Iowa living trusts & estate documents

Living trust law in Iowa

A revocable living trust holds your home, accounts, and other property during your life — you stay in full control as trustee and can change or revoke it any time — then passes it to your beneficiaries without probate when you're gone. In Iowa, trusts are governed by the Iowa Trust Code, Iowa Code Chapter 633A.

Avoiding probate in Iowa

Probate in Iowa is governed by the Iowa Probate Code, Chapter 633 and handled by the District Court. Iowa estates are administered in district court sitting in probate; regular administration ends with a final report and court discharge, though the accounting may be waived by all interested parties (Iowa Code 633.477).

Distribution by affidavit is available for personal property estates of $50,000 or less — with no real property for deaths on or after January 1, 2025 (Iowa Code § 633.356); a simplified small-estate administration covers estates up to $200,000 (ch. 635). That simplified procedure is set out in Distribution by affidavit, Iowa Code §633.356. A funded living trust passes outside probate entirely, whatever the size of the estate — which is why Iowa homeowners in particular set one up.

In Iowa, creditors generally have 4 months after the second published notice to creditors to file claims against the estate (Iowa Code § 633.410) — one reason court probate takes time that a funded trust avoids.

Estate and inheritance tax in Iowa

Iowa imposes no estate tax and no inheritance tax: Iowa's inheritance tax fully phased out for deaths on or after January 1, 2025; no estate tax. The separate federal estate tax reaches only estates above $15 million per person (2026, adjusted yearly), so most families never owe it.

Protecting a surviving spouse in Iowa

A surviving spouse in Iowa who is left out of the will can instead claim an elective share of one-third of the decedent's real property plus one-third of the remaining personal property under Iowa Code § 633.238 — a protection the will itself cannot override.

Iowa also sets aside a court-set support allowance for 12 months, plus a life estate in the homestead for a surviving spouse and minor children (Iowa Code § 633.374), protected ahead of most creditors.

Signing your Iowa documents

1. Sign the living trust. Executed and acknowledged before a notary.
2. Sign the will. Two witnesses; notarized self-proving affidavit included (standalone and pour-over wills).
3. Sign the power of attorney. Sign your Durable Power of Attorney before a Notary Public.
4. Sign the health care documents. Sign your Advance Health Care Directive in the presence of two adult witnesses and before a Notary Public, as the form’s execution block provides.
5. Follow your package instructions. Your package includes page-by-page signing instructions written for Iowa — follow those as the authoritative guide.

Serving all of Iowa

Answer the questionnaire from anywhere in Iowa and download your completed documents in minutes: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Iowa City, Ankeny, West Des Moines, Ames, Waterloo, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Urbandale, and every community in between.