USA – INDIANA Law and Practice Contributed by: Drew Soshnick, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP
county of residence) to try to limit likelihood of access. Some counties permit filings with ini - tials as opposed to full names, but that is dis - cretionary. Indiana allows for public access to the Chronological Case Summary of Filings and Proceedings (but not the actual filings for non- lawyers) for most types of family law cases (but not orders of protection, adoptions, and other categories). 2.9 Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Indiana has rules for ADR. Mediation, arbitration, and private judging is available to assist parties to resolve financial disputes. Several Indiana counties, by local rule, require mediation before a final hearing. If a party is non- compliant, courts can impose sanctions. Mediated agreements on financial issues are generally enforceable upon execution and are approved by courts as an order of the court. Agreements are favoured under Indiana law to promote amicable resolution of disputes (see Indiana Code Section 31-15-2-17). Indiana does not separate financial issues from children’s issues in divorce cases. However, there are separate statutes that address jurisdic - tion for child custody proceedings if children’s issues are not part of a divorce case, such as paternity, post-divorce children’s issues, guardi - anships, and children’s issues from other juris - dictions. Indiana has adopted a version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (styled UCCJA rather than Uniform Child Custody Juris - diction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)) (see Indiana Code Section 31-21-1-1 et seq). While 3. Child Law 3.1 Choice of Jurisdiction
not absolute, the six-month home state rule – the state where the child has lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least the last six consecutive months is the child’s “home state” – applies in many situations. There are exceptions for emergencies and other situations. In addition to home state considerations, the best interests of children are considered when establishing jurisdiction. Home state is most relevant for children in deter - mining jurisdiction when children’s issues are not part of a divorce case. In those instances, for the parents, having some nexus to Indiana is relevant – although the three-month county and six-month state requirements are not technically applied as in divorce cases. 3.2 Living/Contact Arrangements and Child Maintenance Custody Disputes If there is a dispute over custody and parent - ing time, courts will address those issues upon application of a party. Indiana has statutes and case law that govern the determination of both legal custody (making major life decisions for children) and physical custody (deciding what parenting time each parent will have). “Children” are defined as under the age of 18, for purposes of custody and parenting time (see Indiana Code Section 31-9-2-13). Courts may make orders that are in children’s best interests as to custody and parenting time so long as they are constitu - tional and do not improperly infringe on a par - ent’s right to have access to and raise children. A custodian may determine the children’s upbringing, including education, healthcare, and religious training, unless limited by court order due to the children’s physical health being endangered or emotional development sig - nificantly impaired (see Indiana Code Section
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