SENATE FILE 181

BY  DANIELSON

A BILL FOR

An Act providing for the modification of property divisions made pursuant to a dissolution of marriage.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 598.21, subsection 7, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   7.Not subject to Limited modification.
   a.  Property Except as provided in paragraph “b”, property divisions made under this chapter are not subject to modification.
   b.  The portion of a property division which constitutes an order intended to be a qualified domestic relations order affecting pension, profit sharing, or stock bonus plans pursuant to the United States Internal Revenue Code is modifiable only for the purpose of establishing or maintaining the order as a qualified domestic relations order or to revise or confirm the order’s terms to effectuate the expressed intent of the order.
EXPLANATION
   This bill allows an exception to the proscription against modification of property divisions made under the dissolution of marriage and domestic relations Code chapter. The exception provides that the portion of a property division which constitutes an order intended to be a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) affecting pension, profit sharing, or stock bonus plans is modifiable only for the purpose of establishing or maintaining the order as a QDRO or to revise or confirm the order’s terms to effectuate the expressed intent of the order.