How Child Support Is Calculated in Indiana

Indiana's Child Support Guidelines use the Income Shares Model and apply in every case where child support is set, including divorce and legal separation. The parents' weekly adjusted incomes are combined, support is found on a schedule, and each parent's share is in proportion to income, with credits for health insurance premiums and for parenting time. The Indiana Judicial Branch provides an official online child support calculator.

Enroll with the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) Child Support Program. Custodial and noncustodial parents, and caretakers or relatives with custody, can enroll, even if the other parent lives in another state. Enroll online with the Child Support Online Enrollment Form, or contact your county prosecutor's child support office, complete a Child Support Enrollment Form and take or mail it to that office. There is no fee to enroll. Once you enroll, a case is opened in your local county prosecutor's office, which decides what services your case needs.

The general duty of child support (not counting educational support) ends when the child turns 19, unless: the child is emancipated earlier (for example, by active military duty or marriage, or not being under a parent's or approved caretaker's care or control); the child is incapacitated, in which case support continues during the incapacity or until the court orders otherwise; the child is at least 18, has not attended school for four months, is not enrolled and can support himself or herself, in which case the court can end (or reduce) support; or the child is a full-time high school student and a parent files a notice (between the child's 17th and 19th birthdays, with proof of enrollment and the expected graduation date), in which case support continues until high school graduation. An order for educational needs may continue until further court order.

A child support order may be modified upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing that the terms are unreasonable, or when the current order differs by more than 20% from the guideline amount and the order was issued at least 12 months before the petition was filed. Incarceration may count as a substantial and continuing change. Either parent may petition the court. The county prosecutor's Title IV-D office must review orders for families receiving TANF every three years and may file a petition to modify; the office cannot help with divorce, custody or parenting time issues.

Enforcement is handled through the county prosecutor's Title IV-D child support office and the State Child Support Bureau. Tools described by DCS include income withholding orders sent to employers, petitions filed with the court to enforce the order, interception of federal and state income tax refunds (with a fee per federal offset; the parent can request an administrative hearing within 30 days to contest a state offset), and withholding from lump sums such as severance, bonuses and commissions when arrears are owed.

The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) runs the state Child Support Program, and county Prosecutor's Title IV-D child support offices open and manage cases. Services include establishing paternity, locating the non-custodial parent, setting up or changing child support and medical support orders, collecting payments and determining past-due amounts. Enroll free online through the Child Support Online Enrollment Form, or complete the Child Support Enrollment Form and bring or mail it to your county Prosecutor's child support office. Payments can be made through the DCS Make a Payment page, and payment history can be checked online.

The Indiana Judicial Branch publishes the Indiana Child Support Calculator, an online tool based on the Indiana Child Support Guidelines (with their updated support schedule). Parents answer questions about the children, income, parenting time, health care and other costs to estimate weekly support payments and can download forms for use in court; practitioners have a separate version. A former calculator remains available for obligations before December 31, 2023.