Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines: 4 Rules for a Plan You Can File

The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines are the official model adopted for Indiana family courts that set minimum recommended schedules based on a child's age and family circumstances. Parents can customize a schedule to fit their own situation, and judges turn to the Guidelines whenever parents cannot agree on their own. Knowing how the Guidelines work helps you build a plan that holds up in court.

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TL;DR:

• The current Guidelines took effect January 1, 2022; courts may restrict or supervise parenting time when violence, dangerous substance use, or flight risks are documented.
• For children three and older, the usual schedule adds alternating weekends and a midweek evening; extended summer weeks require 60 days’ notice.
• Holiday time overrides regular weekends, and extended parenting time takes priority; the plan or court determines who pays long distance travel costs.
• Shared parenting works best when parents communicate cooperatively, align household routines, and live close enough to manage school and activities.
• At age 14, a child’s preference receives greater weight in Indiana custody decisions, but judges still decide based on the child’s overall best interests.

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• Where the Guidelines come from and when they apply
• General rules: communication, scheduling, and missed time
• Age-based schedules, holidays, and summer parenting time
• When distance makes parenting time harder to schedule
• Shared parenting as an alternative to the standard schedule
• What a parenting coordinator does and when courts appoint one
• Turning the guidelines into a plan you can actually file
• How CoParent Navigator helps you build an Indiana-ready plan
• FAQ
• Sources

The Indiana Supreme Court and the Judicial Conference of Indiana adopted the Parenting Time Guidelines on March 31, 2001, and updated them effective January 1, 2022. They function as a statewide model, not a mandate: when parents agree on a different arrangement, courts generally respect that agreement as long as it serves the child's welfare.

When parents disagree, judges use the Guidelines as the default reference point for building a parenting time order. The Guidelines are not applied uniformly in every case, though. Courts may deviate from or restrict the standard schedule when specific risks are present, including:

• A documented history of domestic or family violence
• Substance abuse that could endanger the child during parenting time
• A credible risk that a parent might flee with the child or fail to return them

In those situations, courts can order supervised time, add conditions, or reduce the schedule's scope entirely.

Parenting time under the Guidelines is treated as both a right and a responsibility. Once a schedule is set, both parents are expected to follow it reliably rather than treat it as optional.

A few operational rules show up throughout the Guidelines:

1. Parents should communicate directly with each other, not through the child, about scheduling, pickups, or disagreements.
2. Each parent is expected to share relevant information, like school events, medical appointments, and emergency contacts, with the other.
3. When a parent cannot exercise scheduled time, they're expected to offer makeup time or, in some cases, cover reasonable costs the other parent incurred because of the missed exchange.
4. Courts can order additional safeguards, such as supervised exchanges or drug testing, when a parent's reliability or safety is in question.

Pro Tip: Keep a simple written log of exchanges, cancellations, and makeup time. It becomes invaluable if a dispute ever lands in front of a judge.

The Guidelines lay out specific minimum schedules tied to a child's developmental stage, with the goal of protecting bonding time while recognizing what very young children can handle.

• Infants from birth to about four months typically get frequent, shorter contact periods rather than overnights, building toward more extended time as the child grows.
• Babies from roughly five to nine months often begin transitioning toward brief overnights, depending on feeding routines and attachment.
• Children up to age three generally move toward a more regular overnight pattern as they near their third birthday, though the Guidelines caution against rushing this.
• Children age three and older typically follow alternating weekends plus one midweek evening, with overnights becoming standard and extended blocks of time added as they get older. Parents planning an extended week generally need to give 60 days' notice.
• Adolescents and teens follow the regular and extended schedules too, but the Guidelines note that school commitments, activities, and growing independence often call for added flexibility.

Holiday time generally takes precedence over a regular weekend schedule, and extended parenting time typically takes precedence over regular parenting time as well. Major holidays, including Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Halloween, and religious holidays, are commonly split or alternated by even and odd years so each parent gets a fair rotation over time.

Summer brings its own rules. Older children are generally eligible for an extended block, often described as roughly half of summer break, and the parent wanting to exercise that time typically needs to notify the other parent by April 1 so both households can plan around it.

When parents live far apart, the Guidelines build in extra structure so travel logistics don't derail the plan. A parent planning to use extended summer or holiday time across a distance generally needs to give advance notice of their availability, giving both households time to arrange travel and coordinate work schedules.

A few practical points matter here:

• Summer parenting time generally takes priority over extracurricular activities when the two conflict, since it's often the primary way a long-distance parent maintains consistent contact.
• Exchange locations are often set partway between the two homes, or at a point that balances travel burden fairly.
• Who covers travel costs isn't fixed by a single rule; it's typically addressed directly in the parenting plan or decided by the court based on each family's circumstances.

Building these details into a written plan upfront avoids last-minute disputes over who drives, who pays, and when notice is due.

Shared parenting describes an arrangement where both parents divide time close to equally, sometimes called a "two houses, one home" approach because the goal is consistency across both households rather than one primary residence. It's an alternative to the Guidelines' default schedule, not a replacement for the planning it requires.

Courts and practitioners generally point to a few factors that predict whether shared parenting works well:

1. Both parents communicate directly and cooperatively, without routing conflict through the child.
2. Parenting philosophies, routines, and expectations are reasonably aligned between households.
3. The parents live close enough to each other that school and activity logistics stay manageable.

A written shared parenting plan submitted to the court typically spells out the day-to-day routine, how major decisions get made, and a clear process for resolving disagreements before they escalate.

A parenting coordinator is a neutral professional courts can appoint to help high-conflict parents implement an existing order rather than relitigate it. Coordinators typically come from mental health or legal backgrounds and are expected to meet qualifications set by the appointing court.

Once appointed, a coordinator generally works for a defined term, reports back to the court on progress, and helps resolve the day-to-day friction points, like exchange timing or communication breakdowns, that don't rise to the level of a new hearing. Parenting coordination works alongside the existing court order, not in place of it, and parents can request one when ordinary communication has broken down repeatedly.

Start by putting your agreement in writing, signing it, and filing it for court approval so it's enforceable. Build a year-long calendar that marks holidays, school breaks, and notice deadlines like the April 1 summer selection date, and set reminders so nothing slips.

If safety concerns, a military deployment, or repeated conflict come up, ask the court about supervised time, an expedited hearing, or a parenting coordinator. When child support is part of the picture, converting your overnight schedule into a parenting-time percentage early helps avoid surprises on the worksheet.

— Heather

Our platform is designed so you don't have to start a parenting plan from a blank page or guess whether your schedule matches what Indiana courts expect. The platform features a library of research-backed clauses organized around state-specific guidelines to help draft a complete plan independently and skip the back-and-forth that usually drives up legal fees.

A few ways we make this easier:

• Our Indiana-aware parenting plan templates are built around age-based schedules, holidays, and summer notice rules like the ones covered above.
• Our Parenting-Time Percentage Calculator converts your overnight schedule into the percentage used on child support worksheets.
• The platform provides a secure workspace that centralizes calendar, communication, and documentation in one place, so nothing gets lost between exchanges.

If you're ready to turn your schedule into a document you can file, create your custodial plan and work through it at your own pace.

What are the new Indiana parenting guidelines for 2026?

Indiana's current Parenting Time Guidelines took effect January 1, 2022, and no separate 2026 version has replaced them. Indiana Code sections governing custody and parenting time, including IC 31-17-2 and IC 31-17-4, remain the statutory framework courts apply alongside the Guidelines.

Can a 12 year old decide which parent to live with in Indiana?

No single age gives a child the final say over where they live in Indiana. State law gives a child's preference more weight once they turn 14, but judges still apply a full best-interests analysis and document their reasoning in the order.

Can a father get 50/50 custody in Indiana?

Yes, a father can pursue a shared parenting arrangement in Indiana, since the Guidelines don't favor one parent's gender over the other. Courts look at cooperation, communication, proximity, and whether both parents can maintain consistent routines before approving a near-equal split.

At what age will a judge listen to a child in Indiana?

A judge can consider a child's wishes at various ages, but Indiana law assigns greater weight to that preference starting at age 14. Even then, the child's preference is one factor among several the court weighs when deciding what serves the child's best interests.

• Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines (official site)
• Indiana Code — Title 31 family law (selected sections)
• Order amending Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines

• Free Parenting-Time Percentage Calculator
• Free Custody Schedule Templates — 50/50 & More
• The Anatomy of a Strong Parenting Plan
• Choosing a Parenting Time Schedule That Fits Your Child

Informational only, not legal advice. Review filing, approval and enforceability requirements with a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.