Iowa Household Paperwork Bundle: 4 Kits in One Download (IA Executor and Estate Kit, Iowa Small Claims Kit, Iowa POA Signing Kit, Iowa Will Signing Kit)

Who it is for

Families in Iowa getting papers in order: signing a power of attorney or will, settling an estate, or taking a money dispute to small claims.

Not the right fit if

You only need one of these papers (buy that kit on its own), or nothing is in Iowa. Not a form preparation or legal service.

Why it is different

• 4 kits for 30% less than buying them one by one; each keeps its own folder in the download.
• The Iowa kits are built only from our Iowa data files: Sources, checked November 2026: 2026 Iowa Acts, chapter 1048 (H.F. 2660), amending Iowa Code 633.356, approved April 16, 2026 (Iowa Legislature); Iowa Code 633.356, Distribution of property by affidavit (Iowa Legislature); Nolo (secondary source): Probate Shortcuts in Iowa (Nolo, updated 10/17/2024); Iowa Code 633.279, Signed and witnessed (Iowa Legislature, 2024); Iowa Code 633.281, Interest of witnesses (Iowa Legislature, 2024); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Iowa (Nolo, updated September 2025); Iowa small claims data file, checked November 2026 against Iowa Judicial Branch: Instructions for Filing a Small Claims Action for Money Judgment; Iowa Judicial Branch: Small Claims; Iowa Code 631.14 Representation in small claims; Iowa power of attorney data file, checked November 2026 against Iowa Code chapter 633B, Powers of Attorney (Iowa Legislature); Iowa Code 144B.3, Requirements (durable power of attorney for health care), Iowa Code 2019 edition (Iowa Legislature); Iowa will signing data file, checked November 2026 against Iowa Code 633.279, Signed and witnessed (Iowa Legislature, 2024); Iowa Code 633.281, Interest of witnesses (Iowa Legislature, 2024); Nolo (secondary source): How to Make a Will in Iowa (Nolo, updated September 2025).
• Every kit in the set is written for Iowa.

What is inside

• Iowa Executor and Estate Kit. Personal property worth $100,000 or less, and no real property, under H.F. 2660 (2026 Iowa Acts ch. 1048, approved April 16, 2026), which raised the limit from $50,000. The Act doesn't state its own effective date, so for a death in 2026 ask the clerk which figure applies. For deaths before January 1, 2025, real property passing to exempt persons as joint tenants with survivorship didn't count against the limit. Real estate in the person's name alone takes the estate out of this procedure. 40 days. Forty days after the death. Signed before a notary. Sworn and notarized, as Nolo's summary describes it. Handed to the bank or other holder. The successor gives the holder an affidavit under penalty of perjury. Only when an Iowa estate is open is an affidavit for a deceased distributee filed with the clerk. No official form. Iowa Code 633.356 prescribes no form; subsection 3 lists what the affidavit, sworn under penalty of perjury, must state. Small estate administration (Iowa Code chapter 635): As Nolo's summary describes it: for a gross probate estate up to $200,000, a petition to the probate court, an inventory of probate and nonprobate assets, and a closing statement; property is distributed if no one objects within 30 days after the closing statement goes to interested parties. Two witnesses, who sign at the testator's request in the presence of the testator and each other. Allowed at signing or any later date, before a person authorized to administer oaths and take acknowledgments. A self-proved will can be admitted without witness testimony. Not recognized unless witnessed: every will, to be valid, must be signed and declared before two witnesses (Iowa Code 633.279). The only exception the section names is for wills made under another state's law (633.283). The will stays valid, but unless two disinterested witnesses also signed, an interested witness loses whatever the will gives beyond what that witness would get with no will. Assets, debts, payments and distributions; it compares the countable assets with $100,000, dates day 40 after the death and flags real estate in the person's name alone, which rules the route out.
• Iowa Small Claims Court Kit. In Iowa, small claims (Small claims, Iowa District Court) cover claims up to $6,500. From the official page: The total claim can't be more than $6,500, not counting interest and court costs. Where and how to file, from the official pages: File electronically, naming the county at the top of the Original Notice (the instructions say the county where you are located; check venue with the clerk). Fees: electronic filing fee: $115; service by certified mail, per party: $20. From the Iowa Judicial Branch money-judgment instructions. Sheriff service fees vary by county. Online filing: https://www.iowacourts.gov/efile/efile-instructions/ Service: The sheriff in the defendant's county, certified restricted mail, or the Secretary of State for some nonresidents. The defendant generally has 20 days to file an Appearance and Answer. Lawyers are allowed. Appeal: File a Notice of Appeal (Form 3.26) with the fee; the instructions don't give the deadline, so check with the clerk. A claim calculator that adds up your items and compares the total with $6,500, a costs sheet with the Iowa fee list, a deadline sheet in business days that skips weekends and federal holidays, and a collection tracker with the balance owed.
• Iowa Power of Attorney Signing Kit. Get your Iowa power of attorney signed the way the state's own law describes. Must be acknowledged before a notary or other official; an agent named in it can't notarize the principal's signature. Step by step in signing order: statutory form: Start from the official form: Statutory power of attorney (Iowa Code 633B.301); notary: Sign in front of a notary, who completes an acknowledgment; witnesses: The execution section doesn't mention witnesses; agent's acknowledgment: No signed acceptance is required before acting; recording for real estate: Chapter 633B lets an agent record instruments but doesn't require the power of attorney to be recorded; durable after incapacity: Durable unless the document says incapacity ends it. Healthcare: A durable power of attorney for health care is dated and either signed by two witnesses who watch the principal sign, in each other's presence, or acknowledged before a notarial officer. The agent, the attending health care provider and its employees, and anyone under 18 can't witness; at least one witness can't be a close relative. Notary: "must be acknowledged before a notary public or other individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments." Witnesses: "must be signed by the principal or in the principal's conscious presence by another individual." Agent's acknowledgment: "as an agent under a power of attorney by exercising authority or performing duties as an agent." Durable after incapacity: "is durable unless the power of attorney expressly provides that it is terminated by the incapacity of the principal." Healthcare power of attorney: "is witnessed or acknowledged by one of the following methods" Recording: Chapter 633B lets an agent record instruments but doesn't require the power of attorney to be recorded. Agent: An agent accepts by acting or other conduct showing acceptance. Plus a copies log.
• Iowa Will Signing Day Kit. Bring 2 witnesses, each at least 16. The rule: Two witnesses, who sign at the testator's request in the presence of the testator and each other. Pick witnesses who get nothing under the will and aren't married to someone who does. If a beneficiary would have to witness, stop and call the lawyer first: The will stays valid, but unless two disinterested witnesses also signed, an interested witness loses whatever the will gives beyond what that witness would get with no will. Have a notary or another officer who can administer oaths there for the self-proving affidavit. The statute names that officer rather than notaries by name. Allowed at signing or any later date, before a person authorized to administer oaths and take acknowledgments. A self-proved will can be admitted without witness testimony. Steps, ID, copies and review dates. Remote witnessing in Iowa: Presence can be physical or electronic, as long as the witness and testator can see and hear each other. Counterparts signed in different places are allowed. Electronic wills: Not authorized, per Nolo's Iowa page (updated September 2025). Where the original is and who has copies. Handwritten wills in Iowa: Not recognized unless witnessed: every will, to be valid, must be signed and declared before two witnesses (Iowa Code 633.279). The only exception the section names is for wills made under another state's law (633.283).