House Study Bill 159 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON HOLT) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the suspension of child support and medical 1 support in certain circumstances. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1706YC (1) 91 dg/ko
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 598.21C, subsection 1, paragraph k, Code 1 2025, is amended to read as follows: 2 k. (1) Entry of a dispositional or permanency an order 3 in juvenile court pursuant to chapter 232 placing custody or 4 physical care of a child with a party who is obligated to pay 5 support for a the child. Any filing fees or court costs for a 6 modification filed or ordered pursuant to this paragraph are 7 waived. 8 (2) (a) The court that entered an order for child support 9 or medical support may enter an ex parte order suspending the 10 child support or medical support under this paragraph upon 11 receiving an application from the party obligated to pay the 12 child support or medical support. The application must contain 13 the county, docket number, and date of the order that placed 14 the custody or physical care of the child with the party 15 obligated to pay the child support or medical support. An ex 16 parte order suspending child support or medical support shall 17 be effective on the date the ex parte order is entered. 18 (b) If the court subsequently orders custody or physical 19 care of the child returned to the party owed child support 20 or medical support, upon receiving an application from the 21 party owed child support or medical support, the court may 22 enter an ex parte order terminating the ex parte order under 23 subparagraph division (a). The application must contain the 24 county, docket number, and date of the order that returned the 25 custody or physical care of the child to the party owed child 26 support or medical support. An ex parte order terminating 27 an ex parte order under subparagraph division (a) shall be 28 effective on the date the ex parte order is entered. 29 (c) A person, including but not limited to a party obligated 30 to pay child support or medical support, the party owed child 31 support or medical support, and child support services, may 32 file an objection to an ex parte order entered under this 33 subparagraph within fifteen calendar days of the date the 34 ex parte order is entered. The clerk of the district court 35 -1- LSB 1706YC (1) 91 dg/ko 1/ 3
H.F. _____ shall schedule a hearing on the objection not later than seven 1 calendar days after the date the objection is filed and shall 2 provide notice of the hearing to the parties. 3 (d) The supreme court shall prescribe a standard form 4 to be used by a party submitting an application under this 5 subparagraph, and distribute the form to the clerks of the 6 district court. 7 EXPLANATION 8 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 9 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 10 This bill relates to the suspension of child support and 11 medical support (support) in certain circumstances. 12 Under current law, a district court is allowed to enter 13 an order modifying an order for support or spousal support 14 when there is a substantial change in circumstances. One such 15 substantial change in circumstances is when a dispositional 16 or permanency order entered under Code chapter 232 (juvenile 17 justice) places the custody or physical care (custody) of a 18 child with a party obligated to pay support (obligor) for the 19 child. The bill allows a court to modify support and spousal 20 support when any order entered under Code chapter 232 places 21 the custody of a child with an obligor. 22 The bill allows a district court that entered an order for 23 support to enter an ex parte order suspending support if an 24 order entered under Code chapter 232 placed the custody of a 25 child with an obligor and the obligor filed an application 26 requesting a suspension of the support. The district court 27 may terminate an ex parte order suspending support when the 28 child is returned to the party owed support and the party owed 29 support files an application with the court. Applications 30 for ex parte orders to suspend or terminate suspension of 31 support must contain the county, docket number, and date of the 32 order that placed custody of the child with the party filing 33 the application. Ex parte orders suspending or terminating 34 the suspension of support are effective on the date they are 35 -2- LSB 1706YC (1) 91 dg/ko 2/ 3
H.F. _____ entered. A person may file an objection to an ex parte order 1 suspending or terminating the suspension of support within 15 2 calendar days of the date the ex parte order is entered. The 3 clerk of the district court must schedule a hearing on the 4 objection not later than seven calendar days after the filing 5 of the objection and provide notice of the hearing to the 6 parties. 7 The bill requires the supreme court to prescribe a standard 8 form to be used by a party submitting an application for 9 suspension or termination of the suspension of support and 10 distribute the form to the clerks of the district court. 11 -3- LSB 1706YC (1) 91 dg/ko 3/ 3