How to Enforce a Divorce Decree in Indiana

When Your Ex-Spouse Ignores the Decree

A final divorce decree is a court order, not a suggestion. When one party refuses to comply — will not sign over the car title, will not vacate the marital home, will not execute the QDRO, will not pay the equalization payment — the other party has legal tools to force compliance.

Indiana courts take enforcement seriously because the integrity of the entire family law system depends on court orders meaning what they say. But the court will not act on its own. You have to file the right motion and prove the violation.

Contempt of Court

The primary enforcement mechanism in Indiana family law is a motion for contempt. You file this motion with the same court that entered the divorce decree, asking the judge to hold your former spouse in contempt for willful failure to comply with a court order.

Indiana recognizes two types of contempt:

Indirect civil contempt: Used when the non-compliant spouse can still perform the ordered act. The goal is coercion — the court imposes sanctions (fines, jail time) that are lifted as soon as the person complies. This is the standard tool for enforcing property division, support obligations, and custody orders.

Direct contempt: Used for defiance that occurs in the judge's presence (refusing to answer questions in court, disruptive behavior). This is rare in post-decree enforcement.

To succeed on a contempt motion, you must prove:

1. A clear and unambiguous court order existed
2. The opposing party had knowledge of the order
3. The opposing party had the ability to comply
4. The opposing party willfully failed to comply

The "willful" element matters. If your ex-spouse cannot comply because they genuinely lack the financial means — they were ordered to refinance the house but cannot qualify for a mortgage — the court may decline to hold them in contempt. Inability is different from refusal.

Rule 70: The Court Acts on Their Behalf

Indiana Trial Rule 70 provides an alternative when a party refuses to execute a document required by the decree — such as signing a quitclaim deed, endorsing a vehicle title, or executing a QDRO.

Under Rule 70, if a party fails to perform a specific act ordered by the court, the judge can either direct the act to be performed by another person appointed by the court, or enter an order that has the same legal effect as the act itself. In practical terms, the court can sign the deed or title document on behalf of the non-compliant spouse, or appoint a commissioner to do so.

This is faster than contempt in many property transfer cases because it bypasses the non-compliant spouse entirely. Instead of trying to coerce compliance, the court simply replaces the missing signature with its own authority.

Filing the Motion

To initiate enforcement:

1. Draft a verified motion explaining which specific provisions of the decree the opposing party has violated, with dates and details.
2. File the motion with the clerk of the court that entered the original decree. Pay the filing fee (varies by county).
3. Serve the motion on your former spouse, who has the right to respond and appear at a hearing.
4. Attend the hearing. Bring documentation: the decree provisions being violated, any correspondence showing your attempts to get voluntary compliance, and evidence of the non-compliance (bank statements showing unpaid equalization, unsigned title documents, etc.).

If you are self-represented, the court clerk's office can provide the correct motion forms. Indiana Legal Help (indianalegalhelp.org) offers template contempt motions for pro se filers in family law cases.

Modification vs. Enforcement

Enforcement and modification are different legal requests, and confusing them wastes time and money.

Enforcement asks the court to compel compliance with the existing decree terms. Nothing changes — the order stays the same, and the non-compliant party is forced to follow it.

Modification asks the court to change the decree terms due to a substantial change in circumstances (job loss, relocation, disability). Modification motions under IC 31-15-7-9.1 apply to support and custody provisions. Property division terms, by contrast, are generally non-modifiable once the decree is final — the time to contest those was before the judge signed.

If your former spouse claims they cannot comply with a property division order, the enforcement hearing is where that argument gets tested. If the court finds they genuinely cannot comply (as opposed to choosing not to), the remedy may shift from contempt sanctions to a court-directed alternative (selling the asset, offsetting the value against other obligations).

What Enforcement Can and Cannot Do

Enforcement works well for specific, measurable obligations: transferring a title, signing a deed, paying a specified sum, turning over a retirement account. It works less well for vague decree language. If the decree says "wife shall receive her personal belongings from the marital home" without specifying what those belongings are, enforcement becomes a factual dispute rather than a clear compliance issue.

This is why the specificity of the original decree matters so much. Decrees that identify assets by account number, VIN, or legal description are easier to enforce than those that use general terms.

Tracking Compliance

The Indiana After-Divorce Checklist includes a compliance tracker that maps every decree obligation — who is responsible, what the deadline is, and whether it has been completed. Having this documented record of what was and was not performed makes enforcement motions faster to prepare and stronger at hearing.

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