Rebuilt from the ground up — and it still opens every file you have
Iowa Support Master has been rewritten. The calculation engine, every form and every document are new, and they run in your browser as well as on your Windows desktop. What has not changed is the part you rely on: the numbers are right, your old case files open unchanged, and when you call, we answer.
We are always looking for ways to improve the program. If you have an idea, tell us. We may send you a big box of Godiva — and who doesn’t like chocolate?
One program, two ways to run it
Both included with your license. Use whichever suits the machine you are sitting at.
Online — Pro Portal
- Apple, iPad, Windows and Chrome devices
- Nothing to download, nothing to install
- Updates are instant — you are always current
- Every desktop feature, in the browser
- Open a case from your own computer and save it back
Windows desktop
- Signed installer, runs entirely on your machine
- One-click updates — no reinstalling, no wizard
- Works offline, in the office or at the courthouse
- Opens and saves the same case files as the online version
- Case data never leaves the computer
Your case files still work
Thirty years of files on your server, and not one of them becomes unreadable.
Every old .ism file opens
The file format is unchanged. Cases you saved years ago open in the new program exactly as they were — and when you save, the file is written back byte for byte the way the old program wrote it. No conversion step, no separate archive, no “legacy” folder.
Online and desktop read the same file
Start a case at the office on Windows, finish it on an iPad at home. Send a file to co-counsel who uses the online version and it opens straight away.
Password-protect a file
Any case file can be sealed with its own password before you email it or put it on a thumb drive. A strength meter tells you whether the password you chose is worth using.
Auto-save, so a power cut costs you nothing
Your work in progress is saved quietly in the background. If the machine restarts, the program offers your case back when you return.
Your clients’ data stays yours
The case file never leaves your computer. This is not a policy — it is built into the program. The desktop edition blocks its own network access at the source: the only thing it is permitted to contact is our licence check. There is no cloud account, no upload, no telemetry, and nowhere for a case to go even if something tried to send it.
The desktop program is code-signed under an Extended Validation certificate, so Windows shows our company name before you install and warns you if a single byte has been altered.
The “goof-proof” guides
The program does not just calculate. It tells you when a number looks wrong before it reaches a judge.
Medical expense guide
The software tells you what a reasonable cost of health insurance is for this case. Check a box for Hawk-I or Title XIX coverage. Enter an unreasonable amount and a warning appears on screen — and on the printed form, so nobody misses it.
Child care analysis
The proportional shares of child care expense, worked out from the parties’ financials and shown as a guide alongside the add-on calculation. Child care expenses less tax credits are carried as their own line.
Analysis page
All the numbers side by side, plus an analysis of which party benefits from claiming the children. Warnings surface here too.
Plain-Language Analysis
The same case explained in sentences instead of line numbers: the bottom line, what drove it, which entries sit on the cusp of changing the result, and anything unusual or left blank. Written to be handed to a client.
“What if?” — answered with the real engine
Where a different choice would move the number, the Plain-Language Analysis says so and shows you by how much. Those figures are not estimates: the program clones the case and runs the full calculation again, so every difference you see is the actual result.
Case Summary
The whole case on one page, for the file or for opposing counsel.
Cases that are not the ordinary case
Asset distribution
Prepare a detailed division of assets to file with the court, as a collaboration if you like. Opposing counsel does not need to own Support Master — we give this one away. Watch the short video.
Shared care
The shared care worksheet, with the offset worked through and carried onto the forms.
Split custody & reverse
Divide the children between the parties, or swap custodial and non-custodial, with one click. The math recalculates instantly either way.
Qualified Additional Dependents
QADDs entered per party and per year, validated against the case total, and carried as their own deduction.
Mandatory Pension Calculator (IPERS)
A calculator for each parent’s mandatory pension contributions, so IPERS is handled properly rather than estimated.
Tax overrides & unlimited tax options
A party working in South Dakota with no state income tax? Override it. Income not subject to FICA? Enter it separately and check the box.
Every deduction the Guidelines allow
FICA and pensions, union dues, occupational license fees, disability and unemployment insurance, health insurance for other children, cash medical support — each as its own line, not lumped together.
Claim the kids every other year
Set who claims which child this year and next, alternating, with a single button.
Step-down provisions
For a multiple-child order, the step-downs are produced with the rest of the documents.
Pro se solutions
An Affidavit of Non-Representation for an unrepresented party, produced from the case like any other document.
Weekly support option
For the case where support is paid weekly rather than monthly.
Instant results, always on screen
Child support and cash medical sit on the main screen and update with every entry you make. No calculate button, no waiting.
Documents you can file
Court-ready, generated from the case you just entered. Review each one on screen, then print, save as PDF, or open it in your word processor and edit before you file — the program writes a real Word document, so it opens cleanly in Word, Word for Mac, LibreOffice, Pages and Google Docs alike. Tables export to Excel.
- Worksheet Form 1 with advisories, including unreasonable-cost alerts
- Worksheet Form 2
- Affidavit of Financial Status integrated — enter it once and it populates the forms
- Cover page integrated
- Analysis
- Plain-Language Analysis the case explained in prose
- Case Summary
- Affidavit of Non-Representation
- Asset distribution
- Income Withholding Order federal form OMB 0970-0154
An Additional Forms window
The Income Withholding Order opens in its own window alongside your case, pre-filled with the facts you have already entered — the parties, the docket, the county — and everything stays editable. Fill it out, print it, or open it in your word processor. Save the filled form as its own file and come back to it later.
The Affidavit of Financial Status is not here, because it is built into the program itself — enter the information once in the case and it populates the affidavit and the forms together. We are always adding to this window; if there is a form you want, tell us and we will build it.
Getting around the program
Find anything by typing
Cannot remember where “shared custody” lives? Click Find, start typing “share…”, and a list appears. Click and you are there.
See it before you print it
Every document appears on screen first. From there: print, save as PDF, or open it in your word processor to edit before filing.
Built for a shared workstation
In a larger firm, one assistant often works for several lawyers. The program now remembers each lawyer on that machine and switches between them cleanly — the right name and bar number on every document, and one lawyer’s case never follows you to another.
Works with your word processor
Whatever you use. No add-ins, no macros, no special version.
Support is included, and a person answers
Not a ticket queue, and not the name of some lawyer to call. Program training, guidelines questions, installation and network help — included in the price, backed by more than thirty years of doing this.
Have a case you need help with? Save the file and send it to Pat at pat@patwilson.com. He will open it on his end and give you his advice on the case, not just the software.
What users say
Iowa Support Master is hands down the best child support calculation software available. I have used it for many years. Form 1. Affidavit of Financial Status. Wage Withholding Order. I found the “Analysis Page” invaluable. A side-by-side comparison of numbers and then the help with who would best benefit by claiming the kids. The support is just outstanding. I have called, including on weekends, and I get the help I need.— Joseph G. Bertroche, Jr., Attorney at Law
I cannot imagine calculating child support without it! Alft & Wilson dedicate themselves to ensuring this software is accurate, and I know every time I use Iowa Support Master that I can trust the results. They are available at any time to answer questions on the information to input, provide analysis, and more. However, Iowa Support Master offers more than just a child support calculation. It also allows you to draft a financial affidavit, determine post-secondary support, and complete an income withholding order, and it has a forms library available for other needs. I am so thankful for Iowa Support Master!— Kara L. McClure, Bergkamp, Hemphill & McClure, P.C.
What it runs on
- Windows downloadable, code-signed installer
- Apple — Mac and iPad through the online Pro Portal
- Chromebooks and Android tablets through the online Pro Portal
- Apple desktops with Parallels or VMware Fusion call us and we will help
- Any word processor Word, LibreOffice, Pages, Google Docs
- Network and multi-user installations call for setup help