Iowa Paternity Law Articles

In order for a court to enter a binding order in a paternity case, it must have both subject matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction. The case must also be filed in the proper venue, meaning the correct county court within the state. Subject matter jurisdiction, is the court’s ability to hear the particular type of case at hand. In Illinois the state circuit courts have subject matter jurisdiction over paternity cases. This means that paternity cases should be filed in state court rather than federal court.

Many attorneys offer both free consultations and paid consultations, depending on what you are trying to accomplish. The key to understanding the difference, is that generally attorneys will not give legal advice without being first hired by the client.

Iowa Law requires that the court consider the best interests of the child and order a custody arrangement that will allow the child to maintain consistent physical and emotional contact with both parents whenever possible in order to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities of raising the child, so long as doing so will not cause physical or significant emotional harm to the children, other children, or either parent.