---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child custody orders."
description: "Requires the following to be included in a custody order: (1) a trial court shall include the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law on which the custody order is based; and (2) an appellate decision shall include the facts upon which the appellate court relied to affirm or reverse an order."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 1626"
citation: "Indiana HB 1626 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COURTS; Judges", "MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LAW; Child Support", "Custody", "and Visitation"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chris Judy", "Liz Brown"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 23
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-01-21"
last_action: "2025-04-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/eafc726c-d999-41fd-acb7-2f79576851c6"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/hb1626"
source_hash: "86e68fd9c58e8d3f9d50e6510ebfe37657684ccbb42477fd34ca0f03d5af776d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana HB 1626 (2025) — Child custody orders.

Requires the following to be included in a custody order: (1) a trial court shall include the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law on which the custody order is based; and (2) an appellate decision shall include the facts upon which the appellate court relied to affirm or reverse an order.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1626/HB1626.04.ENGS.pdf)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1626/HB1626.05.ENRS.pdf)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1626/HB1626.03.COMS.pdf)
4. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1626/HB1626.01.INTR.pdf)

## Votes

- HB 1626 - Brown L - 3rd Reading — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 1626 - Judy - 3rd Reading — **87–2** (pass) · lower
- HB 1626 - Judy — **96–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chris Judy — primary (person)
- Liz Brown — primary (person)
- Chris Jeter — coauthor (person)
- Heath VanNatter — coauthor (person)
- Victoria Garcia Wilburn — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-01-21** Authored by Representative Judy
- **2025-01-21** Coauthored by Representative Jeter
- **2025-01-21** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2025-01-27** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2025-01-27** Representative VanNatter added as coauthor
- **2025-01-29** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2025-01-30** Representative Garcia Wilburn added as coauthor
- **2025-02-03** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 71: yeas 87, nays 2 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2025-02-03** Senate sponsor: Senator Brown L
- **2025-02-04** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2025-02-19** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2025-03-06** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2025-03-10** Amendment #1 (Freeman) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2025-03-10** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2025-03-12** Returned to the House with amendments `receipt`
- **2025-03-11** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 230: yeas 50, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2025-03-13** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2025-03-17** House concurred with Senate amendments; Roll Call 275: yeas 96, nays 0
- **2025-03-20** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2025-03-20** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2025-03-27** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2025-04-03** Public Law 38 `became-law`
- **2025-04-03** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/eafc726c-d999-41fd-acb7-2f79576851c6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).