State Unemployment Benefits in Iowa

State Unemployment Benefits in Iowa: key facts

Administering agency

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD), Unemployment Insurance Division.

Online system

workforce.iowa.gov/unemployment

Phone

UI Customer Support: 1-866-239-0843, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Weeks that remain payable

Only weeks the claimant certified before death are eligible weeks. Any unredeemed warrant made out to the deceased claimant is voided and reissued to the person entitled to the benefits under the rule (Iowa Admin. Code r. 871-25.14(1), (3)).

Deadline to claim the final payment

A written claim, with the proof IWD requires, must be presented within 60 days after the claimant's death; IWD may extend the time for good cause. If no timely claim is made, the benefits are not paid and stay in the unemployment compensation fund (Iowa Admin. Code r. 871-25.14(4)).

Who may claim

Benefits due are paid to the person issued Letters Testamentary or of Administration on an application filed within 30 days after death. If no such application was filed within 30 days, they are paid to the surviving spouse; if no spouse survives and the claimant left unmarried minor children, IWD may pay, at its discretion, their guardian, a person or institution that assumed their support, a person who furnished them necessaries worth at least the benefit amount, or a person who paid the claimant's last-illness or burial expenses in an amount at least equal to the benefits (Iowa Admin. Code r. 871-25.14(1), (2)).

Governing law: Iowa Admin. Code r. 871-25.14(96) (implementing Iowa Code 96.9(3), 96.9(7), 96.11(1))

Frequently asked questions