Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines
“The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines offers answers to one of the most pressing issues facing divorced parents: how do we manage the involvement of both parents in our child’s life?”
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Here we will examine the genesis of these Indiana guidelines, what they are, and do they make a difference.
The courts in Indiana were constantly being asked to establish visitation rights as a part of divorce proceedings.
The Indiana State Supreme Court found that district courts were overwhelmed by the number of requests. In order to bring some degree of conformity they set out to establish a state-wide model that met the needs of parents, but more importantly was in the best interest of children. That model became known as the State Parenting Time Guidelines.
The Supreme Court turned to the Committee of the Judicial Conference of Indiana to study and recommend a solution. They then took these recommendations and adopted new state-wide Parenting Time Guidelines, which are used by all Indiana trial courts in divorce.
The intent of the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines is designed to facilitate parents and the courts develop parenting plans. These plans establish a minimum amount of time that a non-custodial parent should have with a child, except where there is good reason to not follow the guidelines.
An important component of these guidelines is the belief that children of divorce need a healthy relationship with each parent. Inherent in the guidelines is the assumption that each parent has something unique to offer the child.
One of the important redefinitions in the guidelines is the replacement of the term “visitation” with “parenting time.” This small but important redefinition establishes that a non-custodial parent is a parent not just a visitor.
Among the issues outlined in the “Guidelines” are general issues, such as amount of time spent on telephone with the parent, how is lost parenting time made up, which parent has responsibility for transportation, what are allowable activities that parents have with shared parenting plans.
Visitation is also based on the age of the children. They even address what is the protocol when parents live some distance from each other.
Among the criticism of simply accepting the guidelines is that while they are a good starting point, it is important that the uniqueness of each family be considered. One area where the guidelines are less effective is when the proceedings between the parents are hotly contested.
The adaption of these guidelines in Indiana has drawn nation-wide interest. Courts, attorneys, and child rights advocates have begun to incorporate the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines into parental agreements nationwide.
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