In re the Marriage of Wang and Ye, 24-0420

Zhenzhen Wang and Shengyi Ye, both originally from China, married in Iowa in 2008 and have two children.
In 2019, Shengyi moved to China for a professorship; Zhenzhen and the children remained in Iowa.
In 2022, during a visit to China, Shengyi took the children's travel documents, preventing their return to the US for six to seven months.
Zhenzhen petitioned for dissolution in Iowa, and the district court granted her sole legal custody, restricting Shengyi's visitation to the US only.
Shengyi appealed the decision, seeking joint legal custody and the right to take the children to China for visitation.

Issue	Wang's Argument	Ye's Argument	Held
Sole legal custody vs. joint custody	Sole custody needed due to Ye's conduct and absence	Joint custody presumed; he is a suitable parent	Sole legal custody affirmed due to past conduct, distance, and lack of joint parenting capacity
Visitation limited to US	Restriction needed to protect children, risk of abduction	Should be allowed to take children to China	Visitation limited to US justified by past behavior and lack of Hague protections

In re Marriage of McDermott, 827 N.W.2d 671 (Iowa 2013) (de novo standard of review in dissolution cases)
In re Marriage of Rykhoek, 525 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa Ct. App. 1994) (visitation may be restricted where return of children is previously denied)
In re Marriage of Hansen, 733 N.W.2d 683 (Iowa 2007) (best interests of the child govern care and custody decisions)
In re Marriage of Winnike, 497 N.W.2d 170 (Iowa Ct. App. 1992) (strong policy in favor of joint custody, deviation for compelling circumstances)
In re Marriage of Forbes, 570 N.W.2d 757 (Iowa 1997) (defining what constitutes a history of domestic violence for custody purposes)