Title XV, JUDICIAL BRANCH AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURES (Ch. 595 - 686D)

1. If the person to be adopted dies following the filing of an adoption petition pursuant to section 600.3 , but prior to issuance of a final adoption decree pursuant to section 600.13 , the juvenile court or court may waive any investigations and reports required pursuant to sec…

1. At the conclusion of the adoption hearing, the juvenile court or court shall do one of the following: a. Issue a final adoption decree. b. Issue an interlocutory adoption decree. c. Issue a standby adoption decree pursuant to section 600.14A . d. Dismiss the adoption petition …

1. An appeal from any final order or decree rendered under this chapter or chapter 600A shall be taken in the same manner as an appeal is taken from a final judgment under the rules of civil procedure. However, a rule of civil procedure provision regarding a minimum amount of val…

1. As used in this section : a. “Standby adoption” means an adoption in which a terminally ill parent consents to termination of parental rights and the issuance of a final adoption decree effective upon the occurrence of a future event, which is either the death of the terminall…

1. A decree establishing a parent-child relationship by adoption which is issued pursuant to due process of law by a juvenile court or court of any other jurisdiction within or outside the United States shall be recognized in this state. 2. For an adoption based on a decree issue…

1. Any information compiled under section 600.8, subsection 1 , paragraph “c” , relating to medical and developmental histories shall be made available at any time by the clerk of court, the department, or any adoption service provider that made the placement to: a. The adopting …

1. The permanent termination of parental rights record of the juvenile court under chapter 600A and the permanent adoption record of the juvenile court or court shall be sealed by the clerk of the juvenile court or the clerk of court, as appropriate, when they are complete and af…

The supreme court shall prescribe and the department shall adopt rules, to defray the actual cost of the provision of information or the opening of records pursuant to section 600.16 or 600.16A . 92 Acts, ch 1196, §5 ; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1249

The department shall, within the limits of funds appropriated to the department and any gifts or grants received by the department for this purpose, provide financial assistance to any person who adopts a child with physical or mental disabilities or an older or otherwise hard-to…

1. Any prospective adoptive parent desiring financial assistance shall state this fact in the petition for adoption. The department shall investigate the person petitioning for adoption and the child and shall file with the juvenile court or court a statement of whether the depar…

The amount of financial assistance for maintenance shall not exceed the amount the department would normally spend for foster care of the child. The amount of financial assistance for special services shall not exceed the amount the department would normally spend if it were to p…

1. “Adoption service provider” , “adult” , “agency” , “biological parent” , “certified adoption investigator” , “child” , “court” , “custodian” , “department” , “guardian” , “guardian ad litem” , “juvenile court” , “minor” , “parent” , “parent-child relationship” , “stepparent” ,…

Financial assistance shall be available only if the child to be adopted was under the guardianship of the state, county, or an agency immediately prior to adoption. The one-hundred-eighty-day period of residence in the proposed home required in section 600.10 shall not apply to t…

Financial assistance shall terminate when the need for assistance no longer exists. Financial assistance shall not extend beyond the adopted child’s twenty-first birthday. [C73, 75, §600.15; C77, 79, 81, §600.21 ] Referred to in §600.5 , 600.18 , 600.22 , 627.19

The department shall adopt rules in accordance with the provisions of chapter 17A , which are necessary for the administration of sections 600.17 through 600.21 and 600.23 . [C73, 75, §600.16; C77, 79, 81, §600.22 ] 83 Acts, ch 96, §157, 159 ; 87 Acts, ch 102, §1 ; 2021 Acts, ch …

1. Purpose. The department may enter into interstate agreements with state agencies of other states for the protection of children on behalf of whom adoption subsidy is being provided by the department and to provide procedures for interstate children’s adoption assistance paymen…

The department may allow access to adoption records held by the department or an agency if all of the following conditions are met: 1. The identity of the biological parents of the adopted person is concealed from the person gaining access to the records. 2. The person gaining ac…

A termination of parental rights proceeding or an adoption proceeding pending on January 1, 1977, or a release of parental rights or affidavit of consent or consent to adopt properly given prior to January 1, 1977 shall not be affected by the provisions of chapter 600A . [C79, 81…

1. An action for the adoption of any natural person shall be commenced by the filing of an adoption petition, as prescribed in section 600.5 , in the juvenile court or court of the county in which an adult person to be adopted is domiciled or resides, or in the juvenile court or …

Any person who may adopt may file an adoption petition under section 600.3 . The following persons may adopt: 1. An unmarried adult. 2. Husband and wife together. 3. A husband or wife separately if the person to be adopted is not the other spouse and if any of the following condi…

An adoption petition shall be signed and verified by the petitioner, shall be filed with the juvenile court or court designated in section 600.3 , and shall state: 1. The name, as it appears on the birth certificate or in a verified birth record or as it appears as a result of ma…

An adoption petition shall have attached to it the following: 1. A certified copy of the birth certificate showing parentage of the person to be adopted or, if such certificate is not available, a verified birth record. The department shall provide a certified copy of a birth cer…

Prior to ordering a hearing on the adoption petition, the court shall make a determination of the need for a guardian ad litem for a minor child to be adopted and shall, in writing, either appoint or waive the appointment of a guardian ad litem for purposes of the adoption procee…

1. An adoption petition shall not be granted unless the following persons consent to the adoption or unless the juvenile court or court makes a determination under subsection 4 : a. Any guardian of the person to be adopted. b. The spouse of a petitioner who is a stepparent. c. Th…

The department shall adopt rules which provide that if adoption services are provided by or through the department, notwithstanding any other selection of adoptive parent criteria, the overriding criterion shall be a preference for placing a child in a stable home environment as …

The department shall develop and furnish to the state registrar of vital statistics a document listing all postadoption services available to adoptive families in the state, to be delivered along with a copy of the new birth certificate to the parents named in the adoption decree…

1. a. A preplacement investigation shall be directed to and a report of this investigation shall answer the following: (1) Whether the home of the prospective adoption petitioner is a suitable one for the placement of a minor person to be adopted. (2) How the prospective adoption…

1. a. A biological parent shall not receive any thing of value as a result of the biological parent’s child or former child being placed with and adopted by another person, unless that thing of value is an allowable expense under subsection 2 . b. Any person assisting in any way …

1. All of the following are prohibited practices regarding a proceeding under this chapter : a. The provision of termination of parental rights, child placement, or adoption services to any biological or adoptive parent by any person other than an adoption service provider or the…