Indiana Paternity Statute of Limitations: 2-Year Rule and Exceptions

In Indiana, the paternity statute of limitations generally requires a paternity action to be filed within two years of the child’s birth, though several statutory exceptions can extend that window and a separate, shorter clock applies when the alleged father has died.¹ Miss the deadline without qualifying for an exception, and the claim can be permanently barred.

The Two-Year Rule

Indiana Code 31-14-5-3 sets the baseline: the mother, the alleged father, or the Department of Child Services must file a paternity action within two years after the child is born.¹ That is a shorter window than most people assume, and it starts running on the day of birth, not when a dispute arises or when one parent decides to seek support.

The deadline matters because Indiana recognizes only two ways to legally establish paternity: a court order under Title 31, Article 14, or a signed paternity affidavit.² If the two-year filing window closes and no affidavit was signed, the court route is the only remaining option, and it may be unavailable.

Who the Deadline Applies To

The two-year limit is written to bind the mother, the alleged father, and DCS. Several other parties have standing to file a paternity action in Indiana, including the child, the mother and alleged father jointly, and the prosecuting attorney. The statute’s exceptions address how the clock treats joint filings and acknowledgments by either parent, which effectively broadens who can file after two years when specific conditions are met.

Exceptions That Extend the Clock

Indiana law carves out six situations that stop the two-year bar from applying in the ordinary way. In each, the petition must instead be filed within two years after the triggering circumstance ends. The exceptions are:

Both parents waive the deadline and file jointly.
The alleged father has voluntarily supported the child, either on his own or under an agreement with the mother or someone acting for the child.
The alleged father acknowledged paternity in writing, and the mother, DCS, or a prosecuting attorney then files.
The mother acknowledged in writing that the man is the biological father, and the alleged father then files.
The petitioner was legally incompetent at the time of the child’s birth.
The responding party could not be served with a summons during the two-year window.

When one of these applies, the two-year clock restarts once the exception ends.¹ A concrete example: if the alleged father paid voluntary support for three years and then stopped, the mother would have two years from the date the support ended to file.

These exceptions are specific. General equitable arguments — hardship, lack of knowledge about the law, or informal understandings — do not extend the deadline unless they fit one of the categories listed in the statute.

Deadlines When the Father Has Died

Indiana sets separate, shorter deadlines when paternity is being established for inheritance purposes after the alleged father’s death. These sit in the probate code, not the paternity statute, and they override the usual two-year rule for this situation.

A child who was under 20 when the father died has five months from the date of death to file a paternity action.
A child who was 20 or older when the father died must have had paternity established during the father’s lifetime; it cannot be done afterward.
For a child conceived but not yet born when the father dies, the action must be filed within 11 months of the father’s death.³

Missing these windows permanently extinguishes the child’s right to inherit from the father’s side of the family through intestate succession.

What Missing the Deadline Costs

If the filing window closes and no exception applies, the practical consequences are permanent. Without established paternity, there is no legal basis to obtain a child support order against the father, no court-ordered parenting time, no custody standing, and no automatic right for the child to inherit from the father under Indiana’s intestacy rules.³ Social Security survivor benefits also depend on proof of paternity, which an Indiana court order or affidavit supplies.⁴

Waiting also makes the underlying case harder to prove. Witnesses move or lose memory, documents disappear, and the alleged father may become harder to locate or serve. Even where an exception might technically preserve the right to file, acting promptly after the triggering circumstance ends is the safer course.

The Affidavit Alternative and Its Own 60-Day Clock

The two-year filing deadline governs court actions. It does not govern paternity affidavits, which run on their own timeline. An affidavit can be signed at the hospital within 72 hours of birth or later at a local health department at any time before the child reaches adulthood, as long as no father is already listed on the birth certificate.⁵ A signed affidavit establishes paternity without a court proceeding.

Once an affidavit is signed, a different clock starts. A man has 60 days to rescind the affidavit by filing an action in court. After that, rescission requires proof of fraud, duress, or a material mistake of fact, and genetic testing that excludes him as the biological father.⁶ A man who is uncertain about biological paternity should request genetic testing before signing, because the consequences of signing and not rescinding within 60 days are effectively permanent.

The Putative Father Registry’s 30-Day Window

A separate deadline affects men who may have fathered a child but have not yet established paternity. Indiana’s putative father registry gives an unmarried father the right to receive notice of adoption proceedings, but only if he registers within 30 days of the child’s birth or before an adoption petition is filed, whichever comes later.⁷

A putative father who fails to register waives notice of any adoption and gives irrevocable implied consent to it.⁷ This deadline runs independently of the two-year paternity filing deadline. A man who misses the registry window can lose the ability to contest an adoption even if the window to file a paternity action is still open.

Acting Within the Window

If paternity is not yet established and the child is under two, both parents still have the clearest path: either sign a paternity affidavit if there is no dispute, or file a paternity action in the circuit or superior court of the county where the child or alleged father lives. The 2025 base civil filing fee is $157, rising to $185 with the sheriff’s service fee and as high as $205 in counties that collect an additional $20 paternity fee under an approved plan from the Judicial Conference of Indiana.⁸ Fee waivers are available for parties who demonstrate financial hardship.

If the child is older than two, the first question is whether any of the six statutory exceptions apply, and if so, when the triggering circumstance ended. That date, not the child’s birthday, controls how much time is left. If the alleged father has died, the inheritance deadlines in the probate code take over, and the window may be only five or eleven months. In every scenario, the sooner the petition is filed after the right to file arises, the stronger the case and the smaller the risk of running into a deadline that cannot be undone.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 14 Chapter 5 Section 31-14-5-3 – Time for Filing Action
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 14 Chapter 2 Section 31-14-2-1 – Exclusive Methods of Establishing Paternity
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 29 Article 1 Chapter 2 Section 29-1-2-7 – Children Born Out of Wedlock Inheritance
4
Social Security Administration. Social Security Handbook Section 1708 – What Evidence Is Required for a Child Born Out of Wedlock
5
Indiana State Department of Health. Paternity Affidavit – Hospital Use
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 16 Article 37 Chapter 2 Section 16-37-2-2.1 – Paternity Affidavits Requirements
7
Justia. Indiana Code Title 31 Article 19 Chapter 5 – Putative Father Registry
8
State Board of Accounts. 2025 Court Costs and Fees by Case Type