600.9 Report of expenditures — penalty. 1. a. A biological parent shall not receive any thing of value as a result of the biological parent’s child or former child being placed with and adopted by another person, unless thatthing of value is an allowable expense under subsection 2. b. Any person assisting in any way with the placement or adoption of a minor person shall not charge a fee which is more than usual, necessary, and commensurate with the servicesrendered. c. If the biological parent receives any prohibited thing of value, if a person gives a prohibited thing of value, or if a person charges a prohibited fee under this subsection, theperson is guilty of a serious misdemeanor. 2. a. An adoption petitioner of a minor person shall file with the juvenile court or court, prior to the adoption hearing, a full accounting of all disbursements of any thing of valuepaid or agreed to be paid by or on behalf of the petitioner in connection with the petitionedadoption. This accounting shall be made by a report prescribed by the juvenile court orcourt and shall be signed and verified by the petitioner. alf of the petitioner in connection with the petitionedadoption. This accounting shall be made by a report prescribed by the juvenile court orcourt and shall be signed and verified by the petitioner. The report shall be accompaniedby documentation of all disbursements made prior to the date of filing of the report. Onlyexpenses incurred in connection with the following and any other expenses approved by thejuvenile court or court are allowable: (1) The birth of the minor person to be adopted.(2) Placement of the minor person by the adoption service provider.(3) Legal expenses related to the termination of parental rights and adoption processes.(4) Pregnancy-related medical care received by the biological parents or the minor person during the pregnancy or delivery of the minor person and for medically necessary postpartumcare for the biological parent and the minor person. (5) Ordinary and necessary living expenses of the mother including but not limited to the costs of housing, food, utilities, and transportation for medical purposes related to thepregnancy and birth of the child, in an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars and forno longer than thirty days after the birth of utilities, and transportation for medical purposes related to thepregnancy and birth of the child, in an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars and forno longer than thirty days after the birth of the minor person. (6) Costs of the counseling provided to the biological parents prior to the birth of the child, prior to the release of custody, and any counseling provided to the biological parents for notmore than sixty days after the birth of the child. (7) Living expenses or care of the minor person during the pendency of the termination of parental rights proceedings. b. All payments for allowable expenses shall be made through the adoption service provider. An adoption service provider shall deposit all funds received from prospectiveadoptive parents as payments for allowable expenses for a designated biological parentinto an escrow account established with a financial institution located in this state whoseaccounts are insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation, the national creditunion administration, or the federal savings and loan insurance corporation. Such escrowfunds shall not be commingled with other revenues or expense accounts of the adoptionservice the national creditunion administration, or the federal savings and loan insurance corporation. Such escrowfunds shall not be commingled with other revenues or expense accounts of the adoptionservice provider and separate accounting shall be maintained for each prospective adoptiveparent whose funds are deposited in the escrow account. Any escrow funds not disbursedby the adoption service provider for the benefit of the designated biological parent shallbe returned to the prospective adoptive parents with a full accounting of all deposits anddisbursements. If the adoption service provider is a licensed attorney, use of the attorney’sstate-sanctioned trust account shall satisfy the requirements relative to the escrow accountunder this paragraph. c. Any payments for allowable expenses shall not be made to a biological parent, but instead shall be made directly to the provider of the service, product, or other activity to whichthe allowable expense is attributable, if applicable. d. The provisions of this subsection do not apply in a stepparent adoption.3. The juvenile court or court shall review the report prior to the adoption hearing and Sat Dec 23 11:13:37 2023 Iowa Code 2024, e provisions of this subsection do not apply in a stepparent adoption.3. The juvenile court or court shall review the report prior to the adoption hearing and Sat Dec 23 11:13:37 2023 Iowa Code 2024, Section 600.9 (21, 0) §600.9, ADOPTION 2 shall include findings regarding the allowance or disallowance of any disbursements orprojected disbursements in the adoption decree. [C77, 79, 81, §600.9]94 Acts, ch 1046, §14, 15; 94 Acts, ch 1174, §7, 22; 99 Acts, ch 138, §3; 2000 Acts, ch 1145, §12; 2001 Acts, ch 24, §67, 74; 2013 Acts, ch 30, §261; 2017 Acts, ch 113, §7 Referred to in §600.8, 600.9A, 600.14A Sat Dec 23 11:13:37 2023 Iowa Code 2024, Section 600.9 (21, 0)
Iowa Legal Code