Seeking answers to your pressing legal questions? Delve into our frequently asked questions to gain clarity on common concerns and understand how we approach various legal scenarios. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to reach out for personalized guidance.
This is one of the most difficult questions to answer. It costs $265 to file a divorce petition and $195 for a custody petition. Other fees or charges, like paternity testing, which usually costs between $300 and $600, can be taxed as court costs as well. Court costs are usually split by the parties, but the judge can order one party responsible for payment of all court costs. Aside from court costs, the overall cost is dependent on the issues to be resolved, how much the parties cooperate, and the attorneys hired by each party.
Often you will have to engage in mediation to work out custody and property division issues and that process can cost $800 – $1,400 depending on how long the mediation lasts.
To provide you with an estimate of what your case will cost, we like to meet with you and learn about your family and the issues that you would like to be resolved.
For uncontested disputes, we offer flat attorney fees ranging from $1,200 to $1,800.
In almost every case, Iowa law requires parties to wait 90 days from service of process before a divorce can be finalized. That means that the earliest the divorce can be approved is the 91st day (though there are some exceptions). If you have to go to trial (most cases don’t), then it could take up to a year for your divorce to be final. The total time depends on the type and number of contested issues, the parties’ willingness to negotiate, and the lawyer’s ability to communicate with each other, some divorces can take much longer. The best way to ensure that the process doesn’t linger is to choose a lawyer with a good reputation, be open to negotiate, and attempt to be amicable with your spouse.
If you can show a reason (good cause) to waive the waiting period, the judge might grant your divorce before the 90 day waiting period has passed. While it is easier to get a waiver in some parts of the state, generally you will need to show that a quick divorce is necessary for an important reason. Possible reasons for a waiver include if one of the parties is in the military and has been called up for service, if one of the parties is terminally ill, or if the parties have been separated for a very long time and agree to the terms of the divorce.
A retainer is the prepayment of legal fees, which is held in a trust account to be billed against for legal work completed by the attorney. Firms charge different retainers based on the amount of time they think they will bill on a particular case. At the end of representation, any excess retainer held in the trust account will be refunded to the client. It is important to note that an initial retainer does not usually cover the total costs of the case, which means the client may be asked to add more money to the trust account as the case progresses.
At Miller, Zimmerman & Evans, we offer flat fee uncontested divorces with fees ranging from $1,200 to $1,800. If the divorce ends up being contested, we switch clients over to an hourly rate. In addition to the flat attorney fee, court costs are also required to be paid by the client.
A party can represent themselves in a divorce or custody action. Due to the complexity of legal issues that can arise before and during the action, it is advised that parties seek the advice of an attorney before making that decision. An option for parties who want to represent themselves yet still obtain the advice of an attorney is an unbundled service (see below).
If appropriate, we can help you with “unbundled service”. For example, filing the legal documents, or just the mediation procedure. Unbundled service is a great way for a client to save money and still have the peace of mind that their interests were fairly handled. After a brief meeting, we can determine what portion of your case you would like us to help with and provide you an estimate of cost.
An uncontested divorce is one where both parties can resolve their dispute amicably, and is usually apparent when the parties agree on all key issues in the case. An uncontested divorce is a cost-effective method that allows the parties to end their marriage as amicably and efficiently as possible.
A contested divorce is one where the parties cannot agree with respect to the key issues that must be resolved in the case.
Legal custody determines a parent’s right to make decisions with regard to a child’s legal status, medical care, education, extracurricular activities, and religious instruction. Legal custody is broken down into joint legal custody, where both parents have a right to participate in making those decisions, and sole legal custody, where one parent has the right to make those decisions. There is a presumption that joint legal custody is in a child’s best interest.
Physical custody, or physical care, determines who the child lives with and who pays the child’s expenses. Physical custody can be primary, when one parent has the child most of the time, or shared (joint) care, where the child lives with each parent 50% of the time. Custody is an important part of a divorce proceeding because it has an impact on child support, public benefits, taxes, and making decisions that are best for your child.
In Iowa, courts equitably divide marital property, which means they consider the factors in Iowa Code § 598.21 for property division. Unless commingled, inherited property and gifts received before or during the marriage are generally not divided. Whether one party or both parties were earning an income is not relevant when it comes to equitable distribution. All money earned during the marriage is considered marital, and therefore any asset purchased with that money is also considered marital.
Trial is not a requirement for divorce. In fact, over 90% of divorces filed will settle before trial. Instead, the parties negotiate, and often mediate, to come to a mutually beneficial agreement for each party. Trial can be very expensive, so being open to negotiation is the key to keeping costs low and maintaining control over these important decisions.
This is one of the most important questions to consider when dealing with a custody issue. Children are innocent parties to a divorce, and therefore should be protected as much as possible. Good general rules are: Do not disparage your spouse in front of the children, keep open lines of communication with your children and spouse (when able), and discuss adult topics only with adults. If you feel that your children are having a difficult time adjusting to the divorce, please talk to them about their concerns, and if need be, seek counseling for them.
There are three types of alimony – Reimbursement, Rehabilitative, and Traditional. Reimbursement alimony is awarded based on financial sacrifices made by one spouse during the marriage that enhanced the other spouse’s future earning capacity. Rehabilitative alimony is awarded to a dependent spouse to promote self-sufficiency. Rehabilitative alimony serves to provide the dependent spouse with education and retraining. Traditional alimony is either payable for life, or as long as a dependent spouse is incapable of self-support. The factors a court considers when awarding alimony are laid out in Iowa Code § 598.21A.
Mediation is a process by which the parties negotiate through a neutral person – the mediator – to assist in coming to a resolution before a hearing or trial. Once approved by the court, agreements reached during mediation are enforced similar to that of a Decree or Order. Therefore, it is prudent to have an attorney present during mediation to ensure your legal rights are defended. In Iowa, mediation is required for temporary hearings and final matters in divorces and custody disputes. The only exception to the mediation requirement is if a party can demonstrate a history of domestic abuse.
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, can be ordered by the court to disestablish an alleged father’s paternity. The results of the genetic test must demonstrate at least a 95% probability that the father is not actually the biological father. In some cases, even if the results of the genetic test show a man is not the biological father, the court will not always disestablish paternity. Paramount to the court is the child’s best interest, and if it is not in the best interest of the child to disestablish paternity, the court may not do so. A genetic test typically costs between $300 and $600.
There are several ways to acknowledge paternity of a child, including: signing an affidavit of paternity; signing your name on the child’s birth certificate, providing financial and emotional support to the mother and child, and holding yourself out as the child’s father. If you acknowledge paternity within a reasonable time after the birth of your child, you establish an equal claim to custody. A reasonable time is vaguely defined, but courts have ruled that acknowledgement 7 years after birth is not reasonable.
The court may modify a child support order if there is a substantial change of circumstances. When determining whether a substantial change of circumstances has occurred, the court considers such factors as the following:·
Changes in the employment, earning capacity, income or resources of a party, receipt of an inheritance, pension or other gift, changes in the medical expenses of a party, changes in the number or needs of dependents of a party, changes in the physical, mental, or emotional health of a party, changes in the residence of a party, remarriage of a party, possible support of the party by another person, changes in the physical, mental, or educational needs of a child, or contempt by a party of existing orders.
Either parent may request that a custody order be changed; however, a judge will only approve a change in certain situations. Most importantly, a parent requesting a change will need to prove to the court that there has been a substantial and material change in circumstances that occurred after the original custody order was issued, and that this change is permanent and was not something that the parents or the judge were aware of when the original custody order was issued.
Here are some examples of situations that a judge could consider to be a big enough change to justify modifying a custody order:
Here are some situations that a judge may not consider to be a big enough change to justify modifying a custody order:
Additionally, it is more difficult if a parent wants to modify custody to change who has physical custody of the child. In this situation, the parent asking to be named primary physical caretaker by the court must show an ability to care for the child’s needs which is superior compared to what the other parent can do. If both parents are equally able to care for the children and it is in the children’s best interest for the custody to remain the same, then custody should not be changed.
