Child Support Overview
In Iowa, parents have a legal obligation to support their minor children, as well as children who are 18 years old full time high-school students expected to graduate or complete high school equivalency before the individual reaches the age of nineteen. This obligation may also include a child of any age who has a physical or mental disability and depends on their parents for support. In some cases, a court may order parents to pay certain college expenses of a child. This is called a “post-secondary education subsidy,” and is discussed in Iowa Code section 598.21F.
Child support in Iowa is decided using the Iowa Child Support Guidelines. In addition to the Iowa Child Support Guidelines, the law relating to child support can be found in Chapter 598 and Chapter 600B of the Iowa Code.
Child Support Services from the Iowa Department of Human Services can help families by establishing paternity, establishing and enforcing child and medical support orders, processing payments, and for help changing the amount of an existing support order.
Iowa Child Support cases (also called "enforced cases") are only opened when:
- One of the parties involved applies for services;
- One of the parties receives certain types of public assistance; or
- A child is in foster care
To apply for Child Support Services, visiting the Department of Human Services "Apply for Child Support Services" page.
Child Support Services helps Iowans, as well as those who live in other states but needs services because the other parent lives or works in Iowa.
Some services are provided through "non-enforced cases." Non-enforced cases are situations where the cases are only opened because of an income withholding order for child support payments. In these cases, the Collection Services Center processes child support payments, but additional services are not provided. For more information on non-enforced cases, visit the Department of Human Services "Non-Enforced Cases Frequently Asked Questions."
Iowa Child Support Services has a Customer Handbook, as well as a helpful topics page linking out to pages on a wide variety of child-support related topics, and a list of frequently asked questions.
You can find more information on child support in Iowa from the Iowa Judicial Branch website and from the Iowa Legal Aid website.