There have been no significant changes to Iowa custody law for 2024, but it is crucial to stay up to date as a parent in Iowa. This article will give you an overview of Iowa Child Custody Laws and Child Support Laws. By the end of this article, you should better understand, how courts determine child custody in Iowa, the difference between joint legal custody and joint physical care, how to modify child support, and how to calculate child support.
Child Custody in Iowa is the Court Ordered care and control of the child or children between the parents and the child or children. In Iowa there are two types of Custody:
The Iowa Courts always look to the best interests of the child in determining child custody issues, the court will look at the totality of the circumstances between the parents to determine what is better for the life of the child or children and the child or children’s interests. Iowa likes to almost always Order Joint Custody to the parents of the child or children, just as long as it is in the best interests of the child and or children involved. This gives each Parent the right to equal footing when it comes to decisions pertaining to the child or children’s: medical care, religious instructions, educational decisions, and any other activity the child needs guidance or approval from the parents of the minor child or children. Iowa will only grant sole custody after balancing many factors in it’s determination that it would not be in the best interests of the child to share time with both parents through a joint-custody situation. This usually occurs when there is abuse of the child, the Parent has a drug or alcohol problem, the Parent makes decisions that put the child in risk of harm or danger, there has to be clear and convincing evidence of the aforementioned issues.
Though it is true the Iowa courts and Judges usually like to award “Joint-Custody” of the child (where both parents have decision making rights regarding child’s healthcare, education, religion), they do not like uprooting a child from their parent’s home which they spend most of their time, the child/children’s “home base” so to speak. The Judge will likely grant one parent sole “physical care”, meaning that the child will live with that one parent primarily, this parent is referred to as the “custodial parent”, and the other parent will get plenty of visitation time with the child or children this parent is the “non-custodial parent”. This decision again rests on the best interests of the child and the court will look at this when making its decision. In his discretion, although it is not common the Iowa Judge can award both parents “Joint-Physical Care” where both parents have an equal split and both parents’ homes are considered the “home base”.
To modify child support within a 50-50 custody arrangement, one must present convincing evidence of a significant change in circumstances. Factors such as changes in employment, income, or the number or needs of the children can potentially warrant a modification in child support.
To adjust child support in a 50-50 custody arrangement, a parent is required to:
In Iowa child support refers to a parent’s duty to support their minor children financially until the child reaches the age of 18, this is 19 years old in cases where the child is completing their high school level education or equivalent GED program.
In order to determine whether or not you will be the parent paying child support, you will first need to find out who the Court awards physical custody of the child/children this parent is called the “custodial parent”, the custodial parent that has physical custody of the child/children will not pay child support. The Court will make the parent who does not have physical custody (physical care) of their child/children pay child support, this parent will be referred to as a “non-custodial” parent and will have the obligation to pay child support every single month. This person may be the mother or the father of the child, gender does not matter in the determination of this, the Court will always look to the best interests of the child to ensure the child’s financial needs are being met.
In Iowa the parents’ duty to support their child financially through child support is determined by guidelines adopted by the Iowa Supreme Court, these guidelines look to the best interests of the child in making the child support determination. Both parents’ income is an important aspect of the calculations of child support.
This is how the court will determine how much you will pay in child support:
Number of Court-Ordered Overnight stays with Noncustodial Parent:
You must note that if a parent is disabled and their only source of income is from Supplemental Social Security Income that parent’s income is automatically set to $0 for the net monthly income.
Child Support is calculated differently when there is Joint Custody between Parent 1 and Parent 2, the Judge takes into consideration the fact that both Parents are more on an equal footing concerning time with the child or children and determines the calculation of a child support Order in a different manner.
Taking the same example as above but switching the facts around to show a Joint Custody Situation we have the following scenario:
Father and Mother have one child of the Marriage and are now divorcing after 10 years, the Court has awarded Father and Mother Joint Custody of the child. The Father makes $10,000.00 a month and the Mother makes $2,000.00 a month. In the aforementioned example, Father’s monthly child support obligation amount ordered by the court was $1,252.00 per month to the Mother.
The Court in most cases will assume that the guidelines the Iowa Supreme Court adopted are correct and should be applied in every case, however, this is a rebuttable presumption which means that if you can prove under unique circumstances that the guidelines would not be proper to apply to your case, the Court may depart from the Iowa Supreme Court Guidelines in order to provide for the best interests of the child. If the court does decide to depart from the child support guidelines adopted by the Iowa Supreme Court the Court must issue a written summary on why it would be an injustice to apply the child support guidelines in the case at hand.
In Iowa each parent also has a duty to provide health insurance or a health care plan for their child, the reason for this is clear, children have medical needs that need to be taken care of and the parents are responsible to ensure that their children’s medical health care needs are being met.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Each individual's legal needs are unique, and these materials may not be applicable to your legal situation. Always seek the advice of a competent attorney with any questions you may have regarding a legal issue. Do not disregard professional legal advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog.
Kevin O'FlahertyKevin O’Flaherty is a graduate of the University of Iowa and Chicago-Kent College of Law. He has experience in litigation, estate planning, bankruptcy, real estate, and comprehensive business representation.
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