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What are the residency requirements to file for divorce in Iowa?
The residency requirements explain how long each spouse must live in Iowa before a divorce can be filed.
If your spouse (the respondent) lives in Iowa, you (the petitioner) can file for divorce in Iowa even if you have never lived in Iowa. However, you will need to have him/her served by “personal service.”1 Please talk to a lawyer to understand exactly what this means.
If your spouse (the respondent) does not live in Iowa, you must be a resident of Iowa for at least one year before you can file for divorce.1 In order to be considered a “resident of Iowa,” you must have a fixed, permanent home in Iowa and have no intention of leaving Iowa.2
If both you and your spouse live in Iowa, the petition can be filed in the district court in the county where either you or your spouse lives.3
1 See Iowa Code § 598.5(1)(k)
2 See, for example, In re Marriage of Kimura, 471 N.W.2d 869 (1991)
3 Iowa Code § 598.2
What are the grounds for divorce in Iowa?
“Grounds” are legally acceptable reasons for divorce. In order for a judge to grant you a divorce in Iowa, you must prove that:
- there was a breakdown of your marriage to the extent that the purpose of the marriage was destroyed; and
- there is no reasonable chance that your marriage will be repaired.1
If the person filing for divorce (the petitioner) fails to prove this to the judge at the hearing through his/her evidence, the other spouse (the respondent) can also present evidence to prove these things to the judge.2
1 Iowa Code § 598.5(1)(g)
2 Iowa Code § 598.17(2)
Can I get alimony? What factors will a judge consider?
Alimony, also called spousal support or maintenance, is financial support paid by, or to, your spouse. Alimony can be awarded when an annulment, divorce, or separate maintenance order is granted. It will be up to the judge to decide:
- whether or not to award alimony; and
- how long alimony payments will last.1
To make this decision, the judge will consider all of the following things:
- the length of your marriage;
- the age and physical/emotional health of each spouse;
- the division of property that was ordered as part of the annulment, divorce, or separate maintenance;
- the education level of each spouse at the time you were married and at the time you filed for divorce;
- your earning capacity, if you are the spouse filing for alimony;
- whether you can become self-supporting after the divorce;
- whether you can achieve a similar standard of living as you had during your marriage and how long would it take for you to get there;
- the tax consequences for you and your spouse;
- any agreement between you and your spouse about getting “paid back” for a financial or service contribution that either spouse made to the marriage; (For example, let’s say you work to support your husband while he goes to college. You and your husband agree that once he graduates, he will work to support you while you go to college – but he files for divorce before you have the chance to go);
- any agreement you and your spouse made about financial issues before you got married, known as a “prenuptial” or “antenuptial” agreement; and
- any other factors that the judge thinks are relevant.1
Note: When evaluating your earning capacity, listed above in #5, the judge will consider the following things:
- your educational background, training, and job skills;
- your work experience and any amount of time you spent out of the job market;
- any child care responsibilities you may have; and
- the time and expense that it would take for you to get sufficient education or training to find a job.1
1 Iowa Code § 598.21A(1)
What are the basic steps for filing for divorce?
While divorce laws vary by state, here are the basic steps:
- Meet the residency requirements of the state where you wish to file. To see Iowa’s residency requirements, go to What are the residency requirements to file for divorce in Iowa?
- Have a legally acceptable reason (“grounds”) to end your marriage. To see what the legally acceptable reasons to get divorced in Iowa are, go to What are the grounds for divorce in Iowa?
- File divorce papers and have copies sent to your spouse. To learn more about filing a summons, preparing a petition, and serving your spouse with notice of the case, go to the Starting the Court Case page in our Preparing for Court - By Yourself section.
- If your spouse disagrees with anything in your divorce papers, s/he can file papers telling his/her side. This is called “contesting the divorce.” If your spouse contests the divorce, you will likely have to attend a series of court appearances to sort out the issues. On the other hand, if your spouse agrees with everything, this is called an “uncontested divorce.” Your spouse should then sign the papers and send them back to you or the court. However, if your spouse fails to sign the papers or file an answer or other response within the time the law requires, you may still be able to proceed with an uncontested divorce. You should speak to a lawyer in your state about how long you have to wait to see if your spouse answers the divorce papers before you can continue with the divorce.
In a divorce case, you can also address the following issues, if they are relevant to your situation:
- child custody and co-parenting;
- dividing up property, money, and debts; and
- spousal and child support.
You and your spouse may resolve these issues in an out-of-court settlement or through court hearings.
Where can I find more information about divorce in Iowa?
Iowa Judicial Branch provides the following materials about divorce:
- basic information on divorce in Iowa, including how to begin a divorce proceeding if you have children and if you don’t have children; and
- court forms for divorce.
Iowa Legal Aid also has more information about divorce and some of the surrounding issues.
WomensLaw.org has no relationship with the above organizations and cannot vouch for the accuracy of their sites. We provide these links for your information only.
You will find more information about divorce, including the risks of taking your children out of state while a divorce is pending, on our general Divorce page. To watch brief videos about divorce in Spanish with English sub-titles, go to our Videos page. Lastly, learn more about the court process on our Preparing for Court – By Yourself page.
