Ind. Elkhart Cnty. Local Rule LR20-TR26-415

415.1. Discovery:

A. Personal, Federal, and State, tax returns for three (3) years preceding the filing of the petition for

dissolution of marriage with all pertinent forms W-2, 1099, K-1 and other schedules, and the most

recent employment paystub, with year-to-date gross earnings and written employment contract(s), if

any.

B. Tax returns and financial statements for five (5) years preceding the filing of the petition for

dissolution of marriage for all corporations, or partnerships, or other business entities in which either

marital partner has any ownership or membership interest.

C. Statements from all banks, brokerage firms, investments firms, or mutual funds for three (3)

months prior to and including the month in which the petition for dissolution of marriage is filed in

which either marital partner has any interest, either alone or together with any other person, to

include all checking, savings, certificate of deposit, treasury bills, stocks, bonds, or other forms of

intangible assets.

D. Copy of deed to marital residence, or any other real estate in which a marital partner has any legal

or equitable interest, whether alone or with others, including but not limited to any corporate deeds.

E. Amortization schedule or statement of balance for month in which the petition for dissolution of

marriage was filed for any mortgage, land contract, or other lien on any real estate in the name of a

marital partner, whether the marital partner has a sole or partial ownership interest.

F. Copies of appraisals of real estate, or personal property in which a marital partner holds an

interest, prepared within two (2) years from date of petition for dissolution of marriage.

G. Statement of pension, profit sharing, individual retirement account, ESOP, or other form of tax

deferred compensation plan maintained by or for a marital partner, for the month in which the

petition for dissolution of marriage was filed.

H. Declaration sheet and schedule of cash value for all insurance policies owned by or for which any

marital partner is the beneficiary which has a cash surrender value.

I. Copies of the most current statements of debt for the three (3) months preceding and including the

month in which the petition was filed.

J. At least sixty (60) days prior to the final hearing the parties shall exchange copies of all business

valuations, real estate appraisals, and personal property appraisals that will be offered into evidence at

the final hearing.

K. Each party shall make his or her initial disclosures based on information reasonably available to

him or her and no party is excused from making disclosures because he or she has not fully completed

his or her investigation of the case or because he or she challenges the sufficiency of the other party’s

disclosure or because the other party has not made the required disclosure.

L. Interrogatories:

1. Interrogatories and Request for Production of Documents shall be tailored to the case in which

they are served and numbered consecutively to facilitate response.

2. The recipient of Interrogatories may file a Motion for Protective Order (Trial Rule 26(C)) or a

Motion to Strike specific interrogatories after fully complying with Trial Rule 26(F). Any such

Motion shall be scheduled for hearing and does not extend the time for answering unobjectionable

Interrogatories.

3. Any party desiring to serve interrogatories more than fifty (50) Interrogatories, or twenty-five

(25) Request for Production of Documents shall either:

a. File a stipulation of the parties, agreeing to the additional interrogatories; or

b. If an agreement cannot be obtained, file a written motion requesting leave of the Court to

serve more than fifty (50) interrogatories or twenty-five (25) Request for Production of

Documents; the motion shall set forth those additional proposed interrogatories, and shall

explain their necessity; full compliance with Trial Rule 26(F) is required.

M. Trial Rule 26

1. The informal resolution requirement of Trial Rule 26(F) shall be strictly enforced. The Court

may deny any discovery motion filed pursuant to Trial Rule 27-37, if the moving party has not

complied fully with Trial Rule 26(F).

2. Upon strict compliance with Trial Rule 26(F), the Court may take any appropriate action or

schedule a hearing.

3. If an attorney sends at least one email and makes at least one telephone call seeking a discovery

dispute conference, but opposing counsel does not respond within seven days from the last attempt,

it shall be presumed that reasonable efforts have been made and a Motion to Compel may be filed.

Such efforts and their results should be clearly stated in the Motion to Compel. Sanctions for the

non-responding party and attorney fees will be considered when appropriate.

415.2. Disclosure by the Parties

Upon the filing of a petition for dissolution of marriage or paternity action, the parties shall have a duty of

reciprocal discovery and, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, shall provide the other party with copies

of the following documents and things within thirty (30) days:

415.3. Continuing Duty to Disclose

Duties of disclosure set forth by the Court’s reciprocal discovery order shall be continuous.

Supplementation shall be required not fewer than ten (10) days prior to trial showing any changes in the

status of assets and debts as of the month of or one (1) month prior to trial, the most recent of which

documents and things are available.

415.4. Utilization of Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure

The parties may utilize all remedies available in the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure to enforce, modify,

or extend the time within which to comply with the Court’s reciprocal discovery order. The reciprocal

discovery order does not preclude either party from utilizing the provisions governing requests for

discovery provided for in the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure to the full extent permitted by said rules.

A. A detailed financial disclosure is not always needed in every case, especially those cases in the

Streamlined Pathway or in other pathways when there are little financial resources and minimal

debt. The standard Financial Disclosure adopted herein is to be utilized when requested by a party

or by court order and direction. Utilization of this financial disclosure may be addressed in the

court’s initial case management order and request for the standard financial disclosure herein

adopted should be made in initial pleadings with the court.

B. Any party seeking an initial order of child support or spousal maintenance, or the modification of

an existing order of support or maintenance shall provide their most recent Federal Income Tax

Return, three (3) most recent paycheck, verification of insurance premiums for the child(ren)

portion of health care if not disclosed in the paycheck and verification of childcare expenses.

Responding parent is required to provide the same information upon request prior to filing or after

filing within fourteen (14) days.

C. A party seeking an order which deviates from the Child Support Schedule calculation shall set forth

facts supporting the deviation.

D. The Elkhart Office of Family Court Services may provide updated template Standard Financial

Disclosure Statement.

415.5. Support and Maintenance Standards

A. Parents should freely exchange the following information with or without request. In family

matters such as this full and complete disclosure of parents’ financial means is required in that

Indiana has adopted an Income Shares Model with the stated goal of the child receiving the same

proportion of parental income that the child would receive if the parents lived together. The

Indiana Child Support Guidelines are presumed to apply to all case types when child support is an

issue. The Court may only deviate from the Guidelines if there are sufficient good reasons on the

record.

B. If not previously disclosed, at least seven (7) business days before a scheduled hearing regarding

provisional orders, establishment of child support or modification of child support (except support

matters enforced by the State), each party shall deliver to all parties to the case the following

materials:

1. Their three (3) most recent pay stubs for all employers.

2. Their most recent W-2s, 1099s, and federal income tax returns with all schedules and

attachments.

3. Documentation regarding work-related childcare expenses.

4. Documentation regarding health insurance premiums.

5. Documentation regarding child support orders for other children.

6. Proposed Child Support Obligation Worksheets.

7. Financial Declaration Form; and

8. Any exhibit or document that each party intends to submit to the Court.

C. Temporary maintenance shall equal thirty-three and one-third percent (33-1/3%) of the parties'

combined net income (net income is defined as gross income minus deductions for any other prior

court ordered child support, legal duty of support, other orders of maintenance paid, income producing

expenses, and federal, state, or local taxes paid). Any order for temporary maintenance shall expire

ninety (90) days after the date upon which the order becomes effective. A party seeking an extension

of an order for temporary maintenance shall file an appropriate petition and at a hearing shall show

good cause for the extension.

D. Maintenance paid to a party shall be deducted from the payor’s income and added to the recipient's

income, and determinations of child support and attorney fees obligations shall be based on those

incomes as so adjusted.

E. If both a support order and a maintenance order are entered, the parties shall recalculate support

promptly after ninety (90) days to reflect the expiration of the maintenance order. The parties shall

calculate support during both the maintenance period and thereafter and shall file the results with the

Court.

F. Income Withholding Orders must use form found at Income Withholding Order

G. Counsel must provide parents with payment information by providing web address: Child Support

Payments or Child Support Payments

415.6. Medical insurance

Whichever party can provide the most comprehensive policy of medical insurance for the child(ren) at the

lowest cost shall provide said insurance. The amount of the insurance premiums shall then be allocated

between the parties on the percentage of income basis. If the non-custodial parent pays the insurance

premiums, then that parent shall receive credit against support paid each week in the amount of that

parent's allocated portion of medical insurance. If the custodial parent pays the medical insurance

premiums, then that parent shall receive an additional amount of support each week equal to the non-custodial parent's percentage of medical insurance premiums. Child Support Guideline 7 “Reasonable

Cost” paragraph delineates the two reasons allowed to waive this requirement.

415.7. Educational expenses through grade 12

A Guidelines-based support order shall encompass all ordinary educational expenses through the high

school level. If appropriate, extraordinary educational expenses for children who have not yet completed

high school, including private school tuition and costs of tutoring, shall be determined as an addition to

support and shall be divided between the parties in proportion to their respective weekly adjusted incomes.

415.8. Educational expenses after grade 12

Post high school educational expenses shall be determined as either an addition to, or in lieu of support.

Except in unusual circumstances, an award of such expenses shall be limited to the lesser of:

A. The actual annual expenditures for tuition, room board, books, transportation, fees, and

miscellaneous expenses for the student; or

B. The annual cost of tuition, room, board, books, transportation, fees, and miscellaneous expenses

which would be incurred by an Indiana resident attending the Bloomington campus of Indiana

University as a resident student. The Custodial parent and the child shall be responsible for making

timely applications for all scholarships and grants for which the child might be eligible. Other than

in exceptional circumstances, gifts and trust funds intended for college, scholarships and grants

shall be deducted from the educational expenses. All educational tax benefits (that is, Hope

Scholarship Credits and Lifetime Learning Credits) shall be applied by the party receiving them to

the payment of educational expenses. Thereafter, the child shall be responsible for twenty-five

percent (25%) of the remaining expenses, and the balance shall be divided between the parties in

proportion to their respective weekly adjusted income. Except in unusual circumstances, the

amount of support determined under the Guidelines shall be wholly abated when the child is not in

residence. The child shall execute all documents, and perform any and all other acts, reasonably

necessary to afford both parents access to all available information regarding, grades, attendance,

financial awards, grants and scholarships, and school disciplinary matters.

415.9. Income Tax Benefits

The parties shall allocate income tax benefits for a minor child equitably, but in such a manner as to

maximize tax benefits. A non-custodial party shall claim such tax benefits only if that party shall have

paid ninety-five percent (95%) [Indiana Code 31-16-6-1.5 (d)] due through the end of the affected calendar

year by January 31 of the following year. Both parties shall execute any forms necessary to carry out the

requirements of this paragraph. A party's refusal to sign such forms may be punishable by contempt or by

imposition of other sanctions, including modification of the current support obligation to recapture any

tax benefit lost by the non-custodial parent.

415.10. Arrears Statement

All petitions to abate or modify child support orders which are filed by child support payor shall include a

statement of the amount of the arrearage, if any, owed by petitioner in child support, and in the payment

of the Clerk's annual fee for the collection and distribution of child support

415.11. Verification of Income

So long as one or more the parties’ children remain unemancipated or the beneficiary of an order for

contribution to educational needs, the parties shall, upon request by either of them, exchange verification

of income in the form of his or her most recent federal income tax return. Such income tax return shall be

complete and include all attachments thereto. Such an exchange shall be required no more often than

once annually. Such an exchange shall be concluded within two weeks of making a request. If either

failed to file a federal income tax return for the tax year last concluded, that party shall provide the other

with that federal income tax return described above, together with written verification of current income.

Such verification may include a paycheck stub disclosing a year-to-date income or a current profit and loss

statement reflecting self-employment or partnership income. It is the purpose of this rule to foster the

exchange of accurate and complete income information in order to avoid needless litigation. This rule

shall be liberally construed to achieve those ends.

415.12. Six Percent Rule effective until such time that the Indiana Child Support Guidelines are modified

in that the proposed amendment to those Guidelines eliminates the six percent rule.

For purposes of this rule, healthcare expenses shall accumulate on a calendar year basis. The six percent

(.06) deductible contemplated by the Rule shall be prorated for the balance of the calendar year in which

the first support order in this case is entered, or in which the subject dissolution is granted, whichever is

applicable. This proration shall be calculated by multiplying the total child support due from both parents

by six percent (.06), dividing the product by three hundred sixty-five (365), and multiplying the result by

the number of days remaining in the year in question. As a rule, in the event of a modification of an

existing child support order, any resulting change in the six percent (.06) deductible shall become effective

at the beginning of the next succeeding calendar year. The trial court may deviate from this general rule to

avoid manifest injustice.

415.13. Income Tax Returns

In all actions in which a child support order remains in effect, either party shall, upon demand, provide the

other party with a copy of his or her most recent federal income tax return, together with all schedules and

other attachments. The party supplying the income tax return may redact any portions thereof which

relate solely to the computation of the income of any other person. Nothing in this rule shall require any

person to provide more than one such copy during each calendar year; however, nothing in this rule shall

infringe upon the right of any person to engage in appropriate discovery pursuant to the Indiana Rules of

Trial Procedure.

415.14. Child Support Worksheet

At least seven (7) days prior to hearing in all matters regarding child support issues, the parties shall file:

A. Verified Child Support Worksheet; and

B. Such supporting documentation as the Court may require establishing current income and income

earned during the prior tax year, work-related childcare expenses, if any, and the children’s portion of

health care expenses.

415.15. Standard Financial Disclosure Statement

A Standard Financial Disclosure Financial Disclosure Form is required upon request of any party or at the

direction of the Elkhart Family Court Services or any Judicial Officer.