Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines 2022 - New Factors for Parenting Time Plans and Orders

The amended Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines go into effect January 1, 2022. A copy of the amended Guidelines can be found here. Brand new to the Guidelines is a list of factors to consider when determining whether a particular parenting plan exceeding the recommended minimum plan is in the best interest of the child(ren).

The new factors seek to promote plans that are “safe, secure, developmentally responsive, and, ultimately, in the best interests of the child.” In the important to note that the list of factors is not all-inclusive, and may not apply to every set of parental relationships. Also, the factors are not listed in any order of priority.

The factors are in categorized into five (5) sub-groups: factors related to the child; factors related to the parents; factors related to the parent-child relationship; factors related to the co-parenting relationship; and environmental factors.

The factors are as follows:

Factors Related to the Child:

• The age, temperament, and maturity level of the child

• The child’s current routine

• The child’s response to separations and transitions

• Any particular physical, emotional, educational, or other needs resulting from the developmental stage or characteristics of the child

Factors Related to the Parent:

• The temperament of each parent

• The “fit” of each parent’s temperament with the child’s temperament

• Each parent’s mental health, including mental illness and substance use or abuse

• Each parent’s sensitivity to the child’s early developmental needs

• Each parent’s capacity and willingness to be flexible as the child’s needs change from day to day and over time

Factors Related to the Parent-Child Relationship

• Each parent’s warmth and availability to the child

• Each parent’s ability to correctly discern and respond sensitively to the child’s needs

• Each parent’s past experience living with the child and caregiving history

• Each parent’s caregiving interest and motivation

• Each parent’s history of perpetrating child physical or emotional abuse or neglect

Factors Related to the Co-Parenting Relationship:

• The parents’ capacity and willingness to be flexible with each other as the child’s needs get expressed in the moment and change over time

• The level and nature of conflict and/or domestic violence, including the history, recentness, intensity, frequency, content, and context (separation specific or broader)

• The parents’ ability to compartmentalize any conflicts and protect the child from exposure to parental conflict

• The parents’ ability to communicate appropriately and in a timely manner about the child

• The degree to which each parent facilitates contact and communication between the other parent and the child versus “gatekeeping” behavior intended to keep the other parent and the child apart

• The parents’ capacity for cooperation about the child’s developmental needs

Environmental Factors:

• The proximity of the parental homes

• The parents’ work schedules and circumstances

• The presence of extended family members or close friends that participate in caregiving

• The availability of additional child care if needed and economic resources available to pay for it

• The mechanics in place to transfer the child from one household to the other

To contact me to discuss how these changes may affect your situation, go here.

A copy of the amended guidelines can be found here.

Same-Sex "Parents" - Visitation and Parenting Time - Indiana Law

On October 31, 2013 the Court of Appeals decided an important case in Indiana holding that a person who is the non-biological, same-sex parent of a child has standing to seek a visitation order with the child.  In doing so the Court of Appeals challenges the legislature to review its definition of "parent" (see below) 

In reaching the holding the Court  of Appeals details the policy reasons and merits of allowing visitation to grandparents, opposite-sex stepparents, foster parents and third parties in general.  Summarizing its reasoning the Court stated:

"By recognizing a right to third-party visitation, this court has acknowledged that a child's interest in maintaining relationships with those who have acted in a parental capacity will sometimes trump a natural parent's right to direct the child's upbringing. Moreover, although the reasons our Supreme Court articulated in Worrell for denying standing to former foster parents are beyond dispute, the rationale for limiting third-party visitation to stepparents alone is less clear. It appears to us that the Court viewed a stepparent relationship as a strong indicator that a custodial and parental relationship exists. But surely custodial and parental relationships may exist with third parties other than stepparents. Indeed, the situation presented here is characterized by even stronger indicia of a custodial and parental relationship. This is so because the parties originally intended for the biological mother's partner to fulfill the role of the child's second parent and actively encouraged the development of a parental bond between the partner and the child."

Importantly, the Court explained that a same-sex partner is not automatically entitled to visitation:

"Thus, in the particular factual circumstances of this case, a partner who did not give birth to the child has standing to seek visitation with the child. This is not to say that a former domestic partner is automatically entitled to visitation in these circumstances—it must still be established that visitation is in the child's best interests. We therefore reverse the trial court's conclusion that Partner lacked standing to seek visitation with Child and remand with instructions to reconsider Partner's request for visitation under the standard set forth in our third-party visitation cases."

So, while a same-sex partner may have visitation, Indiana has not held that they are entitled to visitation per the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines. Yet. 

Finally, one of most interesting parts of the opinion is where the Court of Appeals urges the legislature to address this issue:

"Since King, the status of the law surrounding a lesbian partner's right, if any, to enjoy the rights of a legal parent of a child born to her partner under the circumstances presented here remains uncertain.[5] When this court decided In re A.B., we solicited guidance from the General Assembly on this issue. In the years that have passed since then, none has been forthcoming. The existing statutory framework does not contemplate the increased use of assisted reproductive technologies. Accordingly, it provides no guidance in situations where an intended parent lacks a genetic connection to the child. That deficiency is exacerbated by the growing recognition of less traditional family structures. Our system of government entrusts the General Assembly, not the courts, to fashion a framework for deciding matters as tethered to social mores and sensibilities as this subject is. We feel the vacuum of such guidance even more acutely now than we did eight years ago, when King was decided. Indeed, what began as a trickle is rapidly becoming a torrent, and the number of children whose lives are impacted by rules that have yet to be written only increases with the passage of time. They, and we, would welcome a legislative roadmap to help navigate the novel legal landscape in which we have arrived."

To discuss this please contact me. To see all of my postings on this topic search here. 

The "New" & "Old" Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines - Indiana Custody Law

he Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines were amended (in other words changed) on March 1, 2013.  I summarized the changes here and published a copy of of the "new" guidelines here.  However, the Guidelines do not automatically apply to cases decided under the "old" parenting time guidelines.  Specifically, the "new" Guidelines provide:

Existing parenting time orders in effect on March 1, 2013 shall be enforced according to the parenting time guidelines that were in effect on the date the parenting time order was issued.

Which guidelines apply to your case?  In addition to the "new" guidelines there are  parenting time guidelines as amended in  2001 (the "old" guidelines).  As I did not readily find where the "old"guidelines were available on the Indiana government site so I've published PDF copies of the "old" guidelines here. 

Also, the 1997 Hamilton County Visitation Guidelines are here.

o discuss this please contact me. To see all of my postings on this topic search here.