In re Marriage of Lyga
Dale E. Lyga, Jr., Appellant
Katherine C. Lyga, n/k/a Katherine C. Bankert, Appellee
Attorney for Appellant
Alexander S. Momany
Attorney for Appellee
Kristen A. Shaffer
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Christopher L. Bruns, Judge. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED. Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Mullins, P.J. (12 pages)
Dale Lyga appeals the decree dissolving his marriage to Katherine Lyga. He argues the district court erred in placing impermissible contingencies on his visitation with the parties’ children, severely and unreasonably limiting his visitation, awarding sole legal custody to Katherine, miscalculating his income for the purposes of child support, and failing to assign any Arizona debt to Katherine. Katherine requests attorney fees on appeal. OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review of the record, we agree with the district court that it is in the best interests of the parties’ children to award sole legal custody to Katherine. We also agree that the step-up visitation plan is in the best interests of the children, subject to modifications in the best interest of the children. We agree with the district court that Dale unilaterally incurred the debt when he relocated from Arizona to Iowa for his own purposes and benefit. Thus, the order that the debt be assigned to Dale is affirmed. We remand to the district court the issue of appellate attorney fees, and we tax costs to Dale.
