Iowa Divorce and Family Law: Family Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Family Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Family Law

Iowa Divorce and Family Law

Legal news, appellate decisions and information on Iowa family law from the Des Moines law firm of Babich, Goldman, Cashatt & Renzo, P.C.

Post Frequency: 0.8/day

Last Entry: April 28, 2009 at 18:46:05

Increased Filing Fees

Posted on April 28, 2009
The Iowa Legislature recently approved a bill containing substantial increases in state court filing fees. The bill has been sent to the Governor for his signature, which is expected, and the increases will become effective upon enactment. Some of the...

Increased Filing Fees

No Absolute Right to Children's Medical/Therapy Records

Posted on April 17, 2009
Today's Iowa Supreme Court decision in Harder v. Anderson, Arnold, Arnold, Dicket Jensen Gullickson and Sanger, L.L.P. et al, available online here, holds that parents who are joint legal custodians do not have an absolute right to obtain copies of...

No Absolute Right to Children's Medical/Therapy Records

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Varnum v. Brien: Iowa "Same-Sex" Marriage Decision - Affirmed

Posted on April 03, 2009
The Iowa Supreme Court has issued a unanimous decision affirming the district court's ruling in Varnum v. Brien, the case that challenged the Iowa statutory definition of marriage. The Court's lengthy opinion is available here (PDF; 69 pages). Related appellate...

Varnum v. Brien: Iowa "Same-Sex" Marriage Decision - Affirmed

Iowa to Adopt Income Shares Model for Child Support

Posted on November 11, 2008
The Iowa Supreme Court is likely to adopt new child support guidelines that will be effective July 1, 2009. Iowa will adopt a variant of the "income shares" method of calculating support. More on this will be coming in the...

Madonna's 12 Visitation Rules

Posted on November 11, 2008
According to various news reports: Madonna sent 12 Rules of Visitation to Guy Ritchie. It appears that something else may be in that Kabbalah water she's drinking:According to a text photo at Daily Mail.com, the following rules were set by...

Connecticut Supreme Court Decision Granting Same-Sex Marriage

Posted on October 10, 2008
The Connecticut Supreme Court has issued a decision (PDF here) holding that a separate-but-equal civil union scheme is a violation of the Connecticut state constitution's equal protection rights. An excerpt of the opinion:The characteristic that defines the members of this...

U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Certiorari in QDRO Case

Posted on February 20, 2008
The United States Supreme Court accepted certiorari in the 5th Circuit case of Kennedy v. E.I. Dupont, 497 F.3d 426 (5th Cir. 2007). The issue the Court will consider is limited to whether a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is...

Iowa Court of Appeals Decisions for February 13, 2008

Posted on February 13, 2008
Selected family law decisions from the Iowa Court of Appeals issued February 13, 2008, are available here. No Chapter 232 termination of parental rights decisions are included.

Marriage Tames Geniuses and Criminals

Posted on February 06, 2008
Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, compiled a database of the biographies of 280 great scientists, noting their age at the time when they made their greatest work. ...The data remarkably concur with the brutal observation made by Albert Einstein, who wrote in 1942: "A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so...

Iowa Court of Appeals Decisions for January 16, 2008

Posted on January 31, 2008
The first set of 2008 selected family law decisions from the Iowa Court of Appeals is available here. No Chapter 232 termination of parental rights decisions are included.

Iowa Court of Appeals Decisions for January 30, 2008

Posted on January 30, 2008
Selected family law decisions from today's decisions by the Iowa Court of Appeals can be found here. Note that this list does not include Chapter 232 termination of parental rights decisions.

Schott v. Schott - No Collateral Attack on Prior "Second Parent" Adoption

Posted on January 18, 2008
Today's Iowa Supreme Court decision in Schott v. Schott, available in PDF format here, concerns prior "second parent adoptions" issued by an Iowa court and another Iowa court's subsequent collateral attack on the validity of the adoptions in a later....

Children's Representative in Custody Cases

Posted on January 04, 2008
The Anderson case from the Iowa Court of Appeals last week contains an interesting discussion about the differences between a "guardian ad litem" and an "attorney" appointed to represent children under Iowa Code 598.12. As the Anderson case illustrates, there...

"Taking Marriage Private"

Posted on November 26, 2007
Today's New York Times contains this article on the historical development of increased governmental regulation of marriage, something traditionally (at least until the 19th century) left to the church in America. The issuance of a marriage license used to be...

Interesting Decision re. Federal Prosecution for Non-Payment of Child Support

Posted on September 22, 2007
In an interesting (in a lawyerly kind of way) decision, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the federal conviction of a father who failed to pay child support. The Court found that the federal statute in question, the "Child...

Disinterment Rights

Posted on September 14, 2007
While not a "family law" case in the traditional sense, today's Iowa Supreme Court decision of Stark v. Stark does implicate spousal rights. In the case, the surviving spouse of the deceased husband sought to disinter and rebury the husband's...

Iowa Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Found Unconstitutional

Posted on August 30, 2007
In a long anticipated ruling, the Polk County (Iowa) District Court has found Iowa's statutory prohibition against same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional as a denial of due process and equal protection. The ruling is available here (Varnum v. Brien) and...

No "presumption" or "preference" for Joint Physical Care

Posted on June 15, 2007
The Iowa Supreme Court today issued its first opinion discussing the impact of the 2004 legislative changes to Iowa's child custody law. The case is In re Marriage of Hansen. In a lengthy (40 page) decision, the Court holds that...

Court-Appointed Counsel for Canine

Posted on May 14, 2007
Ron Callan Jr. left an estate worth about $2 million, but the most hotly contested item in the late businessman's Tennessee probate court case is his 13-year-old golden retriever, Alex. The four-way fight over custody of Alex was so intense...

Divorce Rates Lowest Since 1970

Posted on May 14, 2007
The Associated Press reports that "Despite the common notion that America remains plagued by a divorce epidemic, the national per capita divorce rate has declined steadily since its peak in 1981 and is not at its lowest level since 1970....

Sperm Donor and Both Parents Liable for Support (Pennsylvania)

Posted on May 10, 2007
An April 30, 2007, decision by a Pennsylvania appellate court establishes three (3) adults as liable for child support. A sperm donor who helped a lesbian couple conceive two children is liable for child support under a state appellate court...

Same-Sex Partner Granted Visitation (Minnesota)

Posted on May 10, 2007
The Minnesota Supreme Court issued a decision today granting visitation to a same-sex partner who had not adopted her former partner's children. Marilyn Johnson and Nancy SooHoo, a Minneapolis couple, broke up after 22 years together. During their long relationship,...

Celebrity Bad Parenting Lesson - Part 2

Posted on May 09, 2007
On the heels of Alec Baldwin's example of how lose a custody dispute, comes David Hasselhoff of Baywatch fame (infamy?) with "Celebrity Bad Parenting Lesson #2". As widely reported, Mr. Hasselhoff lost visitation rights with his two teenage daughters after...

How not to win a custody dispute....Celebrity Style

Posted on April 25, 2007
Judging by the front cover of most issues of People magazine, it seems that every week we have yet another silly celebrity break-up and custody fight inflicted upon us. The vast majority aren't worth mentioning, But this week's news provides...

Governor Signs Sibling Visitation Bill into Law

Posted on April 16, 2007
Governor Chet Culver signed Senate File 480, the sibling visitation bill, into law today. The bill permits a court to enter an order allowing contact between blood siblings despite the entry of a parental rights termination order or other similar...

Pension ("Defined Benefit") Plan Division under Iowa Law - A Primer

Posted on April 06, 2007
Today's Iowa Supreme Court decision in Faber v. Herman contains a good summary of the various options available when dividing traditional pension plans, so-called "defined benefit" plans. The opinion explains the pitfalls and advantages of each particular method, along with...

Jury Keeps NY Couple from Inflicting Their Misery on the Rest of Us

Posted on April 01, 2007
Jury Says Feuding N.Y. Couple Cannot Divorce By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS; Published: March 29, 2007 NEW YORK (AP) -- Feuding spouses who built a wall through their three-story row house because neither would give it up cannot divorce, a jury...

Related Law Bulletins

Foreigner in U.S. on Visitor’s Visa Does Not Fulfill Nevada’s Divorce Residency Requirement
A Canadian wife who had lived in Nevada for 3Â½ years on a v...

EU Member States Attack Divorce Conflict of Laws Scheme
16.11.2006 - 09:30 CET | By Teresa KÃ¼chlerEUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS -...

Same-sex Couple Seeks Divorce in Rhode Island
"A lesbian couple married in Massachusetts should have the same ri...

California divorce is often a time-consuming process
California divorce is often a time-consuming process By Ron Sokol,...

There are Two Ways to Prepare for an International Divorce
Are you someone who always runs at the last minute to catch a plan...