Ind. Code § 31-9-2-35.5

"De facto custodian"

Applied in 15 court decisions — leading case Dunson v. Dunson (2002)

Most recently applied in David C. Varble v. Stephanie J. (Carroll) Varble and James T. Carroll In Re: The Matter of the Paternity of: A.C., A Minor Child, David C. Varble v. Stephanie J. (Carroll) Varble and James T. Carroll (May 2016)

As added by P.L.96-1999, SEC.1

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Sec. 35.5. "De facto custodian", for purposes of IC 31-14-13, IC 31-17-2, and IC 31-34-4, means a person who has been the primary caregiver for, and financial support of, a child who has resided with the person for at least:

(1) six (6) months if the child is less than three (3) years of age; or

(2) one (1) year if the child is at least three (3) years of age.

Any period after a child custody proceeding has been commenced may not be included in determining whether the child has resided with the person for the required minimum period. The term does not include a person providing care for a child in a foster family home (as defined in IC 31-9-2-46.9).

Official source: Indiana General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Indiana statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.