Iowa Divorce Law Residency Requirements for Divorce in Iowa

If the defendant spouse is a resident of Iowa and was personally served the dissolution of marriage papers, there is no residency requirement for the spouse filing the dissolution of marriage. Otherwise, there is a 1-year residency requirement. In addition, there is a 90-day waiting period prior to the dissolution of marriage becoming final. The dissolution of marriage may be filed in a county where either spouse resides.
[Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.2, 598.6, and 598.19].

Legal Grounds for Divorce in Iowa

  1. No Fault Divorce: Breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the legitimate objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved.
    [Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.5 and 598.17].
  2. General Divorce: The only grounds for dissolution of marriage in Iowa are that there has been a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the legitimate objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved.
    [Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.5 and 598.17].

Legal Separation in Iowa
If the defendant spouse is a resident of Iowa and was personally served legal papers, there is no residency requirement for the spouse filing the legal separation. Otherwise, there is a 1-year residency requirement. The grounds for legal separation in Iowa are that there has been a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the legitimate objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved.
[Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.5, 598.6, 598.17, and 598.28].

Simplified/Special Divorce Procedures in Iowa
There are no legal provisions in Iowa for simplified dissolution of marriage. However, sample petition captions and contents are contained in Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.4 and 598.5. In addition, both spouses are required to file Financial Affidavits on official forms which are available from the clerk of every district court.
[Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.4, 598.5, and 598.13].

Divorce Mediation or Counseling Requirements
If either spouse requests, or on the court's own initiative, the spouses may be ordered to participate in conciliation procedures for a period of 60 days. A course on children's needs is required for all parents when custody is at issue within 45 days of the commencement of the case.
[Iowa Code Annotated; Section 598.16 and 598.19A].

Divorce Property Distribution
Iowa is an "equitable distribution" state. The court will divide all of the spouse's property whether it was acquired before or after the marriage, except any gifts and inheritances received prior to or during the marriage. A portion of the property may be set aside in a fund for the support, maintenance, and education of any minor children. Marital fault is not a factor. The following factors are considered in any division of property:

1. The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property, including the contribution of each spouse as homemaker or in childcare
2. The value of any property brought to the marriage
3. The contribution by 1 party to the education, training, or increased earning capacity of the other
4. The length of the marriage
5. The age and physical and emotional health of the spouses
6. The vocational skills of the spouses
7. The time and expense necessary to acquire skills and training to become self-sufficient
8. The federal income tax consequences of the court's division of the property
9. The time and expense necessary for a spouse to acquire sufficient education to enable the spouse to find appropriate employment
10. Any premarital or marital settlement agreement
11. The present and potential earning capability of each spouse, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, and length of absence from the job market
12. Whether the property award is instead of or in addition to alimony and the amount and duration of any such alimony award
13. The total economic circumstances of the spouses, including any pension benefits
14. The desirability of awarding the family home to the spouse with custody of any children
15. Any custodial provisions for the children
16. The amount and duration of any maintenance payments

[Iowa Code Annotated; Section 598.21].

Alimony and Spousal Support
Maintenance may be granted to either spouse for a limited or indefinite time, based on the following factors:

1. The time necessary to acquire sufficient education and training to enable the spouse to find appropriate employment and become self-supporting
2. The duration of the marriage
3. The financial resources of the spouse seeking alimony, including marital property apportioned to such spouse and such spouse's ability to meet his or her needs independently
4. The tax consequences to each spouse
5. The age of the spouses
6. The physical and emotional conditions of the spouses
7. The work experience and length of absence from the job market of the spouse seeking alimony
8. The vocational skills and employability of the spouse seeking support and alimony
9. The probable duration of the need of the spouse seeking support and alimony
10. Custodial and child support responsibilities
11. The educational level of each spouse at the time of the marriage and at the time the action for support is commenced
12. Any premarital or other agreements
13. The earning capacity of the spouse seeking maintenance, including the educational background, employment skills, and work experience
14. Any other factor the court deems just and equitable

Marital misconduct is not a factor. Maintenance payments may be ordered to be paid through the court.
[Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.21, 598.22, and 598.32].

Spouse's Name After Divorce
Upon dissolution of marriage, either spouse may request to change his or her name to a former or maiden name.
[Iowa Code Annotated; Section 598.37].

Child Custody After Divorce
Joint or sole custody may be awarded in the best interests of the child and in a manner which will encourage the parents to share the rights and responsibilities of raising the child. Joint custody may be awarded if either parent requests and if it is in the best interests of the child and based on the following factors:

1. The ability of the parents to cooperate
2. The ability to support the child's relationship with the other parent
3. The physical proximity of the parents to each other
4. The fitness and suitability of the parents
5. The reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient intelligence, understanding, and experience to express a preference
6. Whether both parents have actively cared for the child before and since the separation
7. Whether the psychological and emotional needs and development of the child will suffer because of lack of contact with both parents
8. Whether the safety of the child will be jeopardized by an award of joint custody or unsupervised visitation
9. Whether 1 or both parents agree to, or are opposed to, joint custody
10. Any history of domestic abuse. However, the court may grant joint custody even when both parents do not agree to joint custody

[Iowa Code Annotated; Section 598.41].

Child Support After Divorce
Either or both parents may be ordered to pay a reasonable and necessary amount of child support. Child support payments may be ordered to be paid directly to the court. Specific Child Support Guideline Charts are available at www.judicial.state.ia.us/families/childsupg.asp. The amount of child support determined by use of the Guideline Charts is presumed to be correct, but may be adjusted for fairness or special needs of the child.
[Iowa Code Annotated; Section 598.21].

Continue to Kansas Divorce Laws
 
Resource Article:

 Marriage; Infidelity-Cheating Husbands Can't Hide From The Truth
By Wendy Allen PhD

We all lie—a world without “little white lies” would be uncivilized. But 99% of us have told bigger lies in our lifespan. For most of us, lies told in our personal life makes us feel bad. However, we still continue to lie and cheat.

Few events cause as much turmoil in a marriage as infidelity, which can reduce a marriage to rubble, shattering trust and creating a breeding ground for insecurity, mistrust and resentment. Most of us have witnessed affairs among people we know, and some of us even have had affairs ourselves. This kind of thing happens in the real world, and it happens all the time. One third of all married couples admit to having cheated on their mates. Let's not be naïve. That's quite a large number of people taking risks!

Affairs begin with two people who find each other interesting and attractive. For whatever reason, the relationship escalates into romance and, finally, into sexual intimacy. People who seek romance and sexual intimacy outside of their primary relationship feel that their relationship is missing something, so they go out and they seek it from someone else.

If you feel deep in your heart, that your spouse is lying and being unfaithful to you, here are some ways to be sure. One of the techniques professionals use to tell who is lying, and who is telling the truth is to follow eye movements. Neuro-Linguistic Programming says that when people are constructing imaginary or fantasy images we look up and to the left if we are right-handed and up and to the right if we are left-handed. Think, “What color is my Mom’s hair?” Where did your eyes go? Now think, “I’m an astronaut and when I went to the moon I made a snow-man out of moon dust.” Where did your eyes go this time?

In the book, Telling Lies by lie-catcher Paul Ekman, he presents his “facial action coding system.” These are the facial expressions we all use that are hard-wired to the brain and will show up without our conscious control. Charles Bond, a psychologist at Texas Christian University reported that among 2,520 adults surveyed in 6.3 countries, more than 70% believe that liars tend to avert their gazes and/or stutter, touch, or scratch themselves or tell longer stories than usual.

If you’re spouse is working too many late nights, think about this next time you ask them what their plans are for the night.

Although, there has been some research lately that says this analysis is too simplistic to be counted upon, detectives continue to use it along with other tools. There was a story in “Outside Magazine” about a detective involved in an investigation of a poaching in a national park. He claimed he could tell within one minute if someone was lying. I got very excited and tracked him down to a sub-station in Wyoming. He said that he teaches his skills to trainees in one hour but he wouldn’t tell me what they were. Maybe he thought I was a secret poacher (which is hard to be in Santa Barbara)

Here are some other ways to tell if your partner or spouse is lying and having an extramarital affair:

1. If their answer to your question is brief, clear, and direct, that is a good sign that it is true.
2. Liars start to elaborate and repeat themselves and sometimes their story or the details change.
3. The more a liar tries, the more you need to worry.

An extramarital affair takes a great deal of energy. The lying, sneaking around, and destroying of evidence all take tremendous amounts of energy. The onset of guilty feelings about having the affair, in the first place, further zaps whatever energy the partner having the affair might still have left. And, guess what all this used energy is a complete waste, because liars cannot control the ‘leakage’ of their true feelings, which run in micro-expressions that last half a second. It is so ordinary, so much a part of our everyday lives and everyday conversations that we hardly notice it.  

 
 

Divorce Terms:
Cohabitation. Unmarried persons living together as if married.

Cohabitation becomes a problem when 1) in parties who have minor children the custodial parent takes in a lover during the divorce process and the non-custodial parent files a motion to prevent such behavior, and 2) an ex-spouse, usually ex-wife receiving alimony, cohabitates rather than remarries in order not to lose her alimony. Many judgments terminate alimony upon remarriage. Cohabitation during divorce can make a bad impression on the court and is usually unwise.

Commencement of Action. The official beginning of your case, defined as the time of filing your complaint for divorce with the court.

Complaints are not accepted for filing unless they comply with court rules regarding form and substance and are accompanied with the filing fee.

Common Law. A body of law, sometimes referred to as ?case law,? developed by judges over many years which establishes how courts interpret statutes and handle matters not specifically covered by statutes.

Common Law Marriage. A judicially-recognized marriage in some states, generally based on cohabitation. Courts in these jurisdictions may recognize marriages despite the parties? failure to comply with local marriage statutes.

Community Property. A system of property division which divides equally all property -- no matter in whose name it is held -- acquired during the term of the marriage, excluding inheritances and gifts in some jurisdictions.

There are nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin (quasi-community property). In these jurisdictions property acquired prior to the marriage stays with the party who acquired it. Certain jurisdictions exclude property that comes into the marriage by gift and inheritance. Some community property states allow equitable distribution where justice is served. These rules vary state to state and are fraught with exceptions. Consult local counsel.

Complaint for Contempt of Court. See Contempt of Court, Complaint for

Complaint (Petition) for Divorce. A complaint for divorce initiates the divorce proceeding by identifying the parties; stating the grounds for divorce; stating all claims against the defendant; and requesting the court to grant a divorce, grant custody, divide property, and order support. All complaints must be filed with the court and served along with a summons.

Complaint for Modification. See Modification, Complaint for

Confidential Relationship. See Privilege
 

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This website is not intended to give legal advice or service.
It is an informational website and should only be used as such.
For legal issues seek a competent legal counsel or advisor. A man that represents himself has a fool for a client.



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