The Marion County financial declaration form is a sworn court document that both spouses or parents in a family law case must complete, exchange, and file so the judge can see each person’s income, expenses, assets, and debts. You can fill it out using the Indiana Judicial Branch’s free online tool or by downloading the paper version, then file it through the Indiana E-Filing System or in person at the Marion County Clerk’s Office. It applies to dissolution of marriage, legal separation, paternity, and child support modification cases.
When It’s Due
Marion County Local Rule LR49-FR00-504 requires a verified financial declaration in every family law matter.1Indiana Judicial Branch. Marion County Local Court Rules The petitioner, meaning the person who starts the case, has to attach a blank copy of the form to the summons served on the other party, along with their own completed declaration.2indy.gov. Filing a Civil Case
The petitioner has 30 days from filing the petition to complete, serve, and file the declaration, or at least seven days before any hearing, whichever comes first. The responding party has the same 30-day window running from the date they received the blank form, with the same seven-day-before-hearing cutoff. Miss the deadline and the court can strike your evidence, assume you are hiding something, or order you to pay the other side’s attorney fees.
Where to Get the Form
You have two options, and the court accepts either.
The Indiana Judicial Branch hosts an online financial declaration tool that walks you through income, expenses, assets, and debts on screen and generates a completed form ready to file.3Indiana Judicial Branch. Child Support Calculator If you prefer paper, you can download a blank PDF from the City of Indianapolis website and fill it in by hand or on your computer.2indy.gov. Filing a Civil Case
What to Pull Together Before You Start
The form asks for specific dollar figures, so having the underlying documents in front of you saves time and keeps the numbers consistent. If a figure on the form doesn’t match the paperwork behind it, you are the one who looks unreliable to the judge.
Indiana’s Child Support Guidelines require income to be verified with pay stubs, employer statements, or, for the self-employed, receipts and expense records. Tax returns supplement those records, and judges often want two or three years of returns when income fluctuates because of commissions or bonuses.4Indiana Rules of Court. Guideline 3B Income Verification
You’ll also want:
- Mortgage or rent statements and current utility bills for electricity, gas, water, and phone.
- Health, life, and vehicle insurance premium amounts, including what portion of a health plan covers your children.
- Childcare provider names, amounts, and payment frequency.
- Current balances for checking, savings, 401(k), and IRA accounts; vehicle titles or registrations; and an estimated market value for any real estate.
- Recent statements for credit cards, student loans, auto loans, and personal debts, with balances and minimum monthly payments.
- Any prior court orders for child support or spousal maintenance, showing the amount and how often you pay.
Filling In the Form
The online tool and the paper form collect the same information, organized in a few broad sections.
Personal and Income Information
Start with your name, Social Security number, address, phone number, and case number. List everyone who lives with you and for whom you are legally responsible, with their dates of birth and relationship to you. Then enter your current employer, occupation, gross monthly income, pay frequency, and total income over the past twelve months. Report any second income source separately with its monthly amount: side jobs, rental property, disability, Social Security, VA benefits, retirement distributions, or unemployment.5Indiana Department of Child Services. Financial Statement State Form 51798 If you already pay spousal support from a prior case, include the date of the order, the issuing court, the amount, and how often you pay.
Expenses, Health Insurance, and Childcare
Report extraordinary child expenses such as dental and medical costs not covered by insurance, along with childcare provider information, amounts, and frequency.5Indiana Department of Child Services. Financial Statement State Form 51798 For health coverage, indicate whether insurance is available through your employer, list who is on the policy, and provide the policy number and carrier. Note any group coverage available through a union or other organization.
Because the court uses insurance costs in the child support calculation, you may need the portion of your premium attributable to the children. Comparing your employer’s “employee only” premium against the “employee plus children” rate on your benefits statement is the simplest way to isolate that figure.
Assets and Property
List every piece of real estate you own with its fair market value, the balance still owed, and any rental income it generates. For vehicles, campers, boats, and farm equipment, give the year, make, model, license number, amount owed, and lienholder.5Indiana Department of Child Services. Financial Statement State Form 51798 Report each bank account with the institution name and location, and list any stocks, bonds, and additional insurance policies.
Blank Lines
If something doesn’t apply, write “N/A” or “none” instead of leaving the line empty. A blank field reads as skipped, and the judge may assume you left it out on purpose.
Protecting Social Security and Account Numbers
Financial declarations contain the exact information identity thieves want. Indiana’s Rules on Access to Court Records require you to redact complete Social Security numbers and complete account numbers from filed documents unless those numbers are necessary to resolve the case.6Indiana Judicial Branch. Rule 5 Records Excluded From Public Access
When the full numbers are necessary, and on a financial declaration they often are, file the unredacted version as a confidential document (marked “confidential” when e-filing, or printed on green paper for paper filings). File a second, redacted version as the public copy. With both, file a Notice of Exclusion of Confidential Information from Public Access identifying what you are excluding and the rule that permits it. The notice has to be filed at the same time as the confidential document.7Indiana Judicial Branch. Notice of Exclusion of Confidential Information from Public Access
Signing and Notarization
The declaration is a sworn statement. You sign it affirming under the penalties of perjury that everything in the form is true and correct to the best of your ability. The paper version includes a notary certificate, so the notary has to witness your signature, print their name, and stamp the document with their commission information.5Indiana Department of Child Services. Financial Statement State Form 51798 You cannot sign at the kitchen table and mail it in. Banks, shipping stores, and the Clerk’s Office itself often have notaries on hand.
The perjury affirmation carries real weight. If the court later finds you understated income, left out a bank account, or inflated debts, the problem is not an embarrassing correction. It is a false sworn statement to a judge.
Filing With the Court
Most cases in Indiana are filed electronically through the Indiana E-Filing System.8Indiana Rules of Court. Rule 86 General Electronic Filing and Electronic Service If you do not have an attorney, register for a free self-represented account at the state’s e-filing portal. Once accepted, your document becomes part of the official case record.9Indiana E-Filing System. eFile IN Courts Production
If you are unable to e-file, bring physical copies to the Marion County Clerk’s Office at the Indianapolis City-County Building, 200 E. Washington Street, Room W122, Indianapolis, IN 46204. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except court holidays. A second location operates at the Community Justice Campus, 675 Justice Way, Indianapolis, IN 46203.10indy.gov. Marion County Clerks Office
Serving the Other Party
Filing with the court is only half of the job. You also have to serve a copy on the opposing party or their attorney. When you e-file and the other side is registered in the system, e-service happens automatically. If electronic service fails after two attempts, you are responsible for serving a paper copy.9Indiana E-Filing System. eFile IN Courts Production Because the 30-day deadline covers both filing and serving, don’t leave service until the final day.
What Happens If You File Late or Leave Things Out
Judges treat incomplete declarations seriously because the child support calculation and property division depend on accurate numbers. Indiana Trial Rule 37 treats an evasive or incomplete financial answer as no answer at all.11Indiana Rules of Court. Rule 37 Failure to Make or Cooperate in Discovery Sanctions
If the court has to order you to disclose something you should have provided on your own, it can require you to pay the other party’s attorney fees for bringing the motion. If you still don’t comply, the sanctions escalate: the court can accept the other party’s version of the disputed facts as true, bar you from presenting evidence on the undisclosed issues, strike your pleadings, enter default judgment, or hold you in contempt. Each additional sanction comes with an order to pay the other side’s reasonable expenses and attorney fees caused by the nondisclosure.11Indiana Rules of Court. Rule 37 Failure to Make or Cooperate in Discovery Sanctions The only way out is proving the nondisclosure was “substantially justified,” a hard argument when the local rules told you exactly what to file and when.