In re the Marriage of Brown
Jacob R. Brown, Petitioner-Appellant/Cross-Appellee
Abby S. Brown, Respondent-Appellee/Cross-Appellant
Attorney for Appellant
Andrew B. Howie
Attorney for Appellee
M. Leanne Tyler
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark R. Lawson, Judge. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED ON BOTH APPEALS AND REMANDED. Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Gamble, S.J. Opinion by Mullins, J. (16 pages)
Jacob (Jake) Brown appeals, and Abby Brown cross-appeals, the decree dissolving their marriage. Jake challenges the physical-care, visitation, right-of-first-refusal, and spousal-support provisions of the decree. Abby challenges the court’s spousal-support award as inadequate and the award of a portion of her pre- and post-retirement death benefits to Jake as inequitable. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s physical-care decision and its visitation schedule. We modify the decree to provide Jake with a right of first refusal to care for the children in the event Abby is unable to do so for twelve or more hours. We further modify the decree to award Abby spousal support in the amount of $650.00 per month for three years from the time of the entry of the decree. Based on the record made before the district court, we cannot say the court failed to do equity as to Abby’s retirement benefits. Given the modification in spousal support, we remand the matter to the district court for a recalculation of child support. Costs on appeal are assessed to Jake.
