Our Iowa Premium Separation Agreement Software is the easiest and most affordable way to effectively resolve your marital issues in writing. From your own home, without waiting and spending hours of time, you will have your own separation agreement in typically less than 1 hour.

1. A Separation Agreement will settle in writing all of your marital issues, thus protecting you and your spouse up until you decide to divorce. Most separations last much longer than expected, so it is essential that important issues like financial matters, property and debts, custody, visitation, and support are expressed in writing in a legal binding agreement.

2. A Separation Agreement is often the official legal document used to settle the marital issues upon divorce. Your final judgment or decree for divorce may reference the Agreement and the court will order your divorce according to the contents of the Agreement.

3. Getting a "Legal Separation" is also a valid reason to have a separation agreement. Legal Separations are not very popular in Iowa (most Iowa lawyers do not even do them). The legal separation filing process is very similar to a divorce, so rarely is it the first option. If you are considering a legal separation, here are some of the laws regarding Iowa legal separations:

If the defendant spouse is a resident of Iowa and was personally served legal papers, there is no residency requirement for the spouse filing the legal separation. Otherwise, there is a 1-year residency requirement. The grounds for legal separation in Iowa are that there has been a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the legitimate objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved. [Iowa Code Annotated; Sections 598.5, 598.6, 598.17, and 598.28].