State requirements / Iowa
Iowa parenting class requirement
45 days from service, and the decree waits
Iowa requires the parties to any action involving child custody or visitation, including a modification, to complete a court-approved course within 45 days of service. No final decree is granted until both have complied.
The requirement at a glance
| Who must attend | The parties to any action involving child custody or visitation, including an application to modify an existing order. Not required where the proceeding involves terminating a party's parental rights. |
| Hours required | No minimum set by statute; content areas are specified instead |
| Deadline | Within 45 days of service of the notice and petition, or of the notice and application to modify. It can be waived or delayed for good cause, including a default by a party or a showing that the parties already completed an approved course. |
| Authority | Iowa Code 598.15 |
| Fees and waivers | Each party pays their own cost. The statute sets no cap and no sliding-scale mandate. |
| Our price | $25 for one parent, $50 for both parents on the same case. Scholarship seats are funded by donors, so no parent is turned away for money. |
| Our registry status | On our active build and filing list. We will announce the day this state accepts us, and not a day before. |
What the law actually says
“A final decree shall not be granted or a final order shall not be entered until the parties have complied with this section.”
Iowa Code 598.15(1)Quoted from the official text. Read it yourself at the source below.The part nobody explains
Filing your certificate
Each party submits their own certificate of completion to the court before the final decree or order. Each party is also responsible for arranging and paying for their own course.
If the deadline passes
No final decree is granted and no final order is entered until the parties have complied, unless the course is waived or delayed for good cause. Iowa is one of the few states where the case genuinely stops.
Who approves providers in Iowa
Each judicial district certifies its own approved courses, which may be run by public or private entities. Online courses are accepted, but district practice differs: one district approves online classes case by case on written application, while another lists several online and webinar courses outright.
What you get from us
- The full course, start to finish, on a phone or a laptop, with your progress saved. Lifetime access, no thirty-day expiry and no extension fees.
- Your certificate the moment you finish, by email, free. A mailed paper copy is optional.
- Free instant verification for your court. A clerk or judge confirms the certificate at our verification page with no account and no phone call.
- Our acceptance guarantee: if your specific court declines this certificate, you get a full refund, no processing fee and no deadline to claim it.
Check us on the law
Every fact on this page traces to an official source. Read them yourself.