Interstate Case

Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)

An interstate case is one in which either the custodial party or the non-custodial parent lives outside the State of Indiana. Most states, including Indiana, have adopted the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, known as UIFSA, which allows Title IV-D agencies in different states to work together on child support cases using standardized procedures and rules.

When the Non-Custodial Parent Lives in Another State

If you are the custodial party and need help in establishing paternity or support, we will make a request on your behalf to the Title IV-D agency in the state and county where the non-custodial parent resides. We will need to send quite a bit of information to the Title IV-D agency in the other state. We will ask you to fill out a UIFSA General Testimony in addition to the regular application for services. If paternity has not already been established for your child(ren) , we will ask you to fill out an Declaration in Support of Establishing Parentage. Because these documents may be used as testimony in a court hearing, it is very important that you fill them out as completely, accurately, and legibly as possible.

We are required to locate and verify a current address for the non-custodial parent in the other state and provide that information to the other Title IV-D agency, we often will need your help in finding out where the non-custodial parent resides.

Once we have collected all the necessary information, we will forward your request for services to the Title IV-D agency in the other state. That agency will file the necessary petitions in the proper court of that state. They will take care of getting a hearing date and providing notice to the non-custodial parent. You may be required to come to our office to participate telephonically in the hearing being held in the other state; however, you will not be required to travel to the other state to attend a hearing or to provide information in person. If genetic testing is ordered by the other state’s court, we will take care of obtaining samples from you and your child(ren), and coordinate testing with the other state’s Title IV-D agency.

Once a court order for paternity and support is established, or if such orders already exist, we will request the Title IV-D agency in the state and county where the non-custodial parent resides to enforce the child support order. They will provide enforcement services in the same manner as if we were enforcing your order in Morgan County. It does not matter whether your child support order was issued by a court in Indiana, in the state where the non-custodial parent currently resides, or in a different state altogether. A child support order issued in any state is enforceable in any other state,.

When the Custodial Person Lives in Another State

A Title IV-D agency from any other state may request that we assist them in getting paternity or child support established, or enforcing child support against a non-custodial parent who currently resides in Indiana. We handle these requests in the same manner that we handle Morgan County cases.

Time and Money

Realistically, the processing of an interstate case takes longer than average. We will do everything we can to expedite the process from our side and to make sure the other state is doing the same. However, we do not have and direct control over the process once the request for services is made in another state. We advise all parents who are involved in interstate child support cases to be patient and to keep in touch with our office. Once the other state is successful in getting the non-custodial parent to pay child support, the money will be forwarded to the Indiana State Central Collections Unit and then distributed to you.