Indiana Agreed Custody and Parenting Terms for Proposed Court Order

INDIANA AGREED CUSTODY AND PARENTING TERMS

1. Court-Approval Gate

Court: [________________________________]

County: [________________________________]

Cause number: [________________________________]

Existing custody or parenting order dated: [__/__/____] ☐ None

Proceeding: ☐ Initial custody ☐ Dissolution ☐ Paternity ☐ Modification ☐ Other: [________________]

These terms become enforceable as a custody or parenting-time order only to the extent approved and entered by the court.

The court must decide custody in the child's best interests. There is no presumption favoring either parent. A final custody order must include the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law.

2. Parties and Children

Parent A: [________________________________]

Address and contact: [________________________________]

Parent B: [________________________________]

Address and contact: [________________________________]

Jurisdiction under IC 31-21 reviewed by counsel: [________________________________]

Related protective, CHINS, guardianship, support, or criminal matters: [________________________________]

3. Best-Interest Record

Address each relevant IC 31-17-2-8 factor for the proposed order.

If disability is relevant, apply IC 31-17-2-8.1 and current federal accommodation law without treating disability itself as parental unfitness.

4. Legal Custody Election

Select one proposal:

☐ Sole legal custody to Parent A

☐ Sole legal custody to Parent B

☐ Joint legal custody

For joint legal custody, state facts addressing IC 31-17-2-15:

• Fitness and suitability: [________________________________]
• Ability and willingness to communicate and cooperate: [________________________________]
• Child's wishes, with more consideration if the child is at least 14: [________________________________]
• Close and beneficial relationship with both parents: [________________________________]
• Proximity of residences and future plans: [________________________________]
• Physical and emotional environment in each home: [________________________________]

Agreement is an important but not controlling consideration. Joint legal custody does not require equal physical custody.

5. Decision-Making Terms

Emergency decisions: The parent with the child may obtain emergency care and shall notify the other parent as soon as reasonably practicable at [________________________________].

Impasse procedure: [direct written consultation / counsel conference / voluntary mediation / court motion / other: ________________________________]

A private impasse clause does not delegate the court's custody authority to an arbitrator or make IC 31-17-2-12 an arbitration statute. That section concerns court-ordered custody investigations and reports.

6. Physical Custody and Parenting Schedule

Primary residence for school and records: [________________________________]

Regular schedule:

Holiday schedule: [Attach detailed schedule as Exhibit A]

School breaks and summer: [________________________________]

Birthdays and special days: [________________________________]

Transportation and exchanges: [________________________________]

Remote communication: [________________________________]

Optional right of first opportunity for care: [________________________________]

Exhibit A — holiday and break allocation: Complete dates, times, and exchange places for each child. A holiday entry overrides the regular schedule only for the period stated.

Summer or vacation weeks, selection notice, and schedule priority: [________________________________]

School closure or child illness logistics: [________________________________]

Exchange transport allocation, authorized pickup persons, and delay notice: [________________________________]

Parent-child call or video contact: days, times, device, and privacy: [________________________________]

Temporary schedule changes: Record the agreed change in writing and identify whether a court order is needed before treating it as a modification of an existing order: [________________________________]

Do not label an optional schedule term as required by statute. Counsel should compare the proposed schedule with the current Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines and explain any required or appropriate deviation in the filing.

7. Safety and Information Terms

Protective-order or confidential-address controls: [________________________________]

Supervision, if requested: [________________________________]

Substance-use or testing term supported by current findings and authority: [________________________________]

Firearm or dangerous-item term supported by current order or authority: [________________________________]

School and medical record access: [________________________________]

Passport notice and travel terms: [________________________________]

Household, school, and care information each parent will share: [________________________________]

Emergency-contact and medication handoff method: [________________________________]

Do not use a commercial notice-and-cure clause when immediate child safety or a court order requires a different response.

8. Relocation Gate

IC 31-17-2.2 contains its own notice, exception, response, and hearing routes.

A. Exception Screening

☐ A prior order addresses or excuses relocation notice.

☐ The move decreases the distance between residences and allows the child to remain in the current school.

☐ The move increases the distance by no more than 20 miles and allows the child to remain in the current school.

☐ No exception applies.

B. Notice Timing

If notice is required, it must generally 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 the relocation,

whichever is sooner.

Date move became known: [__/__/____]

Intended move date: [__/__/____]

Calculated notice date: [__/__/____]

Required notice contents and safety treatment reviewed: [________________________________]

C. Response and Existing Orders

A nonrelocating parent generally must respond within 20 days after service using the route in IC 31-17-2.2-5. A complete filed agreement resolving relocation-related custody, parenting time, visitation, and support may affect that response requirement.

For a relocation dispute, prepare the facts listed in IC 31-17-2.2-1(c): distance, travel cost and hardship, feasible contact, prior conduct affecting contact, each parent's reasons, and other factors affecting the child's best interests. IC 31-17-2.2-5(e)-(f) assigns the relocating individual the initial burden to show good faith and a legitimate reason, then shifts the burden on best interests to the nonrelocating parent.

All existing custody, parenting-time, visitation, and support orders remain effective until the court modifies them.

No term in this packet prospectively waives a future statutory relocation notice, objection, hearing, safety, or court-review requirement.

9. Child Support and Expenses

Current support order: [________________________________]

Proposed support treatment: [No change / separate worksheet and proposed order / other: ________________________________]

Health insurance: [________________________________]

Uninsured health expenses: [________________________________]

Education, childcare, and activity expenses: [________________________________]

A custody agreement does not privately modify child support. For a filed relocation agreement that changes support, IC 31-17-2.2-5(b) requires a child support worksheet signed by the parties and attached to the agreement. Obtain a court order for a support change.

10. Modification and Enforcement

A later custody modification requires court action, the child's best interests, and a substantial change in an applicable statutory factor under IC 31-17-2-21.

A parenting-time order has a separate standard: under IC 31-17-4-2, the court may modify it whenever modification serves the child's best interests, but may restrict a parent's time only on the statutory endangerment or significant-impairment finding.

The parties may submit an agreed amendment, but it does not replace court approval where an order must change.

For an alleged violation, identify the exact existing order, notice, willfulness, defense, and relief authorized by current law. This packet does not create:

• automatic attorney fees;
• indemnification between parents or in favor of the child;
• mandatory liability insurance or additional-insured status;
• automatic custody modification;
• a private contempt finding;
• a no-bond injunction; or
• a force-majeure override of a court order.

11. Proposed Findings and Order

The parties request findings that:

1. The court has jurisdiction and the required parties received notice.

2. The facts in Section 3 support the proposed custody arrangement as being in the child's best interests.

3. If joint legal custody is proposed, the IC 31-17-2-15 facts support that award.

4. The schedule and decision-making terms are sufficiently definite to administer and enforce.

5. Any safety limitations are supported by the stated evidence and authority.

6. Any relocation or support term follows its separate statutory procedure.

PROPOSED ORDER:

☐ The agreed terms are approved and incorporated into the court's order.

☐ Legal custody is awarded as follows: [________________________________]

☐ Physical custody and parenting time are ordered as follows: [________________________________]

☐ Child support is addressed by the separate worksheet and order dated [__/__/____].

☐ Other: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

___________________________________
Judge

12. Signatures

The parents state that these are their proposed agreed terms and request court review. They understand that the court controls custody and modification.

Parent A: ___________________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Parent B: ___________________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Counsel for Parent A: [________________________________]

Counsel for Parent B: [________________________________]

13. Filing Checklist

☐ Verified jurisdiction, parentage, parties, and notice

☐ Attached existing orders

☐ Addressed every relevant best-interest factor

☐ Supplied current written findings for the proposed final order

☐ Distinguished joint legal custody from physical schedule

☐ Checked current Parenting Time Guidelines without relying on a stale copied schedule

☐ Addressed safety and confidential information

☐ Applied the current relocation notice and response route

☐ Attached support worksheet and proposed order if support changes

☐ Removed arbitration, indemnity, automatic fees, insurance mandates, and private default remedies

Sources and References

• Indiana Code 2026, IC 31-17-2
• Indiana Code 2026, IC 31-17-2.2
• Indiana Code 2026, IC 31-17-4