HF2423 • 2026

A bill for an act allowing a court to grant a grandparent or great-grandparent visitation rights of a child in certain circumstances.

Children

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: CROKEN and BROWN-POWERS
Last action: 2026-02-12
Official status: Introduced, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 273 .
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act allowing a court to grant a grandparent or great-grandparent visitation rights of a child in certain circumstances.

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act allowing a court to grant a grandparent or great-grandparent visitation rights of a child in certain circumstances.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-02-12 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 273 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act allowing a court to grant a grandparent or great-grandparent visitation rights of a child in certain circumstances.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

House

File

2423

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2423

BY

CROKEN

and

BROWN-POWERS

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

allowing

a

court

to

grant

a

grandparent

or

1

great-grandparent

visitation

rights

of

a

child

in

certain

2

circumstances.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

6037YH

(4)

91

dg/ko

H.F.

2423

Section

1.

Section

600C.1,

subsection

3,

paragraph

c,

Code

1

2026,

is

amended

by

striking

the

paragraph.

2

EXPLANATION

3

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

4

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

5

Under

current

law,

if

a

parent

of

a

child

is

deceased,

6

a

court

may

enter

an

order

granting

visitation

rights

with

7

the

child

to

the

child’s

grandparent

or

great-grandparent

8

(grandparent)

if

the

court

finds

such

visitation

is

in

the

9

child’s

best

interests;

the

grandparent

and

the

child

have

a

10

substantial

established

relationship

prior

to

the

grandparent

11

petitioning

for

visitation

rights;

and

the

surviving

parent

12

is

either

unfit

to

make

a

decision

regarding

such

visitation

13

or

the

parent’s

judgment

has

been

impaired

and

the

benefits

14

the

child

would

receive

from

visitation

greatly

outweigh

the

15

effects

such

visitation

would

have

on

the

child’s

parent-child

16

relationship.

17

This

bill

eliminates

the

requirement

that

a

parent

must

be

18

unfit

to

make

a

decision

regarding

grandparent

visitation

or

19

that

the

parent’s

judgment

must

be

impaired

and

the

benefits

20

the

child

would

receive

from

visitation

greatly

outweigh

the

21

effects

such

visitation

would

have

on

the

child’s

parent-child

22

relationship.

23

-1-

LSB

6037YH

(4)

91

dg/ko

1/

1