Iowa law treats dogs as personal property often leaving divorce litigants without judicial remedy November 5th, 2013 One of the most frequent inquries we receive has to do with who gets to keep the dog(s) or pet(s) in an Iowa divorce. While you may treat your dogs as children, the Iowa courts treat them as personal property. When faced with the issue the Iowa Court of Appeals stated, "[a] dog is ...
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian to enter prenuptial agreement October 31st, 2013 Kanye West once so elegantly stated, "If you ain't no punk, holla we want prenup." Well, Kanye, almost ten years later you get the chance to show the world you "ain't no punk." A prenuptial agreement is a legal contract that the husband and wife enter into before they get married that determines how much each party gets ...
Iowa Court of Appeals Issues New Divorce Rulings August 21st, 2013 Iowa Court of Appeals Releases August 7, 2013 Rulings In Re the Marriage of Mulder The parties had two children, ages thirteen and fifteen. In addition they had considerable equity in their marital home. The court awarded the marital home to the mother, and ordered that she provide half of the net equity in the property to the ...
Iowa Court of Appeals holds that straight line depreciation of equipment should be used when calculating a self employed parties' income June 29th, 2013 In a June of 2013, decision the Iowa Court of Appeals again upheld the use of straight line depreciation of equipment when calculating a self-employed parties' income for child support purposes. In In re the Marriage of Brauns, the father operated ...
At Direction of Child Support Review Committee Iowa Supreme Court Adopts Changes to Child Support Guidelines June 28th, 2013 Pursuant to the recommendations of the Iowa Child Support Review Committee's 2012 recommendations, new child support rules will go into effect on July 1, 2013. Although not major, the following significant changes will take place: 1) The minimum support amount for a parent ...
Iowa Ruling Upholds Marital Invasion of Privacy Award June 25th, 2013 The Iowa Supreme Court, in a December 2008 ruling, upheld a $22,500 invasion of privacy award to a wife whose husband had secretly videotaped the activities in her bedroom. The Court ruled that there is a reasonable expectation of privacy when you are in your bedroom. Jeff and Cathy were in the process of dissolving their ...
Don't Give Away the Farm in Your Iowa Divorce May 7th, 2013 With skyrocketing land prices and high commodity prices it's important for any landowner or farmer to know how to protect their farm in a divorce action. As the recent decision in In Re the Marriage of McDermott shows, poor planning may leave a century or family farm open to division in a divorce case in Iowa. In McDermott the court had ...
No. 11-0369. [1-680] Greve v. Anderegg October 14th, 2011 JOINT PHYSICAL CARE OF CHILD, MATERNAL CHILD SUPPORT, TAX EXEMPTION In another appellate court decision, the court affirmed the district court's order in a paternity case that granted the parties joint physical care of their minor child, ordering the mother to pay child support, and allocating the income tax dependency exemption for their ...
Court upholds district courts objective property valuation in divorce. October 14th, 2011 APPELLATE COURT UPHOLDS DISTRICT COURT'S OBJECTIVE PROPERTY VALUATION. In a recent Iowa Court of Appeals case, the court affirmed the district court's objective valuation of property when there is confusing and unconvincing evidence on the price of the property in question. The court also upheld that spousal ...
Termination of Parental Rights in Iowa March 3rd, 2010 TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS IN IOWA The Supreme Court of Iowa, in a decision dated January 29, 2010, upheld a juvenile court's termination of the parental rights of a father. In doing so, the Court clarified the process that must be followed in such a case in the state of Iowa. Three steps exist in making the determination if parental ...
Grandparent Visitation Rights in Iowa January 6th, 2010 In the State of Iowa grandparents have minimal visitation rights over their grandchildren. A recent article in the Des Moines Register chronicled a struggle involving this exact issue. In the past, grandparents had visitation rights under Iowa Code section 598.35(1) if: "(1) the parents are divorced, (2) "visitation is in the best interests ...
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