1. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, this article applies to all proceedings under this chapter.

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Terms Used In Iowa Code 252K.301

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Party: means a petitioner, a respondent, or a person who intervenes in a proceeding instituted under this chapter. See Iowa Code 252A.2
  • Respondent: includes each person against whom a proceeding is instituted pursuant to this chapter. See Iowa Code 252A.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. An individual movant or a support enforcement agency may initiate a proceeding authorized under this chapter by filing a petition or a comparable pleading in an initiating tribunal for forwarding to a responding tribunal or by filing a petition or a comparable pleading directly in a tribunal of another state or a foreign country which has or can obtain personal jurisdiction over the respondent or nonmoving party.