To modify parenting time in Indiana, you file either an agreed entry (if the other parent is on board) or a Verified Petition to Modify Parenting Time (if they are not) in the same court that issued your original order, and ask the judge to approve a new schedule that serves the child’s best interests. Indiana Code 31-17-4-2 sets that best-interest standard, and for routine schedule changes you do not have to prove a substantial change in circumstances the way you would for a custody modification.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-4-2 – Modification or Denial; Restriction of Parenting Time Rights A change in work hours, a child starting school, or one parent moving can all be enough to justify revisiting the schedule.
One important boundary before you start. If what you actually want is to cut back the other parent’s time or require supervised visits, that is a restriction, not a modification, and the court cannot grant it unless it finds the current arrangement endangers the child’s physical health or significantly impairs the child’s emotional development. That is a much higher bar, and it requires specific evidence of harm or risk rather than general dissatisfaction with the other household.
If You and the Other Parent Agree
An agreed modification is the fastest route. Indiana Legal Help provides separate form packets for agreed modifications depending on whether the parents were married or unmarried.2Indiana Legal Help. Parenting Time Both parents complete and sign the agreed entry, then submit it to the court for the judge’s approval.
The judge still has to review it. In most cases that review is a formality and the court signs off without a hearing, but the judge can reject or adjust an agreement that appears to shortchange the child. Until the judge signs the entry, your old order remains in effect. Verbal deals between co-parents are not enforceable, so wait for the signed order before you rely on the new schedule.
Filing a Contested Petition
Preparing the Petition
When the other parent will not agree, you file a Verified Petition to Modify Parenting Time. Indiana Legal Help offers guided online forms that walk you through a series of questions and populate the required documents, and you can also download blank form packets from the same site.3Indiana Legal Help. Change Parenting Time When Parents Do Not Agree Many county clerk offices stock the forms at their self-help desks as well.
You will need the original case number from your custody order or divorce decree. The petition should describe the current schedule, the specific changes you want, and the reasons those changes serve the child’s best interests. Be concrete. Reference work schedules, the child’s school calendar, extracurricular commitments, or new living arrangements. A petition that says “circumstances have changed” without specifics gives the court nothing to work with.
Filing Fees
Indiana Legal Help lists the cost to file a civil case at $157, or $185 if you want the sheriff to handle service.4Indiana Legal Help. Filing Fee Frequently Asked Questions Costs can differ slightly by county, and a modification filed within an existing case may carry a different fee, so confirm with your local clerk.
If you cannot afford the fee, you can request a waiver by filing a sworn statement of financial hardship. Courts generally grant waivers when household income falls at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. For 2026, that threshold is approximately $19,950 for a single-person household and $41,250 for a family of four. The clerk’s office can provide the waiver form with your petition paperwork.
Serving the Other Parent
After the clerk stamps your petition, you have to serve the other parent with a copy. Indiana allows service by certified mail with return receipt or by a sheriff’s deputy delivering the papers in person.5Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure Rule 4.1 – Summons: Service on Individuals If you use certified mail and the letter comes back undelivered, you must notify the court, because service has not been completed.6Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure Rule 4.12 – Summons: Service by Sheriff or Other Officer
Proof of service has to be filed with the court before a judge will schedule a hearing. Without it, the case stalls. Keep copies of every stamped document and every receipt.
Mediation and the Hearing
Many Indiana courts require parents to attempt mediation before a contested hearing is scheduled. The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines themselves call for mediation of parenting disputes before they reach the court, and individual counties enforce the requirement through local rules; Allen County, for example, requires a mandatory mediation notice to accompany all parenting time filings.7Allen County, IN. Custody and Parenting Time A mediator helps you negotiate a schedule and, if you reach agreement, drafts the terms for the judge’s signature.
If mediation fails or is waived, the case goes to an evidentiary hearing. Both parents present testimony and evidence supporting their proposed schedules. You can introduce work schedules, school records, communication logs, and witness testimony from people who know the family’s routine. The judge weighs everything against the best-interest factors and issues a new written order that replaces the previous schedule. It is binding the moment it is signed.
What the Court Will Weigh
When a judge evaluates a proposed schedule change, Indiana Code 31-17-2-8 lists the factors that guide the analysis. The court considers all relevant circumstances, and the statute highlights several specific areas:8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Family Law and Juvenile Law 31-17-2-8
- The age and sex of the child.
- The wishes of each parent.
- The wishes of the child, with more weight once the child reaches age 14.
- The child’s relationships with each parent, siblings, and anyone else significant in the child’s life.
- How well the child has adjusted to their home, school, and community.
- The mental and physical health of everyone involved.
- Any evidence of a pattern of domestic or family violence.
The list is not exhaustive. Judges can weigh anything bearing on the child’s welfare, including each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent. Frame your petition around these factors rather than making vague claims about what is “better” for the child.
Indiana also presumes that frequent and meaningful contact with both parents benefits the child, and the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines set the minimum schedule a noncustodial parent should have.9Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines Those guidelines are the baseline the court compares your proposal against. If you are asking for less than the guideline schedule, you are effectively asking for a restriction, and you will face the higher endangerment standard rather than the best-interest standard.
On the child’s preference: Indiana does not fix an age at which a child chooses their own schedule. The statute says more weight attaches once the child reaches 14, and younger children may be heard if the court finds them mature enough, but the child’s stated preference never overrides the judge’s independent analysis. The reasoning behind the preference matters as much as the preference itself.
If the Change Is Driven by a Move
Relocation is one of the most common triggers for a parenting time modification, and it has its own notice rule. Under Indiana Code 31-17-2.2-1, a relocating parent must file a notice of intent to move with the clerk of the court that issued the original order.10Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-2.2-1 – Notice of Intent to Move Residence
You are exempt only in narrow situations: a prior court order already addressed the relocation, the move brings you closer to the other parent, or the move increases the distance by no more than 20 miles and the child stays enrolled in the same school. Any other move triggers the notice requirement, and skipping it can hurt your position if the other parent challenges the move later.
Once the notice is filed, the nonrelocating parent can object and request a hearing. The court then decides whether the schedule needs to be modified to account for the new distance. If you are relocating, expect the judge to look closely at whether your proposed schedule preserves the child’s relationship with the other parent.
How This Changes Child Support
A change in parenting time almost always affects child support, and that catches parents by surprise. Indiana’s child support formula includes a parenting time credit that adjusts the obligation based on the number of overnights the noncustodial parent has each year.11Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Child Support Guidelines – Guideline 6 Parenting Time Credit
The credit begins at 52 overnights per year and scales up as overnights move toward equal time. The standard guideline schedule (alternating weekends, a midweek evening, and holidays) accounts for roughly 27 percent of annual overnights. If your modification shifts the overnight count significantly, support recalculates. A parent gaining substantial time may see their obligation drop; a parent losing overnights may owe more. You can raise support in the same petition or file separately, but plan for the math from the start.
After the New Order: Enforcement
A signed order is only as useful as the enforcement behind it. If the other parent ignores the new schedule, Indiana has remedies, but the Parenting Time Guidelines are blunt about one thing: you cannot withhold child support because the other parent is violating parenting time, and you cannot withhold parenting time because the other parent is behind on support. Only the court can impose sanctions.12Indiana Department of Child Services. Parenting Time HelpLine
The main tool is a contempt motion asking the court to hold the other parent in contempt for willfully violating the order. Sanctions can include fines, make-up parenting time, attorney fees, and in serious cases jail time designed to coerce compliance.13Indiana Judicial Branch. Contempt Procedure Benchcard Indiana Code 31-17-4-3 also allows the court to award reasonable attorney fees, court costs, and litigation expenses to the prevailing party in a parenting time enforcement or modification action.14Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-4-3 – Attorneys Fees, Court Costs, and Other Reasonable Expenses of Litigation
Document every violation with dates, times, and copies of any communications. One missed weekend rarely produces a contempt finding. A documented pattern does.