In re the Marriage of Rigdon
Benjamin Rigdon, Petitioner-Appellee
Alicia Rigdon, Respondent-Appellant
Attorney for Appellant
Mark R. Hinshaw
Attorney for Appellee
Roger A. Huddle
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Mary Ann Brown, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Bower, C.J. Special concurrence by Ahlers, J. (7 pages)
Alicia Rigdon brought a contempt action against her former spouse, Benjamin Rigdon. The district court declined to hold Benjamin in contempt and Alicia appeals. OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I agree with the majority’s resolution of this matter on the merits and join in that decision. I write separately in an effort to make clear that our ruling should not be viewed as an endorsement of the tie-breaking method used here, which was for the parent with physical care to make a unilateral decision that disregards the other parent’s objection followed by a contempt action to assess the decision in hindsight. We will need to wait for an appropriate case when the issue is properly raised and preserved before determining whether the after-the-fact-contempt method is acceptable, or whether some other method should be preferred.
