SF 386 (LSB 1049SV (3) 90)

SENATE FILE 386

BY  COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

(SUCCESSOR TO SF 17)

A BILL FOR

An Act prohibiting a court from ordering payment of a postsecondary education subsidy for a child under a dissolution of marriage temporary order or final judgment or decree, and providing for application to existing orders, judgments, and decrees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 252D.16, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  “Support” or “support payments” means any amount which the court or administrative agency may require a person to pay for the benefit of a child under a temporary order or a final judgment or decree entered under chapter 232, 234, 252A, 252C, 252F, 252H, 598, 600B, or any other comparable chapter, and may include child support, maintenance, medical support as defined in chapter 252E, spousal support, and any other term used to describe these obligations. These obligations may include support for a child of any age who is dependent on the parties to the dissolution proceedings because of physical or mental disability. The obligations may include support for a child eighteen or more years of age with respect to whom a child support order has been issued pursuant to the laws of another state or foreign country. These obligations shall not include amounts for a postsecondary education subsidy as defined in section 598.1.
    Sec. 2.  Section 598.1, subsection 8, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   8.  “Postsecondary education subsidy” means an amount which either of the parties may be required to pay under a temporary order or final judgment or decree for educational expenses of a child who is between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two years if the child is regularly attending a course of career and technical training either as a part of a regular school program or under special arrangements adapted to the individual person’s needs; or is, in good faith, a full-time student in a college, university, or community college; or has been accepted for admission to a college, university, or community college and the next regular term has not yet begun.
    Sec. 3.  Section 598.21F, Code 2023, is amended by striking the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   598.21F  Postsecondary education subsidy.
   The court shall not order either of the parties to pay a postsecondary education subsidy under a temporary order or final judgment or decree.
    Sec. 4.  Section 600.11, subsection 2, paragraph a, subparagraph (6), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   (6)  A person who is ordered to pay support or a postsecondary education subsidy pursuant to section 598.21F, or chapter 234, 252A, 252C, 252F, 598, 600B, or any other chapter of the Code, for a person eighteen years of age or older who is being adopted by a stepparent, and the support order or order requires payment of support or postsecondary education subsidy for any period of time after the child reaches eighteen years of age.
    Sec. 5.  Section 714I.4, subsection 3, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  If the health care professional used the health care professional’s own human reproductive material for assisted reproduction in violation of section 714I.3, subsection 2, the health care professional is determined through blood or genetic testing to be a biological parent as defined in section 600A.2 of the child, and the action is brought within the time limitations specified in section 614.8, damages in an amount that is the sum of all of the following:
   (a)  The basic support obligation prescribed by the child support guidelines established pursuant to section 598.21B based on the health care professional’s monthly adjusted net income for the time period specified for support for a child under section 598.1, subsection 9.
   (b)  Medical support as defined in section 252E.1.
   (c)  A postsecondary education subsidy as defined in section 598.1.
   (d)  (c)  Such other sums as described in section 252A.3, subsection 12, giving due regard to the circumstances of the plaintiff.
    Sec. 6.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to a support order, decree, or judgment entered or pending on or after July 1, 2023. This Act shall not be the basis for modification of an order, decree, or judgment entered before July 1, 2023, that provides for a postsecondary education subsidy.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill eliminates the current option for a court to order a postsecondary education subsidy and instead prohibits a court from ordering the payment of a postsecondary education subsidy by parties to a dissolution of marriage. The bill also provides that the bill applies to a support order, decree, or judgment entered or pending on or after July 1, 2023, and that the bill shall not be the basis for modification of an order, decree, or judgment entered before July 1, 2023, that provides for a postsecondary education subsidy.