Indiana Child Support

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Any divorce is painful. But the pain increases if children are involved. It is not easy for any parent to get separated from his or her children. Since both of the parents are unable to live with each other, they decide to split and opt for a divorce. They have to deal with issues like child support and child custody. Generally parents try to decide the child maintenance amount and if they fail to do so, Family Courts will interfere and decide the amount that is to be paid by the non-custodial parent. In the United States, all the fifty states have different child support guidelines. Indiana is not an exception. Various laws and procedures are developed pertaining to divorce child support in Indiana.

A family court in Indiana uses several parameters to determine the support amount. Separating parents need to furnish all details of their property and income. They have to obey the court orders and thus contribute towards their children's development. A child is entitled to support till he/she is emancipated or becomes 21 years old, whichever happens first.

If you are going to file a child maintenance case against your partner or a similar case is filed against you, you must fight your case legally. For this you need to know the basics of child support in Indiana. In this way, there would not be any conflict of interests created between you and your partner.

How the child support payment is accepted?

The INSCCU (Indiana State Central Collection Unit) does not accept the child subsidy amount in the form of cash. The following types of payments are acceptable:

• Cashier's checks
• Money orders
• Personal checks

However, the local county clerk's office allows cash payments on a walk-in basis. The clerk of the court issues a receipt for the support amount received.

Income Share Model

In most of the states in the United State, a child support calculator is used to determine the support amount. The court also takes into account a number of factors like the number of children, income of each of the parents, age of the children, etc. But Indiana courts calculate the amount based on an Income Share model.

The gross income of the parents is taken into account. Gross income is inclusive of:

• Salaries
• Gifts
• Disability
• Alimony
• Overtime
• Worker's Compensation
• Commissions
• Pension
• Unemployment

Before awarding child subsidy amount, the following factors are focused upon:

• Number of children's
• Financial resources of both the parents
• How the child custody is arranged

A parent may be ordered by the court to provide the following expenses:

• Child care expenses or special expenses like educational, dental or medical expenses
• Medical support in cash

In addition the parent may be ordered to add the child to his/her dental and health insurance coverage.

Rules pertaining to Divorce Child Support in Indiana

The following 3 rules are being observed with effect from 1^st January 2010.

First Rule

The Domestic Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana has presented some Indiana Child Support Guidelines and subsequent amendments. The Judicial Administration Committee has drafted these and the Board of the Judicial Conference of Indiana has adopted them. Further, the Indiana Supreme Court adopted these guidelines and the amendments as the Child Support Rules and Guidelines of the Supreme Court.

Second Rule

In any child subsidy case, the Indiana Child Support Guidelines are applied to determine the support amount to be awarded. The amount derived from these guidelines is regarded as the precise amount of child subsidy. However, the previous statement is considered as a rebuttable presumption.

Third Rule

The court is empowered to reach the decision that the amount obtained after applying the guidelines is unjust. However, in such cases, the court should mention the facts that endorse the previous statement in written form.

Enforcement of Divorce Child Support in Indiana

The various methods used for enforcement are as follows:

• Criminal charges
• Liens and judgments
• Interception of lottery winnings
• Driver and Professional License suspension
• Interstate enforcement
• Tax intercept
• Income withholding
• Credit bureau reporting
• Contempt of court
• Interception of unemployment compensation benefits
• Passport application denial

The primary concern of the Child Support Division is to establish a regular payment plan for ongoing support. The second issue is the collection of arrears. While deciding which of the above methods of enforcement should be selected, the following points are considered:

• The past payment record
• All the data pertaining to the case
• Where the parent is located
• The date on which the latest payment was made
• The amount of money the parent earns
• The assets the parent has

Every aspect of divorce child support in Indiana is designed to secure the best interests of your child. So don't prove yourself to be a delinquent in child support payment. Rather you should make every attempt that will benefit your child in the long run.

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