, that information must be sealed and may not be disclosed to the other party or the public. After a hearing in which a tribunal takes into consideration the health, safety, or liberty of the party or child, the tribunal may order disclosure of information that the tribunal determines to be in the interest of justice. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-13 Costs, fees, and expenses

Sec. 13. (a) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs. (b) If an obligee prevails, a responding Indiana tribunal may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney's fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurred by the obligee and the obligee's witnesses. (c) The tribunal may not assess: (1) fees; (2) costs; or (3) expenses; against the obligee or the support enforcement agency of either the initiating or responding state or foreign country, except as provided by other law. (d) Attorney's fees may be taxed as costs, and may be ordered paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in the attorney's own name. Payment of support owed to the obligee has priority over fees, costs, and expenses. (e) The tribunal shall order the payment of costs and reasonable attorney's fees if it determines that a hearing was requested primarily for delay. In a proceeding under IC 31-18.5-6, a hearing is presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if a registered support order is confirmed or enforced without change. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-14 Limited immunity of petitioner

Sec. 14. (a) Participation by a petitioner in a proceeding under this article before a responding tribunal, whether: (1) in person; (2) by private attorney; or (3) through services provided by the support enforcement agency; does not confer personal jurisdiction over the petitioner in another proceeding. (b) A petitioner is not amenable to service of civil process while physically present in Indiana to participate in a proceeding under this article. (c) The immunity granted by this section does not extend to civil litigation based on acts unrelated to a proceeding under this article committed by a party while physically present in Indiana to participate in the proceeding. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-15 Nonparentage as defense

Sec. 15. A party whose parentage of a child has been previously determined by or under law may not plead nonparentage as a defense to a proceeding under this article. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-16 Special rules of evidence and procedure

Sec. 16. (a) The physical presence of a nonresident party who is an individual in an Indiana tribunal is not required for the establishment, enforcement, or modification of a support order or the rendition of a judgment determining parentage of a child. (b) An affidavit, a document substantially complying with federally mandated forms, or a document incorporated by reference in any of them, which would not be excluded under the hearsay rule if given in person, is admissible in evidence if given under penalty of perjury by a party or witness residing outside Indiana. (c) A copy of the record of child support payments certified as a true copy of the original by the custodian of the record may be forwarded to a responding tribunal. The copy is evidence of facts asserted in it and is admissible to show whether payments were made. (d) Copies of bills for testing for parentage of a child, and for prenatal and postnatal health care of the mother and child, furnished to the adverse party at least ten (10) days before trial, are admissible in evidence to prove the amount of the charges billed and that the charges were reasonable, necessary, and customary. (e) Documentary evidence transmitted from outside Indiana to an Indiana tribunal by telephone, telecopier, or other electronic means that do not provide an original record may not be excluded from evidence on an objection based on the means of transmission. (f) In a proceeding under this article, an Indiana tribunal shall permit a party or witness residing outside Indiana to be deposed or to testify under penalty of perjury by telephone, audiovisual means, or other electronic means at: (1) a designated tribunal; or (2) another location. An Indiana tribunal shall cooperate with other tribunals in designating an appropriate location for the deposition or testimony. (g) If a party called to testify at a civil hearing refuses to answer on the ground that the testimony may be self-incriminating, the trier of fact may draw an adverse inference from the refusal. (h) A privilege against disclosure of communications between spouses does not apply in a proceeding under this article. (i) The defense of immunity based on the relationship of husband and wife or parent and child does not apply in a proceeding under this article. (j) A voluntary acknowledgment of parentage, certified as a true copy, is admissible to establish parentage of the child. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-17 Communication between tribunals

Sec. 17. (a) An Indiana tribunal may communicate with a tribunal outside Indiana in a record or by telephone, electronic mail, or other means, to obtain information concerning the laws, the legal effect of a judgment, decree, or order of that tribunal, and the status of a proceeding. (b) An Indiana tribunal may furnish similar information by similar means to a tribunal outside Indiana. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-18 Discovery

Sec. 18. An Indiana tribunal may: (1) request a tribunal outside Indiana to assist in obtaining discovery; and (2) upon request, compel a person over which it has jurisdiction to respond to a discovery order issued by a tribunal outside Indiana. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Ind. Code § 31-18.5-3-19 Receipt and disbursement of payments

Sec. 19. (a) A support enforcement agency or Indiana tribunal shall disburse promptly any amounts received under a support order, as directed by the order. The agency or tribunal shall furnish to a requesting party or tribunal of another state or a foreign country a certified statement by the custodian of the record of the amounts and dates of all payments received. (b) If neither the obligor, nor the obligee who is an individual, nor the child resides in Indiana, upon request from the support enforcement agency of Indiana or another state, the support enforcement agency of this state or an Indiana tribunal shall: (1) direct that the support payment be made to the support enforcement agency in the state in which the obligee is receiving services; and (2) issue and send to the obligor's income payor a conforming income withholding order or an administrative notice of change of payee, reflecting the redirected payments. (c) The support enforcement agency of Indiana receiving redirected payments from another state under a law similar to subsection (b) shall furnish to a requesting party or tribunal of the other state a certified statement by the custodian of the record of the amount and dates of all payments received. As added by P.L.206-2015, SEC.53.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/31Fetched: 10/17/2026