In re the Marriage of Curtis
Misha Lea Curtis, Petitioner-Appellee
Mark Wade Curtis, Respondent-Appellant
Attorney for Appellant
Mark D. Fisher
Attorney for Appellee
Rodney K. Maharry
Jami J. Hagemeier
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Adams County, John D. Lloyd, Judge. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED. Considered by Doyle, P.J., Mullins, J., and Vogel, S.J. Opinion by Mullins, J. (17 pages)
Mark Curtis appeals the decree dissolving his marriage to Misha Curtis. Mark challenges the spousal-support, child-support, property-distribution, and visitation provisions of the decree, as well as the court’s award of trial attorney fees to Misha. Misha requests an award of appellate attorney fees. OPINION HOLDS: We modify the amount and duration of rehabilitative spousal support to $1000.00 per month for one year from the time the decree was entered, followed by $500.00 per month for six months. We modify Mark’s child-support obligation under the decree to $910.81 per month. Given the limited duration of Misha’s spousal-support award coupled with an anticipated increase in her income, we remand the matter to the district court for a determination of Mark’s child-support obligation after his spousal-support obligation decreases to $500.00 per month. The foregoing support obligation shall apply to the duration between the entry of the decree and the time the district court enters an order identifying Mark’s future support obligation. We find correction or modification of Mark’s temporary child-support obligation was not properly before the court, and the court’s sua sponte retroactive modification of the temporary-matters order was therefore error. We therefore modify the decree to vacate the portions that retroactively modified Mark’s child-support obligation under the temporary-matters order. We affirm the district court’s property distribution in its entirety and the award of attorney fees in favor of Misha. We deny Misha’s request for appellate attorney fees. Costs on appeal are assessed equally between the parties.
