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Legal Information: Iowa

Custody

Laws current as of August 5, 2024

Who can get custody?

When married parents separate or get divorced, either parent or both parents can get custody of the child.1

If a child’s parents are not married, then the mother has sole custody of the child unless:

  • the father has signed an acknowledgment of paternity; or
  • a judge has ordered something else.2

After legal fatherhood (paternity) is established, the father has the right to file for custody or visitation.2

1 Iowa Code § 598.41
2 Iowa Code § 600B.40(1)

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