Iowa Code § 85.42
This is the official text of Iowa Code § 85.42, part of Iowa’s Code — part of the compiled statutory law of Iowa, published by the state as "Code." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Conclusively presumed dependent.
Official statutory text
The following shall be conclusively presumed to be wholly dependent upon the deceased employee:
(1) The surviving spouse, with the following exceptions:
(1) (a) When it is shown that at the time of the injury the surviving spouse had willfully deserted the deceased without fault of the deceased, then the surviving spouse shall not be considered as dependent in any degree.
(1) (b) When the surviving spouse was not married to the deceased at the time of the injury.
(2) A child or children under eighteen years of age, and over said age if physically or mentally incapacitated from earning, whether actually dependent for support or not upon the parent at the time of the parent’s death. An adopted child or children shall be regarded the same as issue of the body. The terms “child” or “children”, as used in this subsection, shall also include any child or children conceived but not born at the time of the employee’s injury, and any compensation payable on account of any such child or children shall be paid from the date of their birth. A stepchild or stepchildren shall be regarded the same as issue of the body only when the stepparent has actually provided the principal support for such child or children.
[S13, §2477-m16; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §1402; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §85.42]2020 Acts, ch 1062, §21; 2020 Acts, ch 1063, §43; 2023 Acts, ch 66, §15
(1) The surviving spouse, with the following exceptions:
(1) (a) When it is shown that at the time of the injury the surviving spouse had willfully deserted the deceased without fault of the deceased, then the surviving spouse shall not be considered as dependent in any degree.
(1) (b) When the surviving spouse was not married to the deceased at the time of the injury.
(2) A child or children under eighteen years of age, and over said age if physically or mentally incapacitated from earning, whether actually dependent for support or not upon the parent at the time of the parent’s death. An adopted child or children shall be regarded the same as issue of the body. The terms “child” or “children”, as used in this subsection, shall also include any child or children conceived but not born at the time of the employee’s injury, and any compensation payable on account of any such child or children shall be paid from the date of their birth. A stepchild or stepchildren shall be regarded the same as issue of the body only when the stepparent has actually provided the principal support for such child or children.
[S13, §2477-m16; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §1402; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §85.42]2020 Acts, ch 1062, §21; 2020 Acts, ch 1063, §43; 2023 Acts, ch 66, §15
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in Iowa?
Find a Iowa lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.