General Civil Case Cover Sheet - Preparation Worksheet - Iowa

IOWA CIVIL COVER-SHEET ROUTING AND INTAKE PACKET

DO NOT FILE THIS PACKET. It replaces the repository's invented standalone
cover sheet with a routing worksheet. Complete the EDMS electronic cover sheet
if the filer is registered. If the filer has an authorized exception from
electronic filing, download and complete the current official paper Petition
Cover Sheet from the Iowa Judicial Branch.

1. Filing-Route Gate

☐ Counsel confirmed the filing is not within Rule 1.301(2)'s small-claims,
probate, or mental-health-commitment exceptions.

☐ The filer will use the official route selected below, not this packet.

2. Registered Filer — EDMS Electronic Cover Sheet

Use this section when the filer is registered and no court-authorized exception
applies.

Rule 16.306(1) requires the electronic cover sheet to be completed by entering
the proper information in EDMS. It is a series of portal fields, not a separate
PDF assembled from this template.

☐ The filer selected the exact EDMS case category and document type shown by
the current portal.

☐ The initiating petition, notice, attachments, confidential materials, and
other required documents are separate, complete, and correctly classified.

☐ No paper Petition Cover Sheet will be uploaded merely because Rule 1.301(2)
uses the words “cover sheet”; the EDMS electronic cover sheet replaces it for a
registered new-case filer.

3. Authorized Paper Route — Official Petition Cover Sheet

Use this section only when the filer is excused from electronic registration
and filing or has a one-time authorization to submit paper.

Official form: Petition Cover Sheet for Civil Law, Domestic Relations, and
Other Equity Cases Filed in Iowa District Court.

Official form URL:
https://www.iowacourts.gov/browse/files/12808238f423499894ffd810a71562c4/download

Transfer the completed information to that current official form.

3.1 Court and Caption Information

3.2 Primary Case Classification

The paper form instructs the filer to select the one category that most
accurately describes the primary case. If the filing makes more than one kind
of claim, follow the official form's instruction for selecting the claim
involving the largest amount of damages or considered most important.

Do not use the previous template's invented amount bands, relief menu, trial
estimate, fee calculation, or jury-demand fields. They are not fields on the
current official paper Petition Cover Sheet.

3.3 Paper-Form Limits

☐ The form accompanies a civil petition and the filing is not a small-claims,
probate, or mental-health-commitment action.

☐ The paper cover sheet is not being used for a counterclaim or crossclaim.

☐ The paper cover sheet will not be served on a defendant or respondent.

☐ The filer understands that cover-sheet entries are administrative and have
no legal effect in the action.

4. Protected Information and Companion Filings

Do not place protected information into a public pleading merely because the
electronic cover sheet is confidential. Paper filers should use the current
official protected-information form and instructions.

5. Filing Receipt and Deficiency Record

6. Final Review

☐ Rule 1.301(2), Chapter 16, the current Judicial Branch forms page, and the
selected official form were checked on the review date.

☐ The registered-filer EDMS route and authorized paper route were not combined.

☐ The correct county, case type, party roles, and document type were selected.

☐ No invented filing fee, amount band, jury demand, relief request, related-case
certification, trial estimate, audit-retention statement, or separate “Cover
Sheet” upload instruction remains.

☐ The current official form or EDMS interface—not this packet—will be used.

Reviewing attorney: [________________________________]

Review date: [__/__/____]

Official sources retained in file: [________________________________]