How to File for Child Support in Indiana: Forms, Hearing, and Order

To file for child support in Indiana, you file a Petition for Child Support and a Child Support Obligation Worksheet with the Clerk of the Court in the county where the child lives, then have the other parent formally served with the paperwork. If you and the other parent were never married, you have to establish legal paternity first, because without it the court has no authority to order anyone to pay.¹

The steps below walk through the process in the order you will actually do them.

Establish Paternity First If You Were Never Married

Indiana law presumes the husband is the legal father if a child is born during a marriage or within 300 days after it ends, so married and divorcing parents can skip this step.² Everyone else needs paternity on the record before a support petition will move.

Two routes get you there. The first is a paternity affidavit, a document both parents sign under penalty of perjury declaring that the man is the biological father. You can sign it at the hospital within 72 hours of birth or later at any local health department office. A properly executed affidavit carries the same legal weight as a court order and adds the father’s name to the birth certificate.³

The second route is a court order. Either parent can file a paternity action, and the local child support office can file one too if the case is enrolled with them. At the hearing the parties may agree to paternity voluntarily, request genetic testing, or let the judge hear evidence and decide. Any genetic testing has to be done by an accredited laboratory following chain-of-custody procedures; home DNA kits are not admissible.³ File a support petition without paternity on record and the court will pause the whole case until it is resolved.

Gather Income and Expense Documents

Before you fill out any form, pull the financial records both sides will have to produce. You need the full legal names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth for each parent and each child covered by the case.

Most of the work is documenting income. Indiana defines weekly gross income broadly. It includes wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, overtime, partnership distributions, dividends, pensions, Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, disability benefits, gifts, inheritances, prizes, alimony received, and more.⁴ Gather recent pay stubs covering at least several weeks, your most recent federal tax return, and documentation of any other income stream. Self-employment income, side jobs, and irregular earnings all count and should be backed up with records.

You also need documentation for two specific expenses that feed directly into the calculation:

Health insurance premiums, but only the portion that covers the child, not the full family premium. Get a breakdown from your employer or insurer.
Work-related childcare, meaning receipts or invoices from a licensed provider showing what you pay so you can work or attend training. A babysitter on weekends does not qualify.

Mark any estimates clearly on the worksheet rather than guessing high or low. Judges notice.

Complete the Petition and Child Support Worksheet

Indiana’s court system directs filers to the Self-Service Legal Center at in.gov/courts/selfservice, which links to indianalegalhelp.org for downloadable court documents. You can also pick up hard copies from your county clerk’s office. The two core documents are the Petition for Child Support and the Child Support Obligation Worksheet.

The petition is a straightforward form asking for the child’s residence, the identity of both parents, and the basis for the court’s jurisdiction. The worksheet is where the math happens. It takes both parents’ weekly gross incomes, subtracts credits for taxes and any preexisting support obligations, and runs the adjusted figures through Indiana’s guideline schedule to produce a basic support obligation. That total is then split between the parents in proportion to their respective incomes.

Health insurance premiums and childcare costs go on designated lines. The resulting number is the presumptive amount the judge will order, meaning the figure the judge uses unless someone shows a good reason to deviate.

Parenting Time Credit

If the noncustodial parent has regular overnight visits, the worksheet includes a parenting time credit that reduces the support amount. The credit is based on the annual number of overnights and reflects expenses the noncustodial parent covers directly during those stays. A standard alternating-weekend schedule of about 52 overnights per year produces a modest credit, and a near-equal arrangement of 181 or more overnights produces a much larger one.⁵ The credit is not automatic. A court can deny it if granting it would leave one parent unable to adequately support the child.

When a Judge Can Deviate From the Guideline Amount

Judges have discretion to set support above or below the guideline figure when the standard calculation would produce an unjust result. Common reasons include extraordinary medical expenses for a parent, unusually high travel costs for employment or parenting time, support obligations for an elderly parent, and cases where the noncustodial parent directly covers expenses like school clothes.⁵ If the judge deviates, they must enter a written finding explaining why.

File With the Clerk and Serve the Other Parent

File the completed petition and worksheet with the Clerk of the Court in the county where the child lives. You will owe a filing fee that varies by county. If you cannot afford it, you can request a waiver by filing a verified motion demonstrating financial hardship.⁶

Once the clerk accepts the petition, the court issues a summons. That summons and a copy of the petition must be formally delivered to the other parent through service of process, usually by certified mail or a sheriff’s deputy. The other parent has 20 days from the date of service to file a written response. If service was by mail, three extra days are added to that deadline.⁷ No hearing can proceed until proof of service is filed with the court, so check in with the clerk to confirm delivery went through.

One timing detail that costs real money if you miss it: Indiana courts can order support retroactive to the date you file the petition, but not earlier.⁵ Every week you delay filing is a week of support you cannot recover later.

The Hearing and the Support Order

At the hearing, the judge reviews the worksheet, examines income evidence from both sides, and listens to any arguments about deviations or disputed figures. Bring originals of your financial documents, not just copies. If the other parent claims a lower income than you believe is accurate, this is the moment to present contrary evidence such as prior tax returns or employer records.

Once the judge approves the calculation, they sign a formal child support order specifying the weekly or biweekly amount the noncustodial parent must pay. By statute, every support order must include an automatic income withholding provision directing the obligor’s employer to deduct payments from wages.⁸ A court can waive automatic withholding only if both parents agree in writing and the court finds good cause, but that exception is rare.

Payments flow through the Indiana State Central Collection Unit, which maintains the official record of every transaction. This matters more than people realize. Paying the other parent directly in cash, even with a handwritten receipt, does not count as compliance with the order. If a dispute comes up later, only payments routed through the collection unit are automatically verified.

Filing Through the State Instead of On Your Own

You do not have to do this alone. Indiana’s Child Support Bureau, part of the Department of Child Services, runs a Title IV-D program that can establish or enforce support orders on your behalf at no cost. The program is federally mandated and typically gets involved when a family receives public assistance or when a parent requests help through the local prosecutor’s office.⁹

The statute itself identifies who can bring a child support action: a custodial parent, a legal guardian, or certain agencies.¹⁰ If you are unsure whether to file on your own or go through Title IV-D, the local child support office can walk you through the options before you commit to one path.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-16-6-1 – Child Support Orders; Relevant Factors; Income Withholding; Account at Financial Institution
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-14-7-1 – Presumptions; Childs Biological Father
3
IN.gov. DCS: Child Support: Paternity
4
IN.gov. Section 03 Indiana Child Support Rules and Guidelines
5
IN.gov. Indiana Rules of Court Child Support Rules and Guidelines
6
IN.gov. Fee Waiver
7
Indiana Court Rules. Rule 6 – Time
8
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-16-15-0.5 – Income Withholding Orders
9
IN.gov. DCS: Child Support: About Us
10
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-16-2-2 – Cause of Action Established