In THE MARRIAGE OF RENEE M. TRIMBLE AND JOHN A. TRIMBLE, the custodial parent (Renee) moved with her children to a new home four hours away. The non custodial parent (John) took a new job that would allow him to maximize his visitation with his children. The new job paid significantly less than his [...]
A Story County, Iowa Law Firm specializing in family law and criminal defense
Category Archives: Family Law
Property is valued as of the date of trial
Over the past several years, many of us have had the all too common experience of watching the value of our retirement savings drop like a rock. Unfortunately, if that change in value happens between the time your case goes to trial and when the judge renders his decision, you probably will be stuck with [...]
Your spouse empties the bank account, you may not get it back
Near the time the couple separated, Barbara took some $39,000.00 of marital (joint) money without Richard’s permission or even knowledge. The trial court awarded Richard credit for one-half (½) of the money Barbara took. The Court of Appeals in IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF BARBARA BUDELIER AND RICHARD BUDELIER reversed the trial judge and ruled [...]
Alimony can be awarded even in a relatively short term marriage
Many people, attorneys included, believe that when both spouses are working outside the home and have been married for less that 20 years, the court will not award alimony. Two cases decided by the Iowa Court of Appeals on September 2, 2009 show that this is not always the case.
Alimony may be used to compensate [...]
Difficult to change custody in a modification
The Iowa Court of Appeals once again stated how difficult it is for a parent to change custody after a divorce. In the case of IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF MICHELLE SAWYER AND BRENT SAWYER Upon the Petition of MICHELLE SAWYER, filed on August 19th, 2009 the Court ruled:
To change a custodial provision of a [...]
Squeaking by on $300,000
If the Washington Post hoped to give readers something to talk about, it couldn’t have done better than to publish a front-page piece on Sunday about a woman living in a tony New York suburb who’s squeaking by on $300,000 a year.
The piece has generated nearly a thousand comments, mostly negative, from readers outraged that [...]
How Facebook Almost Ruined a Divorce Case
I found this post from a blog by Tim Evans, a divorce lawyer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The direct link to the original post is: http://www.hattiesburgdivorcelawyer.com/2009/08/how-facebook-almost-ruined-a-divorce-case/
The other day, I had something happen to me that would have been devastating had it been discovered at trial. Another lawyer showed me a hard copy of someone’s Facebook page. This [...]
Parents do not always have rights to children’s medical records
The Iowa Supreme Court’s decision in Harder v. Anderson, Arnold, Arnold, Dicket Jensen Gullickson and Sanger, L.L.P. , ruled that a parent, despite having joint legal custody of the child does not have an absolute right to obtain copies of their children’s medical, counseling, and therapy records.
Here, a non custodial parent sent a valid authorization [...]
What about the divorce kits and preprinted forms that are available?
The Iowa Supreme Court has realized that for “simple” divorces; that is where there are no children involved, the couple can often work out the details by themselves. To help people in this situation, they have created a series of forms and instructions that can be downloaded. The forms are located here http://www.judicial.state.ia.us in the [...]
How are Custody and Visitation issues decided?
No area of family law brings to the courtroom the tension, anxiety, hostility, volatility and raw emotion as child custody and visitation litigation. If this issue cannot be decided between the parties, the Judge will make the decision. Generally, Judges look to what is in the best interest of the children. To reach that decision, [...]