Costs and fees
Sec. 13. (a) The petitioner or Title IV-D agent, or both, may not
be required to pay a filing fee.
(b) Whenever appropriate, a responding tribunal may assess
against either party all or part of the following:
(1) filing fees;
(2) reasonable attorney's fees;
(3) necessary travel expenses;
(4) blood or genetic testing costs; and
(5) any other reasonable expenses incurred by the party and
their witnesses.
(c) The tribunal may not assess costs described in subsection (b)
against the obligee or the support enforcement agency of either the
initiating or the responding state, except as otherwise provided by
law.
(d) Attorney's fees may be ordered. If attorney's fees are ordered,
the court shall order the fees to be paid directly to the attorney, who
may enforce the order in the attorney's own name. However, payment
of support owed to the obligee has priority over fees, costs, and
expenses.
(e) The tribunal shall order the payment of costs and reasonable
attorney's fees if the tribunal determines that a hearing was requested
primarily as the result of delay. In a proceeding under IC 31-18-6, a
hearing is presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if a
registered support order is confirmed or enforced without change.
As added by P.L.1-1997, SEC.10.
Last modified: May 24, 2006