Legal Question in Family Law in Indiana

Re: how long can the judge put me off?

If you are proceeding "pro se" (that is, without an attorney), you are truly at the mercy of the judge as to when he will hear your case. If you have an attorney, he needs to file a petition to advance the hearing on the docket. If you are a non-custodial parent involved in a Title IV-D proceeding and filed your petition in the Title IV-D court during an enforcement proceeding against you, that court does not have jurisdiction to determine custody, merely to make support orders. Make sure that your petition is made to the Court where your divorce or paternity decree was entered. Regardless of when the hearing is held, the court will make your custody order effective as of the time you petitioned and terminate your support as of that time. The court might further give you credit against your current support order for a period of time prior to the filing of your petition that the child was residing with you with the consent of the other parent.