1. A person filing a petition for termination of parental rights under this chapter shall
be responsible for the payment of reasonable attorney fees for services provided by counsel
appointed pursuant to section 600A.6A in juvenile court or in an appellate proceeding initiated
by the person filing the petition unless the person filing the petition is a private child-placing
agency licensed under chapter 238 or the court determines that the person filing the petition
is indigent.
2. If the person filing the petition is a private child-placing agency licensed under chapter
238 or if the person filing the petition is indigent, the prospective parent on whose behalf the
petition is filed shall be responsible for the payment of reasonable attorney fees for services
provided in juvenile court or an appellate proceeding for counsel appointed pursuant to
section 600A.6A unless the court determines that the prospective parent on whose behalf
the petition is filed is indigent.
3. If the prospective parent on whose behalf the petition is filed is indigent, and if the
person filing the petition is indigent or a private child-placing agency licensed under chapter
238, the appointed counsel shall be paid reasonable attorney fees as determined by the state
public defender from the indigent defense fund established in section 815.11.
4. If the parent against whom the petition is filed appeals a termination order under
section 600A.9, subsection 1, paragraph “b”, the person who filed the petition or the person
on whose behalf the petition is filed shall not be responsible for the payment of attorney
fees for services provided by counsel appointed pursuant to section 600A.6A in the appellate
proceeding. Instead, the appointed attorney shall be paid reasonable attorney fees as
\n
Tue Dec 09 21:59:52 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 600A (43, 0)
§600A.6B, TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS 8\n\ndetermined by the state public defender from the indigent defense fund established pursuant
to section 815.11.
5. The state public defender shall review all the claims submitted under subsection 3 or
4 and shall have the same authority with regard to the payment of these claims as the state
public defender has with regard to claims submitted under chapters 13B and 815, including
the authority to adopt rules concerning the review and payment of claims submitted.
2005 Acts, ch 107, §5, 14; 2006 Acts, ch 1071, §1, 2; 2009 Acts, ch 133, §249; 2013 Acts, ch
105, §2; 2014 Acts, ch 1038, §4
Referred to in §602.1302, 815.11
\n
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
15
cases (
6 in the last 5 years), 2005–2026 · leading case:
In the Interest of W.W., 826 N.W.2d 706 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012).
In the Interest of W.W., 826 N.W.2d 706 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012).
· cites it 10× “Attorney Fees Scott contends the district court erred in ordering him to pay Dena’s trial attorney fees pursuant to Iowa Code section 600A.6B. He specifically argues the statute *712 (1) “require[s] a review of any fee application by the State Public Defender” and precludes a…”
In the Interest of R.S.N., 706 N.W.2d 705 (Iowa 2005).
· cites it 20× “Iowa Code § 600A.6B. The legislature provided this section with retroactive application back to May 12, 2004, the date we filed In re S.”
In re Fiscus, 819 N.W.2d 420 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012).
· cites it 4× “26, ordering Teresa to pay all of the guardian ad litem’s fees, ordering Michael to pay Thomas’s attorney fees pursuant to section 600A.6B(1), and requiring Teresa to pay the court costs of the entire action.”
In Re Rsn, 706 N.W.2d 705 (Iowa 2005).
· cites it 20× “Iowa Code § 600A.6B. The legislature provided this section with retroactive application back to May 12, 2004, the date we filed In re S.”
In the Interest of A.F. & M.F., Minor Child., A.M., Mother, J.F., Father (Iowa Ct. App. 2016).
· cites it 6× “Given the indigency exceptions to the payment of attorney fees contained in section 600A.6B and the lack of supporting authority cited by the mother, we find the father is not responsible for payment of the mother’s appellate attorney fees but will be assessed the costs of the…”
In the Interest of E.E., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2021).
· cites it 6× “Iowa Code section 600A.6B governs the payment of attorney fees in a private termination action, but it only applies to appointed counsel and does not mention private counsel.”
In the Interest of J.B., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2022).
· cites it 5× “Citing Iowa Code section 600A.6B(1), the court ruled it was “clear that [the mother] is required to pay [the father’s] attorney fees in this case.”
In the Interest of G.D., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2021).
· cites it 2× “He suggests the guardian ad litem’s fees be handled like attorney fees under Iowa Code section 600A.6B (petitioner pays). The mother asks us to affirm the court’s ruling and request this court “to adopt the standard that, like Chapter 598, the Court has broad discretion to award…”
In the Interest of N.C., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2022).
· cites it 2× “Iowa Code section 600A.6B governs the payment of attorney fees in a private termination action, but only applies to appointed counsel and does not mention 14 private counsel.”
— Iowa Code § 600A.6B(1) — 6 cases
In the Interest of W.W., 826 N.W.2d 706 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012).
“Attorney Fees Scott contends the district court erred in ordering him to pay Dena’s trial attorney fees pursuant to Iowa Code section 600A.6B. He specifically argues the statute *712 (1) “require[s] a review of any fee application by the State Public Defender” and precludes a…”
In re Fiscus, 819 N.W.2d 420 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012).
“26, ordering Teresa to pay all of the guardian ad litem’s fees, ordering Michael to pay Thomas’s attorney fees pursuant to section 600A.6B(1), and requiring Teresa to pay the court costs of the entire action.”
In the Interest of J.B., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2022).
“Citing Iowa Code section 600A.6B(1), the court ruled it was “clear that [the mother] is required to pay [the father’s] attorney fees in this case.”
In the Interest of A.F. & M.F., Minor Child., A.M., Mother, J.F., Father (Iowa Ct. App. 2016).
“Given the indigency exceptions to the payment of attorney fees contained in section 600A.6B and the lack of supporting authority cited by the mother, we find the father is not responsible for payment of the mother’s appellate attorney fees but will be assessed the costs of the…”
— Iowa Code § 600A.6B(3) — 1 case
In the Interest of W.W., 826 N.W.2d 706 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012).
“Attorney Fees Scott contends the district court erred in ordering him to pay Dena’s trial attorney fees pursuant to Iowa Code section 600A.6B. He specifically argues the statute *712 (1) “require[s] a review of any fee application by the State Public Defender” and precludes a…”
— Iowa Code § 600A.6B(4) — 3 cases
In the Interest of E.E., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2021).
“Iowa Code section 600A.6B governs the payment of attorney fees in a private termination action, but it only applies to appointed counsel and does not mention private counsel.”
In the Interest of A.F. & M.F., Minor Child., A.M., Mother, J.F., Father (Iowa Ct. App. 2016).
“Given the indigency exceptions to the payment of attorney fees contained in section 600A.6B and the lack of supporting authority cited by the mother, we find the father is not responsible for payment of the mother’s appellate attorney fees but will be assessed the costs of the…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.