In re Marriage of Lyga
21-0156
| Iowa Ct. App. | Jan 12, 2022Background
- Dale and Katherine married in 2015 and have two young children; Katherine alleges a history of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse by Dale, including threats and alcohol-related incidents.
- Parties lived in Iowa, then moved to Arizona for Dale’s job; as the marriage broke down Katherine fled to Iowa with the children and obtained a protective order; Dale later moved to Illinois.
- Katherine petitioned for dissolution in April 2020; trial held January 2021; district court awarded Katherine sole legal custody, set a step-up visitation plan for Dale with alcohol-related restrictions, ordered child support, and found Dale dissipated assets by incurring ~$93,000 of relocation/bonus repayment debt.
- Dale appealed, arguing the court erred on legal custody, visitation contingencies/limitations, child-support income calculation, and allocation of the Arizona debt; Katherine sought appellate attorney fees.
- On de novo review the Court of Appeals affirmed sole legal custody and the debt allocation, modified certain visitation provisions, affirmed the income calculation for child support, and remanded the appellate-fee request for itemization.
Issues
| Issue | Katherine's Argument | Dale's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal custody | Award sole legal custody due to established history of domestic abuse and children's safety needs | Seek joint legal custody | Court affirmed sole legal custody to Katherine based on domestic-abuse findings and §598.41(3) factors favoring Katherine |
| Visitation restrictions | Step-up scheme and alcohol restrictions are necessary to protect children and rebuild relationship | Scheme places impermissible contingencies, overly limits visitation, and restarts progress on missed visits | Court approved step-up and alcohol restrictions as reasonable but modified provisions removing "consecutive" requirement (except summer weeks) and eliminated automatic restart/sanction language |
| Child-support income calc | Use Dale’s job offer salary plus consistent premium payments to determine support | Argues the license premium installments should not be annualized into income | Court affirmed inclusion of the premium payments as consistent income when calculating support |
| Arizona relocation debt | Debt arose from Dale’s unilateral relocation and repayment obligations; he dissipated marital assets | Argues debt incurred to facilitate visitation and should not be charged solely to him | Court affirmed district court finding Dale dissipated assets and assigned the ~$93,000 debt to Dale |
| Appellate attorney fees | Seeks fees; needs awarded due to resources spent on appeal | Opposes amount; may contest itemization | Court held Katherine entitled to some appellate fees but remanded to district court for an itemized application and response; costs taxed to Dale |
Key Cases Cited
- In re Marriage of Miller, 956 N.W.2d 630 (Iowa 2021) (standard of review for dissolution: de novo with weight to district court findings)
- In re Marriage of Hansen, 733 N.W.2d 683 (Iowa 2007) (definition and scope of legal custody)
- In re Marriage of Kimbro, 826 N.W.2d 696 (Iowa 2013) (appellate de novo review gives weight to trial court fact findings)
- In re Marriage of Thielges, 623 N.W.2d 232 (Iowa Ct. App. 2000) (disapproving custody provisions that predetermine future modification conditions)
- In re Marriage of Stephens, 810 N.W.2d 523 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012) (only district court can modify custody/visitation orders)
- In re Marriage of Foley, 501 N.W.2d 497 (Iowa 1993) (party may not claim inability to pay when self-inflicted reduction of earning capacity occurs)
- In re Marriage of Brown, 487 N.W.2d 331 (Iowa 1992) (repeated premium payments may be included in income for support calculations)
- In re Marriage of Fennelly, 737 N.W.2d 97 (Iowa 2007) (standards and factors for finding dissipation of marital assets)
- In re Marriage of Okland, 669 N.W.2d 260 (Iowa 2005) (appellate attorney fees are discretionary)
- In re Marriage of McDermott, 827 N.W.2d 671 (Iowa 2013) (factors for awarding appellate attorney fees)
- In re Marriage of Heiar, 954 N.W.2d 464 (Iowa Ct. App. 2020) (remand for an itemized fee application when awarding appellate fees)