News & Resources

ARTICLE 1 – NEW TAX LAW IMPACT ON ALIMONY On January 1, 2019, many new tax laws will go into effect.  These laws will have a direct impact on divorcing couples.  There appears to be four (4) major areas where the tax laws will change which every divorcing person needs to be aware of before moving forward with their divorce proceedings.  These changes are to alimony, the marital home, child related tax credits and prenuptial/post-nuptial […]

Health insurance is an important part of determining a child support obligation in the state of Iowa under the child support guidelines. It is, therefore, essential to determine who will carry the insurance, and how the cost regarding the health insurance will be allocated. You must further understand if the health insurance coverage is a state sponsored plan, such as hawk-I, or a private health insurance plan, to ensure that the proper child support calculation […]

We are very proud to announce we have received notification from Martindale-Hubbell that Shannon Simpson has received the highest possible rating, the  2018 Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent  “Judicial Edition” Peer Review RatingTM     Shannon Simpson was given an “AV” Preeminent rating from her peers and the Judiciary. This means that she was deemed to have very high professional ethics and preeminent legal ability.  Only lawyers with the highest ethical standards and professional ability receive a Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review […]

The drafters of the revised child support guidelines felt it was necessary to more completely define actual child care expenses in the Revised Iowa Child Support Guidelines.  They did so in Rule 9.11A.  First, the drafters defined what are “child care expenses” by saying that this term means expenses for the children in the pending case that are reasonably necessary for the parent to work, attend school or training activities, or conduct a job search.  […]

So what is “income” for child support purposes?  The drafters of the revised Iowa Child Support Guidelines have attempted to make sure that the definition of what is considered income is better defined. Rule 9.5 of the Iowa Child Support Guidelines states that gross monthly income is defined as, “reasonably expected income from all sources”. Recently, the Iowa Child Support Guidelines changed to reflect that income now includes traditional or rehabilitative spousal support (alimony) payments […]

    Over the next several weeks we will be highlighting the recent changes to the Iowa Child Support Guidelines in our five part blog series –  The REVISED Iowa Child Support Guideline – What you should Know!.  We will be highlighting such areas as:   How “income” is now defined, including what is considered “income” for child support purposes; What are “child care expenses”, how are they defined according to the child support guidelines, […]