At Direction of Child Support Review Committee Iowa Supreme Court Adopts Changes to Child Support Guidelines

June 28th, 2013

Pursuant to the recommendations of the Iowa Child Support Review Committee's 2012 recommendations, new child support rules will go into effect on July 1, 2013. Although not major, the following significant changes will take place:

1) The minimum support amount for a parent will now go from $10 per child to $30 for one child and $50 for multiple children;

2) Mandatory pension payments are now only allowable deductions for parties who don't pay social security (e.g. firefighters, civil servants) and the deduction may not exceed the social security rate;

3) Professional licensure fees are now deductible from a parties' actual income; however, they must be paid directly by the party and not their employer;

4) The high income threshold has been raised from $20,000 per year to $25,000 per year;

5) Voluntary unemployment of a party is now a factor when imputing income;

6) Extraordinary visitation cannot lower a minimum child support obligation;

7) Parties may now received a credit if the step-parent is providing health insurance; and

8) Child care expenses can now lead to a deviation from the guidelines amount of support.