Custodial Party

CHILD SUPPORT IN INDIANA

How Child Support Works in Indiana

There are usually three parties in a child support case.  The first is the child(ren).  Second, is the custodial party.  This is the person who lives with the child and has primary day-to-day responsibility for the care and control of the child.  The third is the non-custodial parent.  Although the non-custodial parent is often the child's father, the child's mother can also be the non-custodial parent.  When a child is in the custody of another family member or in foster care, there may be 2 non-custodial parents.  Regardless of their living arrangement or relationship, both of the child's parents should provide the financial support that their child needs.

Services through the Child Support Program can help establish paternity(if necessary) and to obtain child support.  The Child Support Bureau has entered into cooperative agreements with county prosecutors in every Indiana county to provide child support enforcement services.  If you are seeking assistance with child support, contact your local county prosecutor's office.  The following link will help you locate the prosecutor's office in your area.  Local Child Support Offices

Child Support Orders

Child support orders are legal obligations to provide financial support for a child, and are established by a court of law.  All child support obligations in Indiana are governed by the Indiana Child Support Rules and Guidelines issued by the Indiana Supreme Court.  The guidelines employ a methodology designed to calculate child support as a share of each parent's income estimated to have been spent on the child if the parents and child were living in an intact household.  For the non-custodial parent, the calculated amount establishes the amount of child support to be paid to the custodial party for the benefit of the child(ren).  The amount calculated for the custodial party is presumed to be spent directly on the child.  The Guidelines also address special considerations for extraordinary education expenses and parenting time.

Emancipation of Child Support

Generally, when a child turns 19 years old, the child is emancipated by operation of law, and the non-custodial parent's obligation to pay current support terminates.  The following exceptions permit the court to order that child support continue beyond the child’s 19th birthday.  For child support to continue, a court order recognizing the exception is required prior to the child’s emancipation in either case where:

*    The child is incapacitated; or
*    The child is a full-time high school student.

Prior to turning 19 years old, judicial action (a court order) is required to terminate support.  The court shall emancipate a child prior to the age of 19 years if the court finds that the child:

*    Marries; or
*    Goes on active duty status with the U.S. Military; or
*    The child is not under the care or control of either parent or an individual or agency approved by the court

The court may terminate a non-custodial parent's support obligation, with or without emancipating the child, if the court finds all of the following circumstances exist:

*    The child is at least 18 years of age; and
*    The child has not attended a secondary school or postsecondary educational institution for the prior four months; and
*    Is not enrolled in a secondary school or post-secondary educational institution; and
*    The child is, or is capable of, supporting himself or herself through employment

In order for a court to terminate a child support order prior to 19 years old, a petition must be filed with the court.  If a non-custodial parent owes any arrearage at the point when the order for child support terminates, he or she will still be required to pay the arrearage.

If 2 or more children are covered by a child support order and one child is emancipated, the amount of the child support order is NOT automatically reduced.  The parties must seek a modification of the court order to determine the new amount of support for the remaining child (ren).

How Child Support Obligations are Enforced

Below is a list of some of the enforcement tools that may be used for child support enforcement when child support cases become delinquent:

• Intercepting federal and state income tax refunds, lottery winnings, employer bonus payments and insurance settlements
• Reporting of unpaid support to a credit bureau
• Suspending driver's and professional licenses as well as hunting and fishing licenses
• Applying vehicle liens
• Locating and withholding bank assets
• Denying/revoking passports

Paternity

Simply put, paternity means fatherhood.  Establishing paternity gives a child a legal father.  It also gives the father both rights and obligations related to helping take care of his child.  It is important for the child to know who they are.  By knowing both parents, a child gains a sense of identity and belonging.  Both parents have the right to establish a healthy relationship with their child(ren) and a responsibility to care for their child(ren).  Making the relationship legal from the beginning provides a greater opportunity for a healthy relationship and insures the father's rights to a relationship with his child.  Legal fathers have all of the same parental rights and responsibilities as the mother, including the right to seek custody or parenting time.

Parents and their children should know about potentially inherited health problems.  Establishing paternity provides the child a greater likelihood of having access to this information.  In addition, establishing paternity is the first step in making plans to provide the financial support a child needs.

With legal paternity established, the child will have access to:

• Social Security dependent or survivor benefits
• Inheritance rights
• Veteran's benefits
• Life and health insurance benefits

How is Paternity Established?

A man is presumed to be a child's legal father if;

• He and his wife are married when the child is born, or
• If the child is born no later than 300 days after the marriage ends

In all other cases, legal paternity must be established in one of two ways;

• Paternity Affidavit, or
• Court Order

A paternity affidavit is a legal document that permits a man and a woman to declare, under penalty of perjury, that the man is the biological father of a child.  A properly executed paternity affidavit establishes legal paternity (fatherhood) and parental rights and responsibilities, without the necessity of obtaining a court order.  A paternity affidavit may be completed at the hospital within 72 hours of the child's birth or at your local health department any time before the child is emancipated.  If paternity is established by paternity affidavit, the Department of Health will add the father's name to the child's birth certificate.

The second way paternity can be established is by an order from the court.  Either parent may file an action in an appropriate Indiana court seeking determination of paternity.  The county child support office may also file an action if the case is enrolled and open (not closed) in their office.  After the action is filed, the court will set a hearing date and notice will be provided to both parties.  At the hearing, the parties may agree to paternity without the benefit of genetic testing, request genetic testing to determine paternity, or the court may hear evidence and make a decision about whether or not paternity should be established.  If genetic testing is ordered by the court, the parties will be tested and the court will hold off on deciding the issue of paternity until the genetic testing results are available to the court.  Either parent or the county child support office may request genetic testing, commonly know as DNA testing.

Income Withholding

An Income Withholding Order (IWO) is an order that a court or Title IV-D child support agency sends to the non-custodial parent's employer or income payor to instruct the employer or income payor  to withhold child support payments from the non-custodial parent's income.  The withheld payments are then sent to the Indiana State Central Collection Unit (INSCCU) to be applied to the child support obligation.   State and Federal  law require that a non-custodial parent pay by an IWO unless a court approves an alternative arrangement.  It is important to pay through IWO because it helps to ensure that payments are made in a timely manner, in the correct amounts, and to the right parties.  Paying by IWO allows the child support payments to be properly recorded so that the court has an accurate payment history.

You can find the Income Withholding form and instructions here.

If your case is pro se (no attorney), there are a few things you will need to know about the new form.  The correct version of the IWO form MUST be used.  If this form is not used, the employer can refuse the withholding order and not withhold the income.

The information you will need in order to complete the form can be found in your most recent child support order from the court.  If you do not have a copy of your most recent order, you can get a copy from the office of your County Clerk.  Once you have a copy of your most recent order, follow the instructions in the link above.

Payment Disbursements

Public Notice:  All EPPICard VISA® Debit Cards deactivated on September 24, 2020.  Please refer to the Notice of Change letter mailed to you in July, or call EPPICard Customer Service at 888-393-5866 for more details on accessing balances from VISA® cards after September 24, 2020.

Electronic payments are more convenient and safer than paper checks by eliminating the possibility of a check being lost, damaged, or stolen.  Electronic payments also expedite payments to the participants by avoiding delays caused by mail services.  A custodial party may choose which method of electronic payment is preferred.  The selected method will be the same for all of that custodial party's child support cases as long as the payments are posted by the State Child Support Bureau, or by Allen, Marion, or Vanderburgh County Clerks' offices.  Payments posted directly at other local County Clerks' offices will be issued by check to the custodial party.

WHAT ARE MY CHOICES?

Direct Deposit

Child Support payments are deposited into a custodial party's personal checking or savings account. If a custodial party chooses direct deposit, he/she must complete and return the Direct Deposit Authorization Form, State Form 51519, with all necessary documentation to the Indiana State Central Collection Unit (INSCCU). After an initial 10 day waiting period to allow for verification of the banking information, any child support payments received will begin to be deposited into the designated account. Custodial parties who have questions about direct deposit or have made changes to their designated account should contact the Kidsline at (800) 840-8757.

Way2Go Mastercard® Debit Card

The Way2Go Mastercard® Debit Card is designed for safety and convenience.  The debit card account is a good choice if a custodial party wishes to keep support payments separate from a personal bank account or if a custodial party does not have a personal bank account.  Additionally, payments received on the Way2Go Mastercard® Debit Card are viewable online.  The debit card service also allows a custodial party to enroll in various automated text or email notifications.  For more information on the Way2Go Mastercard® Debit Card, please call the debit card customer service line at (833) 959-2437 or click: Way2Go Mastercard® Debit Card.

The new Way2Go Mastercard® Debit Card offers more services at no charge.  For a complete list of fees, click here.

Additional Way2Go Mastercard® Information:

• Way2Go Mastercard®  Brochure (English)
• Way2Go Mastercard®  Brochure (Spanish)
• PNC ATM Locator
• Alliance One ATM Locator
• Allpoint ATM Locator
• Friendship State Bank Locator

For questions on VISA EPPICards, contact EPPICard Customer Service at 888-393-5866.

TANF Benefits and Child Support

As a condition of eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Federal law requires that the TANF recipient assign to the state any child support owed to the recipient during the month(s) in which TANF benefits are received.
The amount of child support assigned to the state each month will be the lesser of the following:

• The amount of TANF benefits received for that month; or
• The amount of child support due to the recipient during that month.

Any child support payments collected while the recipient receives TANF benefits will be kept by the state.  When the recipient no longer receives TANF benefits, the assignment terminates, with respect to current child support; however, any assigned child support that was unpaid during the TANF benefit period will remain assigned to the state.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Did I Receive a “Monthly Notice of Child Support Collections Received” Letter?
This monthly notice is for informational purposes and no action is required. The Indiana Child Support Bureau sends a monthly accounting of child support collected to individuals who:

• Receive or have received TANF benefits in the past;
• Are owed child support for months in which the individual received TANF benefits;
• Have not had their TANF benefits repaid from child support collected on their behalf; and
• Have child support payments that have been collected during the timeframe identified in the notice.

I currently receive TANF benefits. How does the Child Support Bureau determine when TANF benefits are repaid from child support collections?
State and federal law provides for the order of distribution of child support collections received. If you are currently receiving TANF benefits when child support is collected, the state will keep the child support for repayment of TANF benefits.

I formerly received TANF benefits. How does the Child Support Bureau determine when TANF benefits are repaid from child support collections?
State and federal law provides for the order of distribution of child support collections received. If you are no longer receiving TANF benefits, but have in the past, child support collected (other than from a federal tax offset) will be paid per these rules of distribution:

1. Any unpaid current monthly support due to the former TANF recipient is paid to the former TANF recipient first;
2. After the current month’s child support is paid, past due child support for months when TANF benefits were not received will be paid directly to the former TANF recipient;
3. After the above child support is paid to the former TANF recipient, past due child support for months when TANF benefits were received will be kept by the state, as assigned.
4. Finally, any other amounts will be paid out of child support collections after the above balances are paid.

If the source of the child support collection is a federal tax offset, state and federal law provides that past due child support for months when TANF benefits were received will first be kept by the state, as assigned.  Any remaining amount will be paid per the above rules of distribution.

How do I Dispute Repayment of TANF Benefits?
Individuals receiving a Monthly Notice of Child Support Collections Received can contest the withholding of collected child support for repayment of TANF benefits based on the issue of proper distribution (see IC 31-25-4-17 and IC 31-25-4-26). To contest the manner of distribution, make your request for an administrative hearing in writing and include:

• A copy of the Monthly Notice of Child Support Collections Received; and
• The reason(s) the repayment of TANF Benefits is being contested.

Please also include your telephone number and/or e-mail address.

Mail your request to:
Indiana Department of Child Services
Child Support Bureau
402 W. Washington Street, Room MS11
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204