A dissolution of marriage in Indiana is the legal process for ending a marriage, and it runs on a fixed frame: at least one spouse must have lived in the state for six months, a verified petition gets filed in the appropriate county, and the court must wait a minimum of 60 days before entering a final decree.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-2-6 – Residence; Filing in County of Guardian’s Residence2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-2-10 – Final Hearing Between those bookends the court divides property (starting from a presumption that it should be split equally), sets custody and child support, and decides whether spousal maintenance is warranted. Most cases proceed on no-fault grounds.
Who Can File and Where
Indiana courts will only accept a divorce petition if at least one spouse has lived in the state for six months and in the filing county for three months.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-2-6 – Residence; Filing in County of Guardian’s Residence Military members stationed at an Indiana installation meet those requirements even if their legal domicile is elsewhere.
If neither spouse qualifies, the court will dismiss the case, and you would need to wait out the clock or file in a state where residency is satisfied. Indiana courts can end the marriage itself even when one spouse lives out of state, but disputes over out-of-state property or children living elsewhere can slow the case considerably.
Grounds for Divorce
Indiana recognizes four grounds and no others: irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, a felony conviction of one spouse after the marriage, impotence at the time of marriage that was unknown to the other spouse, and incurable insanity of at least two years’ duration.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-2-3 – Grounds for Decree
Irretrievable breakdown is the no-fault option, and it is what the overwhelming majority of filers choose. The three fault grounds require actual evidence, whether criminal records, medical testimony, or documentation, which raises the cost and length of the case. A fault finding can influence property division or maintenance, but most attorneys steer clients toward no-fault unless there is a strong strategic reason not to.
Filing the Petition and Serving Your Spouse
A divorce begins when one spouse files a verified Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in the circuit or superior court of the appropriate county. The petition must state each party’s residence and length of residence, the date of the marriage, the date of separation, the names and ages of any children under 21 or any incapacitated children, the grounds, and the relief requested.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-2-5 – Verified Petition; Averments; Guardian Filing Petition Indiana does not require any period of separation before filing, but the separation date matters because it helps fix the cutoff for classifying property as marital or separate.
Once filed, the petition must be served on the other spouse. Indiana permits service by registered or certified mail with return receipt, personal delivery, or leaving a copy at the spouse’s home followed by a first-class mailing.5Indiana Courts. Rule 4.1 – Summons: Service on Individuals If a spouse’s whereabouts are genuinely unknown, service by publication may be available. Improper service can delay or dismiss the case. After being served, the respondent has 20 days to file an answer.6Indiana Courts. Rule 6 – Time
Temporary Orders While the Case Is Pending
A dissolution case can take many months. During that time either spouse can ask the court for provisional orders that stay in effect until the final decree.7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-4-1 – Motions The common categories are temporary spousal maintenance, temporary custody and child support, possession of the home or specific assets, and protective orders in cases involving domestic violence. Courts can also order counseling. Getting a provisional order in place early is often what separates financial stability from chaos during the middle of a case.
How Property Gets Divided
Indiana starts from a presumption that marital property will be divided equally. That presumption is the default, and a spouse who wants an unequal split has to present evidence justifying the departure.8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-7-5 – Presumption for Equal Division of Marital Property; Rebuttal This differs from states that apply “equitable distribution” with no starting baseline. You begin at 50/50 and adjust from there.
The property subject to division includes everything acquired during the marriage, property owned before the marriage, and property received by gift or inheritance. Unlike most states, Indiana puts all of it into the marital pot regardless of when or how it was acquired.9Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-7-4 – Division of Property Pre-marital assets and inheritances are not automatically shielded; their origin is one of the factors a court weighs when deciding whether to depart from the equal split.
Factors that can justify an unequal division include:
- Each spouse’s contribution to acquiring the property, through income or homemaking
- Whether property was owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance
- Each spouse’s economic circumstances at the time of division, including the value of keeping the family home for a custodial parent
- Conduct during the marriage involving waste or concealment of assets
- Each spouse’s earning ability
Reckless gambling, hidden purchases, or transferring assets to third parties to keep them out of the divorce are the kinds of conduct that push judges toward awarding one spouse a larger share.8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-7-5 – Presumption for Equal Division of Marital Property; Rebuttal
Retirement Accounts
Retirement accounts are often the largest asset after the family home. For private-sector plans covered by ERISA, the court must issue a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). Without a valid QDRO, the plan can only pay benefits to the participant, no matter what the decree says.10U.S. Department of Labor. Qualified Domestic Relations Orders Under ERISA: A Practical Guide to Dividing Retirement Benefits Government employee retirement plans and church plans usually fall outside ERISA and require different procedures depending on the employer.
Taxes on Property Transfers
Property transfers between spouses as part of a divorce are generally not taxable events. No gain or loss is recognized when a transfer to a spouse or former spouse is incident to the divorce, meaning it happens within one year of the marriage ending or is otherwise related to the divorce.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1041 – Transfers of Property Between Spouses or Incident to Divorce The receiving spouse takes the original cost basis, which can create a tax bill later when the asset is sold. Worth reviewing with a tax professional before accepting a particular asset in a settlement.
Spousal Maintenance
Maintenance is not automatic in Indiana. The court may award it only after evaluating the requesting spouse’s specific situation, and it recognizes three categories.12Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-7-2 – Findings Concerning Maintenance
- Incapacity maintenance is available when a spouse is physically or mentally incapacitated to a degree that materially affects self-support. It can continue indefinitely, subject to court review.
- Caregiver maintenance supports a spouse who is the custodian of a child whose incapacity prevents that parent from working. The court sets the amount and duration.
- Rehabilitative maintenance is the most common. It helps a lower-earning spouse gain the education or training needed to become self-sufficient, and the statute caps it at three years from the final decree.
For rehabilitative maintenance, courts weigh each spouse’s education at the time of marriage and at the time of filing, whether the requesting spouse interrupted a career for homemaking or child care, each spouse’s earning capacity, and the time and expense needed to acquire marketable skills. Fifteen years out of the workforce raising children is weighed heavily. A recent graduate degree and current work experience makes a request harder to justify.
For any divorce finalized after December 31, 2018, maintenance payments are not deductible by the payer and not taxable income to the recipient.13Internal Revenue Service. Divorce or Separation May Have an Effect on Taxes That shift matters when negotiating amounts, because the paying spouse gets no tax benefit and the recipient keeps the full payment.
Custody, Parenting Time, and Relocation
Indiana courts decide custody on the best interests of the child, with no presumption favoring either parent. The statute directs judges to consider the child’s age and sex, each parent’s wishes, the child’s wishes (given more weight at age 14 or older), the child’s relationships with parents and siblings, adjustment to home and school, everyone’s mental and physical health, any pattern of domestic violence, and whether a de facto custodian has been providing care.14Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-2-8 – Custody Order
Custody has two parts. Legal custody governs major decisions about education, health care, and religious upbringing. Physical custody governs where the child lives day to day. Either can be awarded jointly or solely, and in practice many Indiana judges favor joint legal custody unless one parent has been shown unfit.
A parent who plans to relocate must file a notice of intent to relocate with the court that issued the custody or parenting time order. If the move would increase the distance between the parents’ homes by more than 20 miles and would require changing the child’s school, the notice requirement applies. The other parent can object, which triggers a hearing on whether the move serves the child’s best interests.15Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-17-2.2-1 – Notice of Intent to Move Residence Moving without filing the notice can seriously damage a parent’s credibility with the court.
Child Support
Indiana calculates child support using an Income Shares Model, which estimates what the parents would have spent on the child if they lived together and divides that amount proportionally by income.16Indiana Judicial Branch. Indiana Child Support Guidelines – Guideline 1 – Preface The calculation accounts for both parents’ gross incomes, any existing support obligations for other children, health insurance costs, child care expenses, and each parent’s parenting time.
The duty to pay child support generally ends when the child turns 19. Support ends earlier if the child is emancipated by joining the military or marrying, and it continues past 19 if the child is incapacitated. If the child is still in high school at 19, a parent or guardian can file a notice to continue support until graduation.17Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-16-6-6 – Duty to Support Child; Cessation Educational support petitions for post-secondary costs are also available, with filing deadlines tied to when the original support order was issued.
Enforcement tools include wage garnishment, tax refund interception, and license suspension. A delinquent parent can be held in contempt, with possible fines or jail time. Child support and other domestic support obligations survive bankruptcy and cannot be discharged.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
The 60-Day Wait and the Final Decree
Indiana requires at least 60 days to pass between the filing of the petition and the final resolution of the case. If both parties agree on all terms, they can file verified pleadings with a written waiver of the final hearing and either a statement that no issues are contested or a written settlement agreement. The court can then enter a summary dissolution decree without requiring anyone to appear.19Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-15-2-13 – Summary Dissolution Decree
When disputes remain, the court holds a final hearing where each side presents evidence and testimony, and the judge issues a decree covering property, custody and parenting time, child support, and any maintenance. Once entered, both parties are bound by its terms, and violating them can lead to contempt proceedings.
Changing the Order Later
Life shifts after a divorce, and Indiana law allows modifications to custody, child support, and maintenance when circumstances change substantially.
Custody modifications require showing that the change serves the child’s best interests. Substance abuse, inadequate care, or a planned relocation are the kinds of developments that support a petition. The threshold is deliberately high because courts value stability for children.
Child support can be modified two ways. Either you show a change in circumstances so substantial and continuing that the existing order has become unreasonable, or you show that applying the current guidelines would produce an amount more than 20 percent different from the existing order, provided at least 12 months have passed since the order was entered or last modified.20Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-16-8-1 – Modification or Revocation of Child Support Order or Maintenance Order Job loss, a significant raise, or a change in a child’s needs can each trigger a petition.
Maintenance modifications depend on the type originally awarded. Rehabilitative maintenance is capped at three years and generally cannot be extended. Incapacity maintenance can be adjusted if the recipient’s condition worsens or improves. Simply disliking the original terms is not enough.
Social Security After a Long Marriage
If your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you may be eligible to collect Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse’s earnings record. To qualify, you must be at least 62, currently unmarried, and divorced for at least two years, and your own benefit must be smaller than the divorced-spouse benefit for the claim to make sense.21Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.331 – Who Is Entitled to Wife’s or Husband’s Benefits as a Divorced Spouse Filing on your ex-spouse’s record does not reduce their benefit or affect a current spouse’s benefits. It is a detail many divorcing spouses overlook, and it can make a real difference in retirement income.