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Case No. 23-0657

In re the Marriage of Shannon

Kara Jo Shannon, Petitioner-Appellant

Christopher Patrick Shannon, Respondent-Appellee

Attorney for Appellant

Kevin D. Engels

Attorney for Appellee

Rebecca A. Feiereisen

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
23-0657
Date Published:
Jul 03, 2024
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Gregg R. Rosenbladt, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Schumacher and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (15 pages)

            Kara Shannon appeals from the decree dissolving her marriage with Chris Shannon.  She challenges the joint-physical-care placement of their children, the child-support award based on that placement, and the valuation and division of the marital property and debts.  OPINION HOLDS: Giving the district court’s thoughtful decision due deference, we agree that awarding joint physical care serves the best interests of the children.  And the joint-physical-care label is appropriate for the roughly equal parenting schedule here.  So Kara’s challenge to the child support calculation on that basis fails.  We also agree with the district court’s fact findings on the existence of a personal loan and the amount of the Discover-credit-card debt.  But Kara is correct that the property and debt division is inequitable given the parties’ circumstances because it is unequal.  We thus increase Chris’s equalization payment to Kara.  We decline to award Chris appellate attorney fees.

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