01/20/2024
***CALL TO ACTION***
Yesterday, HSB574 was made publicly available. Iowa Fathers is generally supportive of the bill with a couple small changes. We appreciate the effort that Representative Holt has put forth to get the bill to where it is today. We need your help. It won’t cost you a dime. We need your voice to be heard on behalf of our kids.
Current Bill
You can read the bill here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HSB574
House Bill 574 has been introduced to help modernize child custody laws in Iowa. It is no secret that kids do better when they have both of their parents in their lives in meaningful manner. Iowa Fathers believes children need to be with both parents on an equal basis and the State of Iowa has a duty to do what it can to promote and foster that opportunity. Some parents will squander that opportunity and some children may not want to have a relationship with both of their parents, but the opportunity for equal parenting should be supported and promoted by Iowa.
Over the years the Court’s have adopted case law that goes against keeping kids with their both their parents. The Courts have adopted a precedent of making a determination of who the “superior” parent is and in turn who is “inferior”. The State of Iowa believes that kids are better off if they are denied the opportunity to be their “inferior” parent on an equal basis. HSF574 helps turn the tide against this archaic thinking.
HSB574 is a way to give kids an equal opportunity to be with both parents.
Iowa Fathers Proposed Changes
Under the current language of the bill, Section 4(a) would make law what is called continuity and stability of care of the child. This is a backward-looking provision rather than a forward looking to the new reality of the family. The court looks historically at who in the past took care of the children and that it is in the best interest of the child that such parent should continue. The reality is what used to be one household is now two. Whereas there might have been a delegation of household responsibility that allowed one parent to assume more care responsibility to allow the other parent to focus on financial obligations of the family. Once there are two households these old roles likely will change and both parents have to focus on meeting financial obligations of the family. There is also no reason that children have to be denied the opportunity to be with both parents because of roles that existed in the past though circumstances have changed greatly.
Looking backward at times to circumstances that no longer exist and asking who was the superior parent is the wrong question. If Iowa cares about kids being able to have equal opportunity with both parents the question that should be asked is, are both parents able to meet the minimum ability to care for their children and if not, what conditions need to be met in order for kids to be given an equal opportunity to be with both parents. Under current case law, a parent who has been deemed inferior has to show a “material change in circumstances not contemplated by the court at the time of the decree.” This hurdle doesn’t allow a pathway for the inferior parent to improve or grow into an equal parent.
A new section needs to be added directing the court to clear instructions to a parent who is not awarded joint physical care on what conditions have to be met in order for the kids to be able to have equal time with the parent. Iowa needs to support the relationship between both parents and the children and they can do that by giving parents a pathway to joint physical care. The goal should be, whenever possible, make there be a road to reuniting kids and their parents. Both parents.
Help Needed
Here’s where you can help. We need to make legislatures aware of the changes that are needed.
I would ask each of you to reach out to the committee and encourage them to adopt the changes that Iowa Fathers has set forth to make the bill a very good step in the right direction for our kids.
Hearing from you, and hearing your stories about how the State of Iowa has failed our children is important information and it needs to be heard.
Here is a draft of an email that I would ask you send to the committee members letting them know how important it is that we finally modernize custody laws in Iowa.
Email to Committee
This is an email for you to copy and paste. You will need to customize it to make it your own. These emails need to be sent before Monday.
Committee members’ and chairman’s emails:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Dear Representatives Holt, Gustoff, Srinivas and Thomson,
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I would ask each of you as committee members to support to adopting the changes that Iowa Fathers has set forth to make the bill a very good step in the right direction for our kids. Custody laws in Iowa need to be modernized and then need to be changed now. Our kids deserve better than what the system is giving them now. The current process is harmful to families and doesn’t promote or support Iowa families.
Those changes remove the new proposed section 4(a) which looks backwards to what was rather than looking forward to what is. Iowa Fathers provided the committee with a new Section 6 which adds a pathway forward for our kids to the opportunity to have equal access to both parents.
I appreciate the work you do and thank you for your continued support of Iowa kids. You have undertaken very important work in helping our kids keep access to both parents.
Sincerely,
Information pertaining to the Iowa Legislature as well as the Executive and Judicial branch in as much as they relate to the legislative branch
