On January 14, 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court issued an Opinion in the Matter of the Guardianship of L.Y. The case is the first interpretation of the new Guardianship Act which went into effect on January 1, 2020. The case involved young parents who consented to a temporary guardianship for the paternal grandparents to serve as guardians of their five-year-old daughter so that the daughter could be placed on the grandparents’ medical insurance and easily travel with them on vacation. The guardianship was also to provide an opportunity for the parents to complete their divorce and to establish stable lives.
More Legal News & Information... →Chapter 365 of the Iowa Code contains the Small Estate Statute. Recent legislation was passed which has made changes to the Chapter. The current statute is applicable to an estate if the value of the probate assets are $100,000.00 or less. One of the changes made in the legislation is to increase the maximum value of probate assets for an estate to qualify for small estate administration to $200,000.00 effective for estates of decedents dying on or after July 1, 2020. The new change in the maximum value of probate assets, combined with the increase in the amount for distribution
More Legal News & Information... →The Governor recently signed Legislation which amends the Iowa Code Section 633.356 which allows distribution of a decedent’s property by Affidavit in lieu of a formal probate proceeding. The previous Section applied when the gross value of a decedent’s personal property was valued at $25,000.00 or less. The new Section increases the dollar amount to $50,000.00 or less. The new Act, like the previous Act, requires 40 days to pass from the death of a decedent before the Affidavit can be utilized. The new Act becomes effective July 1, 2018. The new Act requires that an Affidavit state that no
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