WomensLaw serves and supports all survivors.

Legal Information: Iowa

Custody

View all
Laws current as of August 5, 2024

Can I get temporary custody as part of a domestic violence protective order?

You can get a temporary custody and visitation order in a protective order based on domestic abuse. This is true for both temporary and final protective orders. The judge must consider your and your child’s safety when making a temporary custody and visitation order. If the judge believes unsupervised visitation will put you or your child at risk, the judge must:

  • give supervised visitation;
  • restrict visitation; or
  • deny visitation entirely.1

The judge will also decide whether any existing custody or visitation orders need to be changed (modified).1 

1 Iowa Code §§ 236.4(2)-(4); 236.5(1)(b)(5)

Legal Information

© 2008–2024 WomensLaw.org is a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is funded in part through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). NNEDV is a 501©(3) non-profit organization; EIN 52-1973408.