WHAT ABOUT THE DIVORCE KITS AND PREPRINTED FORMS THAT ARE AVAILABLE?

The Iowa Supreme Court has realized that for “simple” divorces; that is where there are no children involved, the couple can often work out the details by themselves. To help people in this situation, they have created a series of forms and instructions that can be downloaded. The forms are located here http://www.judicial.state.ia.us in the “Representing Yourself”section.

Remember that these forms can only be used when there are no minor children involved. Also, neither the Supreme Court’s Website nor the forms and instructions themselves can provide you with legal advice.

Other web sites offer forms and even “help” in preparing those forms. Most of the time, the forms are not specific to Iowa laws and the “help” provided is not specific to Iowa or to your unique situation.

Divorce, especially when children are involved, is a complex area of the law which is not well served by simplistic forms that do not address all of the issues and areas concerned. The lasting effects of decisions made in haste without proper advice makes the use of such forms fairly risky.