Iowa Child Support

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A brief idea of the child support obligations can be obtained from the following table. All amounts are in USD.

Calculation of net monthly income in Divorce Iowa Child Support

Net monthly income = Gross monthly income - (sum of the following deductions)

Deductions

• Union dues
• Mandatory pension deductions
• Social security deductions
• State income tax (calculated as per guideline method)
• Federal income tax (calculated as per guideline method)
• Prior obligation of spousal support and child support disbursed as per administrative or court order
• Cash medical support that has been ordered in the present case
• Actual medical support that has been disbursed as per an administrative or court order related to other children
• Actual child care expenditure when the custodial parent is employed minus the precise income tax credit
• Qualified additional dependent deductions

Concept of visitation credit in Divorce Iowa Child Support

Let us assume that the non custodial parent's visitation is more than 127 days per annum as per the orders of the court. In this case the term 'days' implies 'overnights spent caring for the child.' The non custodial parent is awarded a credit on the basic support obligation as per the following table.

Deductions for qualified additional dependents in Iowa Child Support

Both the parents (custodial and non custodial) are eligible for a monthly deduction related to qualified additional dependents. These are as mentioned below.

• If there is 1 child, then 8 percent of the gross monthly income of the parent. This has a limit of 800 USD per month
• If there are 2 children, then 12 percent of the gross monthly income of the parent. This is restricted to maximum 1,200 USD per month
• In case of 3 children, the deduction is 14 percent of the gross monthly income of the parent. The maximum amount is 1,400 USD per month
• If there are 4 children, then 15 percent of the gross monthly income of the parent, limited to 1,500 USD per month
• If the number of children are 5 or more, then 16 percent of the gross monthly income. The limit here is 1,600 USD per month

Variation from guidelines in Iowa Child Support

The court is empowered to establish in written form that the amount derived from the guidelines would be inappropriate or unjust. This has been mentioned in Rule 9.11. The following criteria can be applied by the court for deviation from the guidelines.

• The circumstances mentioned in Iowa Code Section 234.39
• Under special circumstances of the case, it is essential to make adjustments for providing justice to the payor and payee or to fulfill the requirements of the child
• If the guidelines are followed, this would result in considerable injustice to the payee, payor or child
• There must be a written determination that if actual earnings were considered, this would cause considerable injustice to fulfill the requirements of the child or deliver justice to both the partners. In such a case, the court might consider earning capacity

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