Custody

If you and the other parent cannot agree about all issues related to custody, then the judge will decide. S/he must figure out what is in the best interest of the child by considering all of the following factors:

• whether each parent would be a suitable caretaker (custodian) for the child;
• whether the child’s psychological and emotional development will suffer if s/he does not have active contact with both parents;
• whether the parents can communicate with each other about the child’s needs;
• whether both parents actively cared for the child before and after the parents separated;
• whether each parent can support the other parent’s relationship with the child;
• whether the custody arrangement is what the child wants, or if the child is strongly against it; Note: The judge is supposed to consider how old and mature the child is when looking at this factor;
• whether the parents want or do not want joint custody;
• how far apart the parents live from each other;
• whether either parent allowed a registered sex offender to care for the child or have unsupervised access to the child;
• whether giving the abuser joint custody or unsupervised visitation would be a risk to the safety of the child, other children, or you; and
• whether there is a history of domestic abuse as defined by the law; - see Can a parent who committed domestic violence get custody or visitation? for more information.¹

Also, the judge will look carefully at how much contact each parent has allowed the other parent to have. This is a “significant factor” the judge would consider when deciding custody. A parent must have a very good reason (“just cause”) for not allowing the other parent to have as much contact as possible with the child. However, a history of domestic abuse counts as “just cause.”²

Note: If you left the home because the other parent committed domestic abuse, threatened you, or you feared s/he would harm you, the judge is not supposed to hold this against you.³ 

¹ Iowa Code § 598.41(3)
² Iowa Code § 598.41(1)(c)
³ Iowa Code § 598.41(1)(d)