Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines Explained (2026 Update)

If you've been searching for the Indiana parenting time guidelines explained (2026 update), here's the short version: these are minimum parenting time standards adopted by the Indiana Supreme Court, applying statewide whenever divorcing or separated parents cannot reach their own agreement on custody schedules.

The current version took effect March 1, 2013, and was last amended October 5, 2021 and as of June 2026, no new update has been issued.

Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines Explained (2026 Update): The Basics

Most people searching this question have either just received divorce paperwork, are preparing for a custody hearing, or are trying to figure out why the schedule they have looks the way it does.

That context matters because the Guidelines aren't a court order. They're a framework. And understanding that distinction changes how you read everything else.

The Guidelines were created under Indiana Code § 31-17-4-1, which directs courts to ensure that a child receives frequent, meaningful contact with both parents whenever possible.

The document itself lays out specific schedules regular weekday and weekend time, holiday assignments, summer vacation rules, and provisions for children of different ages.

When parents agree on a plan, the Guidelines often take a back seat. Courts generally approve parenting agreements that both parents sign.

But when parents can't agree, the Guidelines become the court's default the baseline a judge applies unless there's a specific reason to deviate.

Legal Basis and Current 2026 Status

The Guidelines were first adopted with an effective date of March 1, 2013, replacing earlier versions. The most recent amendment was issued October 5, 2021.

That amendment clarified provisions around parenting time credit calculations and updated some scheduling language particularly relevant to how overnights factor into child support worksheets.

As of June 2026, no new statewide amendment has been published by the Indiana Supreme Court. The 2021 version remains the operative document.

Parents and practitioners commonly refer to this as the "current Guidelines" without a year attached, since the document itself doesn't carry an annual edition label.

The official text is available through the Indiana Courts website at in.gov/courts.

Do the Guidelines Apply to Your Case?

Generally, yes if your case involves a custody or parenting time order issued in Indiana. But there's one important exception: orders issued before March 1, 2013 do not automatically incorporate the current Guidelines.

If your order predates that, the old scheduling terms still apply unless you've filed a petition to modify.

What's often overlooked is that the Guidelines apply not just to divorcing married parents, but also to unmarried parents once paternity is legally established and custody is addressed by a court.

Key Terms Before You Read Further

Parenting time law has its own vocabulary, and competitors rarely stop to define it. That creates real confusion especially for parents trying to figure out which rules apply to them.

Custodial vs. Noncustodial Parent

The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child primarily lives. The noncustodial parent is the one with scheduled parenting time.

In practice, 50/50 arrangements complicate this. When parents share equal physical time, the Guidelines still use these labels for holiday assignment purposes.

Courts typically designate one parent as "custodial" for scheduling purposes even in equal-time arrangements often the parent listed first on the order, or the parent the child lives with during the school week.

Legal Custody vs. Physical Custody

Legal custody is about decision-making who has authority over major choices in the child's life, like education, medical care, and religious upbringing. Physical custody is about where the child lives day to day.

As documented in the Wikipedia overview of child custody, legal custody covers the right to make decisions about the child while physical custody covers the right and duty to house and care for the child and these two elements don't always go to the same parent.

Indiana courts favor joint legal custody (shared decision-making) in most cases. Physical custody can be joint or primary, depending on what serves the child's best interests.

Parenting Time vs. Visitation

Indiana deliberately uses the phrase parenting time rather than "visitation." This isn't just semantic it reflects the legal philosophy that both parents have meaningful roles in a child's life, not that one parent is merely a visitor in it.

You'll see both terms used informally, but in court documents and the Guidelines, parenting time is the operative phrase.

Standard Parenting Time Schedules in Indiana

Here's where most articles fall short. They jump straight to holidays without explaining what the regular schedule looks like. The holidays only make sense once you understand what they're interrupting.

The Standard Schedule for School-Age Children

For children of school age, the baseline schedule under the Guidelines gives the noncustodial parent:

Alternating weekends — Friday at 6:00 PM through Sunday at 6:00 PM
One weekday evening per week — typically a midweek dinner visit, though exact timing can vary by order

This is the floor, not the ceiling. Parents can and often do negotiate more time. But if a court is setting a schedule without a parenting agreement in place, this is where it starts.

School calendars control break dates. If parents live in different school districts, the calendar of the district where the child attends school controls — not the parent's home district.

Parenting Time for Infants and Toddlers (Under Age 3)

The Guidelines recognize that very young children have different developmental needs. Section III of the Guidelines provides a modified schedule for children under three years old.

As data from Our World in Data on family structures reflects, changes in family composition including rising rates of single-parent households have made age-appropriate parenting time provisions increasingly central to how courts approach custody planning for very young children.

The general approach for this age group emphasizes shorter, more frequent contact with the noncustodial parent rather than extended overnight stays.

The rationale is attachment and routine infants and toddlers benefit from consistency, and long absences from either caregiver can be disruptive.

In practice, family law attorneys commonly observe that these schedules are among the most negotiated provisions, because what works for a four-month-old doesn't work for a two-year-old.

The expectation built into the Guidelines is that the schedule will evolve gradually toward the standard school-age framework as the child develops.

Overnight parenting time for infants is not automatically excluded, but it's treated cautiously and is often the subject of contested hearings when parents disagree.

Parenting Time for Teenagers (Age 14 and Older)

Under Indiana Code § 31-17-2-8, a child's preferences receive greater weight once the child turns 14. Courts will consider what the teenager wants — but this is one factor among many, not a deciding vote.

What actually happens in practice is more nuanced. A judge will consider not just what the teenager says, but why they're saying it whether the preference reflects genuine comfort and relationship quality or whether it's been shaped by one parent's influence.

A 15-year-old's preference to live primarily with one parent carries real weight. That same preference, if it appears coached or motivated by leniency rather than genuine connection, carries less.

Equal and 50/50 Parenting Time Arrangements

Common equal-time schedules include:

2-2-3 rotation — two days with one parent, two with the other, then three, rotating weekly
2-2-5-5 — two days, two days, five days, five days
Week-on/week-off — alternating full weeks

The Guidelines don't prescribe a 50/50 schedule specifically, but they don't prohibit one either.

When parents agree to equal time, they should address holiday provisions explicitly in their parenting plan because the Guidelines' even/odd year holiday framework was designed around a primary/noncustodial structure and doesn't map cleanly onto equal-time arrangements without some customization.

Holiday Parenting Time Under the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines

Holiday parenting time overrides the regular schedule. If a holiday falls during the other parent's regular weekend, the regular schedule yields and that time is not made up later.

How the Even/Odd Year System Works

Indiana uses a simple alternating system. Holidays rotate between parents based on whether the calendar year is even or odd.

2026 is an even-numbered year. The table below shows assignments for 2026 and 2027.

Holiday	2026 (Even Year)	2027 (Odd Year)	Exchange Times
Winter Break – First Half	Noncustodial	Custodial	School dismissal → Noon Dec 25
Winter Break – Second Half	Custodial	Noncustodial	Noon Dec 25 → School resumes
Thanksgiving	Custodial	Noncustodial	Wed 6:00 PM → Sun 6:00 PM
Easter	Custodial	Noncustodial	Fri 6:00 PM → Sun 6:00 PM
Spring Break	Custodial	Noncustodial	Last school day 6:00 PM → Day before school 6:00 PM
Fall Break	Custodial	Noncustodial	Last school day 6:00 PM → Day before school 6:00 PM
Memorial Day	Custodial	Noncustodial	Fri 6:00 PM → Mon 6:00 PM
Labor Day	Custodial	Noncustodial	Fri 6:00 PM → Mon 6:00 PM
Fourth of July	Custodial	Noncustodial	July 3 6:00 PM → July 5 6:00 PM
Halloween	Noncustodial	Custodial	6:00 PM → 9:00 PM (or local end of trick-or-treating)
Child's Birthday	Noncustodial	Custodial	9:00 AM–9:00 PM; school days 5:00–8:00 PM
Mother's Day	Always Mother	Always Mother	Fri 6:00 PM → Sun 6:00 PM
Father's Day	Always Father	Always Father	Fri 6:00 PM → Sun 6:00 PM

Winter Break and Christmas

Winter break splits at noon on December 25. In 2026, the noncustodial parent has the first half from school dismissal through noon on Christmas Day. The custodial parent takes over from noon on December 25 until school resumes.

If Christmas Day does not fall within a parent's assigned half, that parent still receives time with the child from noon to 9:00 PM on December 25.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are not treated as standalone holidays they fall within whichever parent's half of winter break includes them.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving runs from Wednesday at 6:00 PM through Sunday at 6:00 PM. In 2026, the custodial parent has Thanksgiving.

The four-day window is intentional it reflects the reality that many Indiana families celebrate across multiple days and may travel out of state.

Spring Break and Easter

Spring break begins at 6:00 PM on the last school day before the break and ends at 6:00 PM on the last day before school resumes. Easter runs Friday 6:00 PM to Sunday 6:00 PM. Both follow the even/odd alternating system.

When Easter falls within spring break, spring break takes priority the parent who has spring break keeps the child through Easter Sunday.

Mother's Day and Father's Day

These two holidays don't alternate. Every year, the child spends Mother's Day weekend with the mother and Father's Day weekend with the father, regardless of the regular schedule or whose year it is for other holidays.

Summer Vacation — The April 1 Deadline

Summer parenting time divides equally between both parents. The noncustodial parent selects their preferred weeks first — but they must notify the custodial parent by April 1 each year.

Miss that deadline, and the selection right flips. The custodial parent then chooses the schedule and notifies the other parent. Courts treat the April 1 deadline seriously; waiting until May or June to plan summer is not a reliable approach.

Summer time can be taken as one consecutive block or split into two segments. Written notice a text, email, or letter is the safest way to document compliance with the deadline.

If a parent plans to travel out of state with the child for more than 48 hours, they should provide at least 30 days' advance notice to the other parent.

Can Parents Create Their Own Parenting Time Agreement?

Yes, and Indiana courts actually encourage it. Parents who negotiate their own parenting plan are more likely to follow it and judges know that.

When both parents agree and sign a parenting plan, the court generally approves it without a contested hearing.

The key requirement is that the agreement must serve the child's best interests. Judges don't rubber-stamp everything, but they give substantial deference to agreements that appear thoughtful and balanced.

The more important distinction is between an informal agreement and one that's been incorporated into a court order.

An informal agreement even a written one is not legally enforceable in the same way. If one parent stops following it, the other parent's recourse is limited. Once a plan is incorporated into a court order, violations can be enforced through the court.

When Parents Can't Agree — The 8 Best-Interest Factors

If parents cannot agree, a judge decides using the factors listed in Indiana Code § 31-17-2-8. No single factor controls; courts weigh all of them together.

Factor	What Courts Examine
Age and sex of the child	Developmental stage and any age-specific considerations
Wishes of the parents	What each parent is requesting and why
Wishes of the child	Given more weight at age 14+; not decisive on its own
Child's relationships	Bond with each parent, siblings, extended family
Adjustment to home, school, community	Stability and continuity of current environment
Mental and physical health of all parties	Capacity to parent; any documented concerns
Evidence of domestic or family violence	History, patterns, and ongoing risk
De facto custodian status	Whether a third party has been functioning as primary caregiver

In practice, attorneys commonly note that factors three and five the child's wishes and school/community adjustment carry the most day-to-day relevance in contested hearings, though courts are careful not to weight any single element above the others.

Modifying Parenting Time in Indiana

Life changes. Schools change, jobs change, parents remarry or relocate. The Guidelines account for this by allowing modification but there's a legal threshold to meet.

The Legal Standard

To modify a parenting time order, the requesting parent must show a substantial and continuing change in circumstances since the original order was entered.

Common qualifying changes include:

Relocation of a parent
A significant shift in either parent's work schedule
A documented safety concern
The child's changing needs as they get older
A parent's failure to follow the existing order consistently

Courts will not modify simply because one parent prefers a different schedule or because the child is going through a rough patch.

The Modification Process

File a Petition to Modify with the court that issued the original order
Serve the other parent with notice of the petition
Attend a preliminary hearing (if required by local court rules)
Exchange financial and parenting time documentation
Attend mediation if ordered
Attend a final hearing if the matter is contested

Uncontested modifications typically resolve in two to four months. Contested cases run six to eighteen months or longer, depending on the county and docket.

Filing fees generally range from $100 to $300. Attorney fees in contested modification cases commonly run $3,000 to $10,000 or more, depending on complexity.

Why Informal Changes Are Risky

Parents sometimes agree between themselves to adjust a schedule and simply skip the court. That's understandable court processes take time and cost money. But it creates a real risk.

The written order still controls legally.

If the arrangement breaks down and one parent reverts to enforcing the original order, the other parent has no legal ground to stand on. Arrears can accrue on support orders tied to the old schedule. Formal modification is the only way to make a new arrangement legally binding.

Relocation and Parenting Time

When one parent plans to move even within Indiana it can significantly affect parenting time logistics.

Under Indiana Code § 31-17-2.2, a parent who plans to relocate must provide written notice by registered or certified mail at least 30 days before the move, if the relocation will last more than 60 days.

When one parent moves out of state or to a significantly different part of Indiana, courts frequently modify the parenting time schedule to reflect travel realities.

Common adjustments include:

Allocating the entire winter break to the distant parent instead of splitting it
Providing extended consecutive summer time to reduce the number of long-distance trips
Adjusting holiday schedules to account for flight costs and logistics
Allowing virtual or electronic communication as supplemental contact during the school year

What Happens If Parenting Time Is Denied

A parent who is denied court-ordered parenting time has legal recourse. Under Indiana Code § 31-17-4-4, that parent can file an application for injunction to enforce the order.

Courts treat denial of parenting time seriously.

Repeated interference with a court-ordered schedule can result in:

Make-up parenting time ordered by the court
The interfering parent being held in contempt
An award of attorney's fees to the denied parent
In serious or repeated cases, modification of the custody arrangement itself

Documentation matters enormously in these situations. Attorneys consistently advise parents to keep records of every denied exchange text messages, emails, timestamps, and written notes. A clear paper trail significantly strengthens an enforcement action.

The Indiana Parenting Time Calendar Tool

The Indiana Courts provide a free, official Parenting Time Calendar tool available through the Indiana Courts website. Parents enter their custody arrangement details and the tool generates a visual calendar showing which parent has the child on each date throughout the year.

The tool automatically applies the even/odd year holiday alternation and accounts for school calendar breaks.

For parents who find the text of the Guidelines difficult to translate into an actual calendar, this tool removes most of the guesswork. It's particularly useful at the start of a new school year when schedules reset.

Conclusion

The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines are the default framework Indiana courts use when parents can't agree on a custody schedule. The 2021 amendment remains in effect through 2026, with no new statewide update issued.

Understanding the standard weekly schedule, the even/odd holiday system, and the age-based provisions puts parents in a far stronger position whether negotiating their own plan or preparing for court.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines been updated in 2026?

No. As of June 2026, the most recent version remains the October 5, 2021 amendment to the Guidelines originally effective March 1, 2013. No new statewide update has been issued by the Indiana Supreme Court.

What is the standard parenting time schedule in Indiana for a noncustodial parent?

The baseline schedule includes alternating weekends (Friday to Sunday, 6:00 PM each) and one weekday evening per week. Holiday and summer provisions are layered on top of this regular schedule.

In 2026, which parent gets Thanksgiving in Indiana?

In 2026, an even-numbered year, the custodial parent has Thanksgiving. The period runs from Wednesday at 6:00 PM through Sunday at 6:00 PM. This assignment reverses in 2027.

What qualifies as a substantial change of circumstances for a parenting time modification?

Common qualifying changes include parental relocation, a significant shift in work schedule, a documented safety concern, or material changes in the child's needs. Disagreement with the existing schedule alone does not meet the standard.

Do the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines apply if parents have their own agreement?

If parents have a written agreement incorporated into a court order, that order controls. The Guidelines serve as the default only when parents cannot agree or when a court order doesn't address a specific situation.