Supervised visitation at the St. Joseph County Courts
In St. Joseph County, custody and parenting time cases go to the St. Joseph Superior Court (Family cases).
How supervised visitation works here
- Indiana calls this area custody and parenting time. The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines are the court's standard for parenting time schedules.
- Indiana law presumes supervised parenting time for at least one year and up to two years when a parent has been convicted of a domestic or family violence crime that the child saw or heard.
- The court may require that parent to finish a batterer's intervention program before unsupervised parenting time starts.
- The Guidelines include a model order with blanks for naming who supervises contact, and they say a law enforcement site for exchanges is an extreme measure used mainly when protective orders exist or there is repeated violence.
- In St. Joseph County, the Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau interviews family members, reviews files and prepares a report with custody and parenting time recommendations.
Where family cases are heard
- County-City Building, Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau: 227 W Jefferson Boulevard, Room 820, South Bend, IN 46601
Court programs and resources
- Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau Prepares custody and parenting time recommendations on a sliding fee scale. Phone 574-235-9662. Page links to court ordered co-parenting classes.
Forms and local rules
- Indiana Self-Service Legal Center, Family Legal Resources Statewide court forms and a parenting time helpline staffed by licensed attorneys at 844-836-0003.
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General information only, not legal advice. Laws change, and this information may be incomplete, out of date or wrong. Confirm it with a licensed attorney in your state before you rely on it.