In RE the Marriage of Rachel A. McDermott and Stephen J. McDermott Upon the Petition of Rachel A. McDermott, 2013 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 17

Stephen and Rachel McDermott married in 1997; farming assets dominated marital estate; Irwin and Patrick McDermott farms involved; Stephen contributed nonmonetary and familial transfers; parties stipulated to joint custody and no alimony; district court awarded large equalization payment and specific tax and health-insurance provisions.
Farm assets (Irwin and Patrick farms) classified as marital; gifted/inherited status analyzed with adoption of joint ownership; value determined largely from stipulated asset values; equalization payment designed to balance disparate asset awards.
District court ordered Stephen to pay Rachel $1,087,716 as equalization, with options for installments and no interest; health-insurance cost sharing was misapplied; extracurricular expenses placed on both parents under offset method.
Court of Appeals reduced equalization to $250,000, and addressed tax consequences and equity concerns; Supreme Court vacated appellate ruling and affirmed district court as modified.
Court considered preservation of family farming operation as a factor, but concluded near-equal distribution appropriate; court allowed one-half health-insurance deduction for Stephen and remanded for proper order.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Equity of the property division	Stephen argues gifts/advances were not marital property	Rachel contends farm assets were properly marital and valued fairly	Distribution affirmed; equalization payment upheld under equity factors
Tax consequences in property division	Stephen asserts tax impacts should discount asset value	Court properly considered tax effects; no sale required	Tax considerations affirmed as part of division
Child support calculation	Stephen challenges inclusion of timber sale; depreciation adjustments	Rachel argues guidelines apply; health insurance offset and costs proper	Guidelines upheld with offset method; Stephen's depreciation recalculation and health-insurance deduction adjusted
Extracurricular expenses	Disagreement over sharing costs; Stephen argues discretionary limits	Extracurriculars fall within child-support framework	Equal sharing of extracurricular expenses affirmed
Attorney fees on appeal	Stephen seeks appellate fees; argues merits differ	Rachel seeks fees? not explicit here	No appellate fees awarded to either party

In re Marriage of Schenkelberg, 824 N.W.2d 481 (Iowa 2012) (de novo review of property distribution in dissolution)
In re Estate of Rogers, 473 N.W.2d 36 (Iowa 1991) (interpretation of testator intent and will construction)
In re Marriage of Goodwin, 606 N.W.2d 315 (Iowa 2000) (consideration of gifts/inheritances in property division)
In re Marriage of Friedman, 466 N.W.2d 689 (Iowa 1991) (tax consequences when asset sale contemplated in division)
In re Marriage of Okland, 699 N.W.2d 260 (Iowa 2005) (guidelines deviation for extracurriculars and school-related costs availability)