News & Resources

  When a spouse decides that divorce is the option he/she is going to pursue, a consultation with an attorney is the initial step.  Numerous items are discussed during this initial meeting and paperwork is given to the individual to complete so that the necessary documents to initiate a divorce proceeding can be completed.  After receipt of the documentation, a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is prepared and reviewed with the initiating spouse.  The Petition […]

In certain cases, there can be a spouse who has not worked for a period of time who states, for child support and alimony purposes, that he/she has “no income”.  That may technically be the case, but, legally the buck does not necessarily stop there.  The court has stated that a person’s earning capacity can be attributed to him/her when he/she is not working.  The Iowa Supreme Court stated that, however, “[b]efore using earning capacity […]

When a divorce happens, the custody of the children is one of the most important decisions made by the court.  The court can grant primary physical care to one parent, where that parent creates the “primary” home for the child and the other parent has visitation.  The court can also grant joint physical care of the minor children to both parents, where the children reside equally on a shared basis with both parents.  To change […]

In many divorce cases, alimony (which is also sometimes called “spousal support”) is awarded.  The concept of alimony is to award money from one spouse to the another during the pendency of the proceedings pursuant to an order of the court or after the entry of the Decree.  Alimony has to be court ordered to be tax deductible. In Iowa, there are three types of alimony: reimbursement, rehabilitative and traditional alimony.  Each serves a different […]

The question frequently arises this time of year when a couple is going through a divorce: “How do we file our taxes this year?”  It is important to know that for two individuals to file a joint return, they must have been married on December 31 of the year for which the return will be filed.  If the parties are divorced before December 31, they are no longer considered married and cannot file a joint […]

In a divorce where there are children involved, the allocation of the annual dependency exemption for tax purposes is always discussed.  The IRS has taken the position that the allocation of the exemption should go to the spouse that has custody of the child(ren).  The court can, however, reallocate the exemption in a divorce proceeding.  Based on the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1997 the exemption now also has other “rights” of use […]

Communication after a divorce, for the sake of the minor child(ren), is essential.  Particularly, the way that communication is handled, creates the framework for co-parenting success or failure.  The parental role, and how each party relates to one another, should focus not on the adults but the best interest of the child(ren).  Each parent may have different views of parenting but respect becomes a paramount issue.   All areas of concern relative to the child(ren) are […]

Let’s think about this scenario…It is Mom’s weekend for visitation but she is going to go with friends to Kansas City for a weekend shopping trip.  Mom calls her good friend “Mary” who is not attending the trip to ask if she will stay with the kids while she is gone…Seems like a pretty simple situation doesn’t it.  Well not if you are a divorced parent with a right of first refusal clause in your […]

When a divorce is finalized, life changes.  For better or worse, all parties involved are affected – especially children.  Parents should seek to make these life changes as seamless as possible.  Given the transitory nature of society, one of the topics on this issue is that of relocation after divorce.  Mom got a new job… Dad got transferred by his company…all of these issues arise.  Not only is this one of the most complex issues, […]

A hot topic in the family law arena is whether reduction of premarital student loan debt during the course of a marriage should be included as marital asset subject to division in the divorce proceeding.  This Iowa Court of Appeals recently found that student loan debt incurred prior to the marriage is “a nonmarital obligation.” In re Marriage of Campbell, No. 13-1383, 2014 WL 1999231, at *5 (Iowa Ct. App. May 14, 2014).    In Campbell, […]