Desperate Housewives Lesson

While I don't watch a lot of television I often indulge in sporadic episodes of Desperate Housewives. Interestingly, one of the key turning points centered around an older neighbor's uncommon and somewhat sinister reasons for disposing of her late husband's body into the abyss of a deep freezer. While this may not, on its face, seem to be applicable to divorce and family law issues, the reason she offered reminds us that proper post-divorce estate planning and change of beneficiaries is essential to protecting the ones you love.

In last night's espisode, the neighbor stated that despite being married to her husband (who she allegedly discovered dead in his easy chair with a tv remote in his hand) for 34 years, he failed to change the beneficiary of his pension plan from his ex-wife, to whom he was married for 4 years, to his current wife. His ex-wife would have received his pension benefits had his current wife disclosed his death.

Immediately prior to finalizing your divorce or other family law issues, including establishment of paternity, each client should review his or her assets and determine how s/he would like them distributed upon death. Your intent should then be finalized in a revised (or new) Last Will and Testament and/or a Trust.

Week to Week Better?

The Iowa Court of Appeal recently handed down a decision in a divorce case entitled In Re Marriage of Munger affirming a trial court's finding that a week-to-week rotation in a joint physical custody situation is best agreeing that it is predictable and avoids mid-week juggling of children and school work. See
http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/court_of_appeals/Recent_Opinions/20070411/7-157.pdf

This arrangement tends to work best for older school-aged children but not necessarily children within the "tender years" parameter, typically age five and under.

The Iowa Court also affirmed the use of a "special expense" account where both parties would deposit a certain amount each month to be used for the children's expenses in light of their inability to communicate regarding the same.

Iowa Courts and Dividing Propert During a Divorce

The state of Iowa recognizes that each marriage partner has an equitable interest in all marital property acquired during the course of the marriage. Unlike states with community property laws, which typically entitles each spouse to 50%, in an equitable distribution state the equitable interest does not appear until a divorce is filed.

The Iowa Code provides several factors the Court considers in making an equitable distribution. It can range from observing what sacrifices a spouse made during the marriage, assets brought into the marriage, inherited property, age disparities, health issues, earning capacity, and the number of minor children or dependents. This is not an exhaustive list.

The general rule is that all property acquired by either party during the course of the marriage using marital assets, regardless of title or source of payment, is marital property, subject to equitable division.
An exception to the general rule would be that an asset acquired by one party during the marriage by inheritance is not a marital asset or a gift acquired would be exempt. However, the Iowa Courts have lately been deviating from this usually tightly interpreted rule.

Once a court determines which property is actually marital property, and subject to equitable division, then it must determine how that property is to be divided. Unlike community property states, the courts in Iowa are not bound by any predetermined rules or formulas. A divorce court is a court of equity, and the court has complete discretion in awarding each spouse any particular marital property, and in any proportion that the court finds is fair under all circumstances.

Each case is unique and not all factors apply. To determine what you may be entitled to contact an Iowa lawyer well-versed in divorce and other domestic relation issues.