Senate File 540 - Introduced SENATE FILE 540 BY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES (SUCCESSOR TO SF 360) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the temporary delegation of parental 1 authority by the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a 2 child. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1251SV (1) 88 hb/rh

S.F. 540 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 633F.1 Definitions. 1 1. “Agent” means a person granted authority to act for a 2 parent, guardian, or legal custodian under a power of attorney 3 created under this chapter. 4 2. “Child” means a person under eighteen years of age. 5 3. “Power of attorney” means a writing that grants authority 6 to an agent to act in the place of a parent, guardian, or legal 7 custodian regarding the care or custody of a child. 8 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 633F.2 Power of attorney —— temporary 9 delegation of parental authority. 10 1. A parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child, by a 11 properly executed power of attorney, may delegate to another 12 person any authority regarding the care or custody of the child 13 except for any of the following powers: 14 a. The power to consent to the child’s marriage. 15 b. The power to consent to the child’s adoption. 16 c. The power to consent to the performance or inducement of 17 an abortion on or for the child. 18 d. The power to consent to the termination of the parental 19 rights of a parent of the child. 20 2. A power of attorney executed under this chapter must be 21 signed by all parents, guardians, and legal custodians. The 22 power of attorney must be acknowledged before a notary public 23 or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments. 24 An agent named in the power of attorney shall not notarize the 25 principal’s signature. An acknowledged signature on a power of 26 attorney is presumed to be genuine. 27 3. A parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child shall 28 have the authority to revoke or terminate a power of attorney 29 created under this chapter at any time by giving notice of the 30 revocation in writing to the agent. 31 4. A power of attorney created under this chapter shall 32 be for a period of time not to exceed six months. A parent, 33 guardian, or legal custodian of the child may execute a new 34 power of attorney for an additional period of six months, but 35 -1- LSB 1251SV (1) 88 hb/rh 1/ 4

S.F. 540 in no case shall a power of attorney created under this chapter 1 be valid for more than one year. If a parent, guardian, or 2 legal custodian revokes or terminates the power of attorney, 3 the child shall be returned to the care and custody of the 4 parent, guardian, or legal custodian within twenty-four hours 5 of the date of the revocation or termination. 6 5. An agent shall exercise parental or legal authority on a 7 continuous basis without compensation for the duration of the 8 power of attorney and shall not be considered to be a foster 9 parent subject to licensure by the department of human services 10 pursuant to chapter 237. 11 6. A power of attorney executed under this chapter by a 12 parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall not constitute 13 abandonment, abuse, or neglect of the child under chapter 232 14 by the parent, guardian, or legal custodian unless the parent, 15 guardian, or legal custodian fails to take custody of the child 16 upon the expiration of the power of attorney. 17 7. This chapter shall not apply to a power of attorney 18 created pursuant to section 598C.204. 19 8. The department of human services, in consultation with 20 the judicial branch, shall develop forms for carrying out the 21 provisions of this chapter. 22 EXPLANATION 23 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 24 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 25 This bill relates to the temporary delegation of parental 26 authority by the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a 27 child. 28 The bill provides that a parent, guardian, or legal 29 custodian of a child, by a properly executed power of attorney, 30 may delegate to another person any powers regarding the care 31 or custody of the child except the power to consent to the 32 child’s marriage, the power to consent to the child’s adoption, 33 the power to consent to the performance or inducement of an 34 abortion on or for the child, and the power to consent to the 35 -2- LSB 1251SV (1) 88 hb/rh 2/ 4

S.F. 540 termination of the parental rights of a parent of the child. A 1 power of attorney executed under the bill must be signed by all 2 parents, guardians, and legal custodians of a child and must 3 be properly acknowledged by a notary. A parent, guardian, or 4 legal custodian shall have the authority to revoke or terminate 5 a power of attorney created under the bill at any time. 6 A power of attorney created under the bill shall be for a 7 period of time not to exceed six months. The parent, guardian, 8 or legal custodian of the child is required to execute a new 9 power of attorney for an additional period of six months, and 10 the power of attorney cannot exceed one year. If the parent, 11 guardian, or legal custodian revokes or terminates the power of 12 attorney, the child shall be returned to the care and custody 13 of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian within 24 hours of 14 the date of the revocation or termination. 15 An agent (person granted authority to act for a parent, 16 guardian, or legal custodian under a power of attorney 17 created in the bill) is required to exercise parental or legal 18 authority on a continuous basis without compensation for the 19 duration of the power of attorney and shall not be considered 20 to be a foster parent subject to licensure by the department 21 of human services pursuant to Code chapter 237 (child foster 22 care facilities). A power of attorney executed under the bill 23 by a parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall not constitute 24 abandonment, abuse, or neglect of the child under Code chapter 25 232 by the parent, guardian, or legal custodian unless the 26 parent, guardian, or legal custodian fails to take custody of 27 the child or to execute a subsequent power of attorney upon the 28 expiration of the power of attorney. 29 The bill provides power of attorney execution requirements 30 and requires the department of human services, in consultation 31 with the judicial branch, to develop forms for carrying out the 32 provisions of the bill. 33 The bill does not apply to a power of attorney created 34 pursuant to Code section 598C.204 (power of attorney under the 35 -3- LSB 1251SV (1) 88 hb/rh 3/ 4

S.F. 540 uniform deployed parents custody and visitation Act). 1 -4- LSB 1251SV (1) 88 hb/rh 4/ 4