Under Indiana law, the general rule is that a parent must support a child until the child becomes 21 years of age. However, the parent's duty to support their child may be terminated earlier if the child is found to be "emancipated" by court order. A child may be found to be emancipated if the child is at least eighteen (18) years of age, has not attended school for the prior four (4) months and has not enrolled in a school, and is capable of supporting himself or herself from employment. If the child has joined the United States Armed Services, has married, or is not under the care or control of either parent or an individual proved by the court, the court may find the child emancipated.

Educational orders for the benefit of the child remain in effect even though the child is more than twenty-one (21) years of age. The Indiana Child Support Guidelines provide for allocation of college expense between the parents and the adult child.

In 1989, the Indiana Supreme Court first adopted specific child support rules and guidelines. These guidelines, now modified serveral times, contain a child support obligation worksheet which calculates support as a function of the weekly gross income of the Father and Mother. The guidelines require that the custodial parent incur a certain portion of uninsured health care expense before the payor/non-custodial parent is required to contribute. The guidelines also permit the trial court to reduce the non-custodial parents child support obligation based on the number of overnights that parent spends with the child or children. In certain circumstances, the non-custodial parent will have a negative child support obligation. In calculating child support, the ability to claim the children on tax returns is often negotiated or determined by the court.