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 referred to as a “post-secondary subsidy,” and is discussed in Iowa Code section 598.21F.
Child support in Iowa is decided using the 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.
The Child Support Recovery Unit of the Department of Human Services can help families by establishing paternity, establishing and enforcing child and medical support orders, and by processing support payments. The Child Support Recovery Unit serves:
- Families receiving public assistance.
- The Unit continues to collect support after a family stops receiving public assistance, unless they are asked not to collect the support by the person receiving the support.
- A parent who lives in a state other than Iowa, but who receives child support payments from a person living or working in Iowa.
People can also apply for child support services from the Unit.
The Unit has a Customer Handbook, as well as a helpful topics page linking out to pages on a wide variety of child-support related topics.
You can find more information on child support in Iowa from the Iowa Judicial Branch here and from Iowa Legal Aid here.