The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines are the default schedule a court will apply when separated or divorced parents cannot agree on their own plan. Published by the Indiana Supreme Court as part of the Indiana Rules of Court, they set the minimum amount of time a noncustodial parent should have with the child, and they change as the child grows.1Indiana Rules of Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines Parents can agree to more, but a plan giving less will get scrutiny before a judge signs it.
Any agreement parents reach on their own has to be in writing, signed by both, and filed with the court to be enforceable.1Indiana Rules of Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines Without that, the guideline schedule below is what a judge will order.
Schedules by the Child’s Age
The guidelines divide schedules into age brackets that track a child’s developmental needs. Younger children get shorter, more frequent visits so bonding does not disrupt feeding and sleep. Overnights and weekend blocks come later.2Indiana Rules of Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines
Birth Through 12 Months
- Birth through 4 months: three non-consecutive visits per week, two hours each. Holiday visits are two hours. Overnight stays up to 24 hours are permitted if the noncustodial parent has been regularly caring for the child.
- 5 through 9 months: three non-consecutive visits per week, three hours each, with the child returned at least an hour before bedtime. Holiday visits are three hours. Overnights up to 24 hours remain available on the same conditions.
- 10 through 12 months: three non-consecutive visits per week. One visit falls on a non-work day and lasts eight hours; the other two are three hours. Holiday visits are eight hours. Overnights up to 24 hours continue when the parent has been providing regular care.
13 Months Through 36 Months
- 13 through 18 months: three non-consecutive visits per week. One visit on a non-work day lasts ten hours; the other two are three hours. Holiday visits are eight hours. Overnights up to 24 hours per week are available when appropriate.
- 19 through 36 months: alternating weekends with ten-hour visits on both Saturday and Sunday, plus one midweek visit of three hours. Holiday visits are ten hours. The child should be returned at least an hour before bedtime unless an overnight is appropriate.
Overnights do not switch on automatically at this stage. The guidelines make them contingent on whether an overnight is appropriate, which means courts look at whether the child is comfortable sleeping away from the primary home and whether the noncustodial parent has the setup for it, including a crib, supplies, and a stable sleep environment. Parents who have been part of bedtime and daily routines have a stronger case for overnights here.
Three Years and Older
From age three on, the schedule becomes what most people picture as standard: alternating weekends from Friday at 6:00 p.m. to Sunday at 6:00 p.m., plus one midweek evening visit of up to four hours with the child home by 9:00 p.m.2Indiana Rules of Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines The Friday-to-Sunday window can shift to accommodate work schedules. All scheduled holidays apply. If the parents live far apart, the midweek visit may need to be shortened or restructured around travel.
Holidays, Birthdays, and Summer
Holiday time overrides the regular weekly rotation. Major holidays like Thanksgiving and Easter alternate year to year, so one parent has Thanksgiving in even-numbered years and the other in odd-numbered years. Christmas break splits into two halves, running from the start of school break to a midpoint and from that midpoint through the evening before school resumes. Parents swap halves each year.1Indiana Rules of Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines
Mother’s Day always goes to the mother and Father’s Day always goes to the father, each running Friday evening through Sunday evening. The child’s birthday rotates annually, and the parent who does not have the child that year gets a four-hour window for a separate celebration.
Fall break, spring break, and teacher professional days follow their own rotations. Parents typically handle them by taking the whole break in alternating years, splitting the break in half, or rotating specific days. Whatever the method, it should be written into the plan rather than left to “as agreed,” which invites disputes.
The noncustodial parent also gets extended summer parenting time of two to four weeks depending on the child’s age. To claim it, the parent must give written notice by April 1st of that year. Missing the deadline does not automatically forfeit summer time, but it gives the other parent grounds to object if alternate plans are already in place.
Communication During the Other Parent’s Time
Both parents have to allow the child to communicate freely with the other parent by phone, mail, email, video call, or messaging app. Contact should happen at reasonable hours and should not disrupt sleep or daily routines. The parent who has the child cannot listen in, record the conversation, or interfere, and the child should have a private space to talk without other household members hovering.1Indiana Rules of Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines
The privacy piece matters. A child who feels monitored will self-censor, which erodes the very relationship the guidelines protect. Documented patterns of blocking calls or hovering during conversations can come up in a modification hearing.
In higher-conflict cases, courts often direct parents to communicate through a dedicated co-parenting app rather than by text or phone. These apps time-stamp messages, prevent editing or deletion, and produce an exportable record for court. Attorneys, mediators, or parenting coordinators can sometimes be given access as well.
Access to Records and Relocation Notice
Both parents have equal rights to their child’s health, education, and general welfare records. Either can request school records, medical reports, and dental histories directly from the provider, and neither can block the other from attending school events or getting progress reports.1Indiana Rules of Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines If the child has extracurricular activities, the custodial parent has to share the schedule in time for the other parent to attend.
Each parent must also keep the other informed of a current home address and an emergency phone number. When either parent moves, Indiana law requires the relocating parent to file a notice of intent to move with the court that issued the custody order.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-2.2-1 – Notice of Intent to Move Residence The notice also has to go to the other parent by certified mail at least 90 days before the move. If that timing is not possible, notice must go out within 10 days of learning the new address and no less than 30 days before the move. Getting these deadlines wrong is a common and expensive mistake.
Making the Plan Enforceable
A parenting arrangement is only legally enforceable once it is filed with and approved by the court. It is typically filed as part of a dissolution or paternity case with the clerk in the county hearing the matter. Filing fees for a new civil case in Indiana start at $157, with an additional charge if the sheriff needs to serve papers.4Indiana Supreme Court. Indiana Trial Court Fee Manual
If the proposed plan departs from the guidelines, the judge may set a hearing to decide whether the alternative serves the child’s interests. Courts frequently refer parents to mediation before that hearing. A trained neutral helps both parents negotiate a plan; if they reach one, it goes to the judge for approval, and if they do not, the case moves forward to a contested hearing.
Once the judge signs the parenting time order, violating it has consequences. Civil contempt is aimed at compliance and can bring fines, makeup parenting time, payment of the other parent’s attorney fees, or jail until the parent follows the order. Criminal contempt is punitive and can mean a fixed jail sentence or fine regardless of later compliance. Repeated violations can lead to a modification of the custody arrangement itself, sometimes shifting primary custody to the other parent.
If you need to prove violations, document them. Keep a log of missed visits, save texts and emails showing interference, and use a co-parenting app that produces time-stamped records. Vague complaints about the other parent being “difficult” will not move a judge. Specific dates, times, and evidence will.
Changing the Schedule Later
Parenting plans are not permanent. Either parent can petition to modify the order when circumstances change substantially. Common triggers include one parent relocating, a significant change in work schedule, the child’s evolving needs as they enter school or adolescence, and safety concerns such as substance abuse or domestic violence. The parent asking for the change has to show both that circumstances have genuinely shifted and that the proposed modification serves the child’s interests.
Modification petitions go through the court that issued the original order. Expect a filing fee and, often, mediation before a hearing. Courts are generally readier to adjust schedules than to overhaul custody. Moving a midweek visit from Wednesday to Thursday because of a new work shift is a much easier request than flipping primary custody without strong evidence the current arrangement is harming the child.
When Parents Live in Different States
The guidelines set a schedule; they do not decide which state’s court has authority over the case. That question is governed by the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which Indiana has adopted. The primary test is the child’s “home state,” meaning the state where the child has lived for at least six consecutive months before the case is filed.5Office of Justice Programs. The Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act Simply having the child present in a state is not enough, except in emergencies involving abuse or abandonment.
Once an Indiana court issues a custody order, it generally keeps jurisdiction to modify that order as long as Indiana remains the child’s home state or one parent still lives in Indiana. The federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act reinforces this by requiring every state to give full faith and credit to another state’s custody order.6Legal Information Institute. Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA) In a cross-state situation, the jurisdictional question has to be answered before anything else moves.