New Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines

Indiana parenting laws are designed to ensure that children’s best interests are upheld in custody cases. Indiana parenting time guidelines provide detailed schedules that courts can use to create custody and visitation agreements. These guidelines help maintain frequent, meaningful contact between a child and both parents. They also help establish a stable and healthy environment. The guidelines include a variety of provisions for different situations, such as school holidays and vacations.

A court may deviate from the guidelines if it determines that it would be in the child’s best interests. The deviation must be in writing and explain the reason for the change. The court must also state its finding that the deviation is reasonable. These guidelines also include provisions for special occasions and public health emergencies. For example, a school or daycare closing during a pandemic can impact visiting times. These amendments allow parents to file modified custody and visitation agreements during these events. They also provide a way for parents to make up missed parenting time. However, the parent should not exercise more than three days of make-up parenting time in a row and should not deprive the other parent of holidays or special dates.

Overnights

Overnight parenting time should be limited to those noncustodial parents who exercise the utmost care and concern for the child. However, the parent-child bond can be damaged by lack of contact, and it is recommended that overnight parenting time not begin until the noncustodial parent has established a comfortable daytime care taking routine. It is also advisable that a guardian ad liite be involved in the case to assess the parent-child relationship and recommend a parenting time schedule.

What’s New?

The new Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines have several provisions that parents may find useful. For example, one of the new sections allows parents to agree or a court to award parenting time that is in excess of the standard recommendation. The courts will consider these types of requests on a case-by-case basis. Many of the other guidelines are unchanged. However, the Supreme Court added some comments to clarify or explain particular provisions. The Supreme Court also changed the language to emphasize that the term “parenting time” is used rather than the word “visitation.”

Other changes include eliminating the previous requirement that the noncustodial parent could not have three alternating weekends in a row during holiday parenting time. In addition, the new guidelines now allow parents to share Spring Break, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and President’s Day. Previously, these holidays were awarded to the parent who had a holiday that year. They also now treat Winter Break as a single period starting two hours after school ends until 6 p.m. the Sunday before Winter Break ends.