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Online Divorce in Iowa

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by Jamie Kurtz

Jamie Kurtz has been a practicing divorce lawyer since 2008. She received her Juris Doctorate from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles in 2007. Ms. Kurtz was selected to Rising Stars for 2013 - 2016, 2019 - 2020, a peer designation awarded only to a select number of accomplished attorneys in each state. She also co-founded a law firm that specializes in uncontested divorce cases.

Online Divorce in Iowa

Online Divorce provides quality, court-approved Iowa divorce papers. The information below will help you understand more about divorce in Iowa.

However, should you feel any doubt or insecurities, we will help you figure out how to get your divorce form documents quickly and correctly filled out according to the rules set by the state without hiring an Attorney.

Onlinedivorce.com provides quick and inexpensive services of online divorce in Iowa.

We guarantee that you will receive the correct Iowa divorce documents specific to the circumstances of your divorce in a short time, as well as detailed instructions on what to do next.

Below you can find common steps of how to get a divorce in Iowa:



1

You can divorce in Iowa only because of no-fault reasons. It means that you need to prove that your relationship is irretrievably broken, and there is no likelihood of restoring it.

2

You need to be an Iowa resident for at least one year to file for divorce in this state.

3

You need to wait 90 days for the dissolution of marriage to become final.

4

You must fill out all the necessary forms and add particular documents. It can be done in one of three ways:
You can do it by yourself and spend a lot of time researching what forms you need to fill and how to fill them accurately.
You can ask an attorney to help you choose the appropriate documents and fill out all the necessary forms. But an attorney will cost you a lot of money.
You can ask OnlineDivorce.com. for help. This will cost you much less than an attorney and save you lots of time.
Online Divorce is always there to help you with:
- choosing appropriate divorce forms that correspond to your divorce case;
- filling these documents out according to the rules of Iowa;
- saving you time for all the divorce issues;
- saving you money vs. hiring an attorney.

5

After filling out the forms, you need to make three copies of each document (one for you, one for your spouse, and one for the court) and file all these documents to the court.

Residency:

In the USA, the law changes from state to state. That is why it can make divorce in Iowa a complicated process.

It is essential to know that in Iowa, either you or your spouse have to live in the state for at least one year before filing for divorce.

If you decide to file for divorce in Iowa, and neither you nor your partner has not lived there for one year, you can consider another state for applying if you do not want to wait.

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Valid grounds to get divorce in Iowa

According to the law, Iowa is considered a no-fault state. It means you do not need to prove that your spouse is guilty of causing the divorce.

 

On the other hand, bad behavior of a spouse (such as domestic violence, child or spouse abuse, adultery, drug or alcohol addiction, and other misconduct) may affect court decisions on child custody, property division, assets and debts division, child support, alimony, and other vital issues.

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Annulment of the marriage in Iowa

Getting a divorce in Iowa is easier than getting an annulment. This is because if you want to annul your marriage, you need to fit one of the following requirements:

  • You or your spouse were already married when you entered this marriage;
  • You or your spouse were underage (younger than 18 years old) during the wedding ceremony, and your parents or guardians did not sign all the necessary documents for you.
  • Your partner married you by fraud (he/she did not tell you some essential facts about his/her life such as pregnancy, incurred disease, financial situation, any other significant facts).
  • You married a whole-blood or half-blood relative (brother, sister, father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, etc.).
  • Your spouse has problems with his/her health and can’t have any sexual relationship, but you want to have children;
  • The law prohibits the marriage.

After an annulment, it is as if you and your spouse never married. That is the difference between an annulment of a marriage and a divorce. An annulment declares that your marriage never existed, and divorce in Iowa just dissolves the marriage.

Some people do not want to divorce their spouse because of their morals, religion, or beliefs. That is why annulment for them can be a solution to their problems.

When you annul your marriage, you also need to divide the property and think about child custody and visitation hours.

Suppose you are a victim of the circumstances and your spouse forced you to marry him or entered a marriage by fraud. In that case, the court can punish one spouse and award the other damages by giving the hurt spouse a more significant part of the property, more spousal support, etc.

Legal separation

Sometimes people do not want to divorce, even if the marriage is tough for them, due to some of the following reasons:

  • They consider divorce as a great sin and do not want to be rejected by their community.
  • One spouse receives health benefits because he/she is married to the other.
  • Tax benefits.
  • One partner receives government benefits by being married to the other.
  • You or your partner still have hope for reconciliation.

In this case, legal separation is a perfect solution to the problem. According to Iowa law, a legally separated couple is still considered married. Neither party is allowed to marry again until they get a dissolution of their marriage.

Usually, during the legal separation, spouses go through the same process as divorce. They divide their property, decide on child custody and child support, discuss issues about spousal support, and resolve other vital matters.

It is always better to ask a professional attorney about all the advantages and disadvantages of legal separation.

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Custody of the child in Iowa

There are two main types of child custody: joint and sole custody. Joint custody means both parents make important decisions about a child together.

It can be a decision about a child’s religious beliefs, a school or college a child will attend, what extracurricular activities they participate in, decisions about the child’s health, and any other essential decisions about the child’s life.

There is physical and legal custody of a child. Physical custody determines where a child spends their days and nights during the year. Sometimes physical custody is called physical care.

On the other hand, legal custody is a legal right to make important decisions about the child’s health, education, food, religion, etc.

Sole custody gives rights to only one partner to make important decisions about a child. Usually, in Iowa, sole custody is possible only if another parent is drug or alcohol addicted, insane, or has any history of domestic violence.

In all other cases, the court makes its decisions based on the child’s best interests. It means a child should have a continued and permanent relationship with both parents.

Many factors play an essential role in deciding child custody:

  • Parents’ wishes about a child
  • The child wishes about living with one parent
  • Child relationship with other members of the family (brothers, sisters, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, etc.)
  • The psychological and emotional needs and development of the child in active contact and attention from parents
  • The geographic proximity
  • A school child attends and will attend in the future
  • Any history of domestic violence
  • Parents age
  • Any history of drug or alcohol addiction
  • Parent’s ability to raise a child
  • Any history of drug or alcohol addiction of a parent’s new girlfriend/boyfriend
  • Any other important for child’s life factors

Rules for child support in Iowa

In Iowa, both parents have to support their children. The noncustodial parent usually makes child support payments, although the court may order either parent to pay child support. The parent with whom the child lives is also responsible for daily care expenses, and the law requires the custodial parent to spend the amount needed on the child.

The courts use the combined income of the parents to determine the “basic child support obligation.” It is the amount that parents should spend on child support every month. Each parent's financial circumstances affect the percentage of the primary obligation that they must cover.

The Iowa court considers the following factors when deciding whether to pay child support:

  • financial resources of each child;
  • financial resources of each parent;
  • the child's standard of living before the separation of the parents;
  • whether the primary custodian needs to be a stay-at-home parent;
  • childcare costs;
  • the physical and emotional needs of each child;
  • educational needs of every child;
  • tax consequences for the parents; and
  • anything else that the court considers to be alimony.

In joint custody agreements, the higher-income parent pays child support to the lower-income parent. Parents who wish to assess their child’s support amount can do so through the Iowa Child Support Estimator.

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Rules for spousal support in Iowa

There is a joke that nobody knows for sure the amount of spousal support the court will award after divorce in Iowa. But of course, an experienced attorney can help you with this issue and tell you at least the approximate amount of alimony you will receive each month.

As mentioned before, Iowa is a no-fault state, but specific misconduct during a marriage can cause you to pay a larger amount of money to your spouse than if you were a decent spouse.

Usually, the amount of money you should pay to your spouse as alimony depends on the following factors:

  • The distribution of property
  • The ability of each spouse to earn money
  • Education of each spouse
  • Mental and physical health of both spouses
  • Age of both spouses
  • The tax consequences to each party
  • The length of the marriage
  • Any mutual agreement reached by the parties regarding financial or service contributions
  • The provisions of an antenuptial agreement
  • Standard of living of the spouses during the marriage
  • The financial situation of each spouse
  • Any other factors the court may find necessary.

Divorce without a lawyer in Iowa

If you apply for a divorce in Iowa, there is no requirement to use the services of a lawyer. When a divorce is made without the participation of a lawyer, it is called Pro Se Divorce, which is Latin for "on her or his own.” Depending on which county you live in, the divorce process in the state of Iowa can vary.

Nevertheless, a divorce without the participation of a lawyer is entirely legal and is subject to execution in any state. If the spouses have agreed on property division and child custody, it is very convenient to initiate a Pro Se Divorce.

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Contested divorces can be lengthy and costly due to spouses being unable to agree on one or more key issues, including child custody, property division, or spousal support.
  • Offline and inconvenient process in which both parties often hire attorneys to represent their interests.
  • The adversarial nature of a contested divorce can lead to heightened emotional stress and strain for both spouses and their families.
  • Absent a settlement, the final divorce judgment and terms are determined by the court, which may not fully align with the preferences of either spouse.
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  • Easy online access for both spouses, free revisions for 30 days, and the ability to save your data longer term. Experienced customer support via chat and phone.
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Mediation support in Iowa

Most professional attorneys advise their clients to have at least one mediation support session as beneficial for the divorce process. The mediator is a third party that helps couples reach an agreement and make a divorce process more accessible and more quickly.

During the mediation session, both partners discuss such vital issues as property division, amount of child support, amount of alimony or spousal support, division of assets and debts, visitation hours, and many other questions. Then they sign Divorce Settlement Agreement in the mediator’s presence and file it with the court.

When a couple can not agree during the first mediation session, the mediator must meet each spouse separately. Sometimes people are too shy and can’t talk openly in front of other people or are afraid of their spouse (usually when there was a history of domestic violence in a family).

That is why there is an individual mediation session. A spouse can tell more about his/her wishes concerning child custody and visitation hours, as some parents do not want their child to keep in touch with his/her other parent due to domestic violence.

Divorce forms in Iowa

There are a large number of forms you need to fill out to get a divorce in Iowa. It’s essential to choose the relevant forms for your case and fill them out accurately.

If you fill out the forms inappropriately or select documents that do not fit your case, the court has a right to reject your petition. In this case, you’ll have to start everything from the very beginning.

Online Divorce understands that filling out the forms is a significant issue. We are always ready to help you choose the appropriate divorce documents you need for your case and fill them out correctly.

Here is a list of some divorce forms in Iowa:

  • Acceptance of Service
  • Original Notice for Personal Service
  • Confidential Information Form
  • Petition Cover Sheet for a Dissolution of Marriage
  • Petition of Dissolution of Marriage
  • Motion and Affidavit to Serve by Publication
  • Original Notice by Publication
  • Application and Affidavit to Defer Payment of Costs
  • Response to a Motion
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Filing fees for divorce in Iowa

Court filing fees are in addition to the cost of using OnlineDivorce.com. This cost may vary by county. Please check with your local courthouse to determine the exact amount.

Here is how OnlineDivorce.com makes completing divorce papers easier: