Indiana Child Custody Agreement

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   In Indiana an agreement is a proposal to the court, not a decision. IC 31-15-2-17(a) lets parents agree in writing to provisions for the custody and support of the children and for the relocation of the children, and IC 31-15-2-17(b) provides that the terms, if approved by the court, are incorporated and merged into the decree and the parties are ordered to perform them. If the court does not approve them, the same subsection lets the court make its own provisions for custody as provided in the title. The statute states no standard for that decision, so the court is applying the ordinary best interests test rather than a special rule for agreed cases.

2. 2

   The one place agreeing carries express weight is joint legal custody. IC 31-17-2-15 requires that, in determining whether joint legal custody is in the child's best interest, the court shall consider it a matter of primary, but not determinative, importance that the persons awarded joint custody have agreed to an award of joint legal custody. The same section adds six further considerations the court weighs. That weighting is real and mandatory, but it is expressly not determinative, it creates no presumption, and by its terms it applies only to joint legal custody, not to physical custody or parenting time.

3. 3

   Indiana does not presume anything about either parent. IC 31-17-2-8 states that the court shall determine custody in accordance with the best interests of the child and that in determining best interests there is no presumption favoring either parent. The section then lists nine factors: the age and sex of the child; the wishes of the parents; the wishes of the child, with more weight from age fourteen; the child's interaction with parents, siblings and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests; the child's adjustment to home, school and community; the mental and physical health of all individuals involved; evidence of a pattern of domestic or family violence by either parent; evidence that the child has been cared for by a de facto custodian; and a designation in a power of attorney. Because the statute says all relevant factors, including the following, the list is a floor rather than a limit.

4. 4

   Since 2025 the order itself has to carry reasoning. IC 31-17-2-8.2 requires a trial court to include its findings of fact and conclusions of law in a final order awarding custody, modifying custody, or denying a modification, and it does not carve out orders that adopt what the parents agreed. An agreement written so that the court can see how the arrangement fits the statutory factors is easier to work from than a bare schedule.

5. 5

   A written agreement can also change who decides day to day matters. Under IC 31-17-2-17(a) the custodian may determine the child's upbringing, including education, health care and religious training, except as otherwise agreed by the parties in writing at the time of the custody order. That is a rare Indiana provision that gives the parents' own writing direct effect. It does not make the rest of the agreement permanent: IC 31-15-2-17(c) shields only property terms from later modification, and custody remains modifiable, with IC 31-17-2-21 sending the court back to the same section 8 factors.

6. 6

   Indiana has no parenting plan. The phrase does not appear in Indiana Code Title 31, no chapter prescribes what a custody document must contain, and there is no filing deadline for one. Vocabulary is worth getting right all the same: Indiana still says custody, legal custody, physical custody and custodian, but a parent's time with the child has been called parenting time since 2005 under IC 31-9-2-88.5, and visitation now belongs to grandparents under IC 31-17-5. Note also that IC 31-17-2-14 says joint legal custody does not require an equal division of physical custody, so a schedule has to be written out rather than assumed from the custody label.

7. 7

   Relocation is where Indiana is most specific, and the trigger is time rather than distance. IC 31-9-2-107.7 defines relocation as a change in the primary residence of an individual for a period of at least 60 days, with no mileage element. Notice must be filed and served not later than 30 days before the intended move or not more than 14 days after the relocating individual becomes aware of the relocation, whichever is sooner. IC 31-17-2.2-1(b) excuses notice where a prior court order has already addressed relocation, or where the move both decreases the distance between the parents' residences or increases it by not more than 20 miles and allows the child to remain in the same school, and both limbs of that second exemption must be met.

Indiana Requirements for Child Custody Agreement

• Written Custody Agreement, IC 31-15-2-17(a) and (c)

  Parents may agree in writing to provisions for the custody and support of the children and for the relocation of the children. Subsection (c) shields only property terms from later modification, so the document should not describe the custody terms as permanent or final between the parents.

• Approval and Merger into the Decree, IC 31-15-2-17(b)

  The terms are incorporated and merged into the decree only if approved by the court, and the parties are then ordered to perform them; if they are not approved, the court may make its own provisions for custody as provided in the title. No standard for approval is stated, so the agreement should be drafted as a request for entry rather than as a settled contract.

• Findings in the Custody Order, IC 31-17-2-8.2

  A trial court must include its findings of fact and conclusions of law in a final order awarding custody, modifying custody, or denying a modification, and the requirement is not written to exclude agreed orders. Terms that explain how the arrangement fits the statutory factors give the court more to work from.

• Best Interests and Nine Factors, IC 31-17-2-8

  The court determines custody in accordance with the best interests of the child, and there is no presumption favoring either parent. Nine factors are listed, from the child's age and sex through evidence of a pattern of domestic or family violence and care by a de facto custodian, and the preamble makes the list open by requiring consideration of all relevant factors.

• Joint Legal Custody, IC 31-17-2-15 and IC 31-17-2-14

  In deciding whether joint legal custody is in the child's best interest, the court shall consider it a matter of primary, but not determinative, importance that the persons awarded joint custody have agreed to it, alongside six further considerations. Joint legal custody does not require an equal division of physical custody, so the parenting time schedule must be written out separately.

• Authority Over Upbringing, IC 31-17-2-17(a)

  The custodian may determine the child's upbringing, including education, health care and religious training, except as otherwise agreed by the parties in writing at the time of the custody order. A different allocation therefore has to be written into the agreement, and it should state that it is made at the time of the custody order.

• Relocation Definition and Notice, IC 31-9-2-107.7 and IC 31-17-2.2-3

  Relocation means a change in the primary residence of an individual for a period of at least 60 days, with no mileage element in the definition. Notice must be filed and served not later than 30 days before the intended relocation or not more than 14 days after the relocating individual becomes aware of it, whichever is sooner.

• Notice Exemption and Contact Duty, IC 31-17-2.2-1(b) and IC 31-17-2.2-0.5

  No notice is required where a prior order has already addressed relocation, or where the move either decreases the distance between the parents' residences or increases it by not more than 20 miles and allows the child to remain enrolled in the child's current school; both parts of that second exemption must be met. A separate continuing duty requires each person with or seeking custody, parenting time or grandparent visitation to keep the others advised in writing of home address, all telephone numbers and all electronic mail addresses.

• Relocation Response, Agreement and Burdens, IC 31-17-2.2-5

  The nonrelocating parent has 20 days from service to respond, and if no response is filed the relocating individual may move. A written agreement filed with the court resolving all issues related to custody, parenting time, grandparent visitation and child support excuses the response. If the matter is contested, the relocating individual must prove the move is made in good faith and for a legitimate reason, after which the burden shifts to the nonrelocating parent to show the move is not in the child's best interest.

• Supervised Parenting Time Presumption, IC 31-17-2-8.3

  Where a noncustodial parent has been convicted of a crime involving domestic or family violence that was witnessed or heard by the child, there is a rebuttable presumption that the court shall order supervised parenting time, for at least one and not more than two years following the crime or until the child is emancipated, whichever is first. The court may also require completion of a certified batterer's intervention program as a condition of unsupervised time. This is a presumption about supervision, not a presumption against custody.