In order for us to take legal action to establish paternity, establish a support order or enforce a support order, we must know where the absent parent lives or works.

When a legal allegation is made against someone, the respondent must be served with notice of the action taken and the steps required to protect his or her rights. To serve the absent parent we must have a valid address, verified by the postmaster. If you do not know his or her address or where he or she works, we may be able to help. Some of the locate tools available to the IV-D office are: computer interfaces with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Division of Family & Children, the State Parent Locator Service and the Federal Parent Locator Service. We can also submit requests to all other states and some foreign countries.

The most important piece of information necessary for locating someone is the social security number. Search through old paperwork, such as hospital records, bank accounts, old insurance policies, credit cards, pay slips, or State and Federal income tax returns to find a social security number.

The names, addresses and phone numbers of any relatives, friends, or past employers who might know where he lives or works is also helpful. We might get leads from any clubs or organizations which the absent parent belongs or belonged to.

You can assist us and other custodial parents by viewing our Most Wanted page and notifying us if you have information that would assist us in locating them.

Although we can't guarantee that we can locate the absent parent, we will use all our resources to try.

Remember, you are the most valuable source of information we have to successfully locate the absent parent.