Iowa Legal Resources
The public sources The Hawkeye Ledger relies on: Iowa courts, Iowa Legal Aid, federal tax guidance and consumer guides on managing someone else's money.
The Hawkeye Ledger writes its guides from public sources, and this page collects the ones an Iowa family is most likely to need. Each link goes to the organization's own site, where the current rules and forms live. The editors describe each resource in the third person and are not connected to any of them.
Iowa courts and probate
The Iowa Judicial Branch publishes court information, forms and instructions for probate and for guardianship and conservatorship. It is the starting point for anyone opening an estate or checking a filing requirement. The branch's district court pages explain where to file and what the clerk expects.Iowa Legal Aid
Iowa Legal Aid provides free civil legal help to low-income Iowans and publishes plain-language guides on wills, probate, powers of attorney, guardianship and housing. Its public guides are among the clearest explanations of Iowa law written for non-lawyers.Federal tax guidance
The Internal Revenue Service publishes the rules for the federal estate and gift tax, the annual exclusion and the portability election. Because the exemption figures change, the IRS is the source to check rather than an old article. The Iowa Department of Revenue publishes state tax information, including the treatment of inheritance for recent years.Consumer financial protection
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes guides on managing someone else's money, including what a power of attorney, a guardianship and a trustee can and cannot do. The guides are written for family members who have just taken on the role.National legal resources
The American Bar Association publishes public estate planning materials that explain wills, trusts, powers of attorney and advance directives in general terms. State bar associations and local legal aid offices can help find a lawyer licensed in Iowa.How the editors use these sources
Each guide names the public sources behind its claims, and the editors date their reviews. When a figure or a rule changes, the guide is updated. If a link on this page stops working, write to the editors through the contact page and it will be repaired.Compiled by The Hawkeye Ledger editorial team.