Charley Nicole Martin
v.
Jacob Elijah Callender
Appellant
Charley Nicole Martin
Appellee
Jacob Elijah Callender
Attorney for the Appellant
Thomas J. Viner
Attorney for the Appellee
John C. Wagner
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cedar County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Considered without oral argument by Badding, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Langholz, J. (18 pages)
Charley Martin appeals a physical-care and child-support order under Iowa Code chapter 600B (2021). She challenges the court’s placement of her daughter in the joint physical care of Martin and the daughter’s father, Jacob Callender, arguing that it was based on improper hearsay evidence and does not equitably consider their daughter’s best interest. And she argues that the court erred in not awarding child support or attorney fees because it failed to consider all Callender’s income and financial resources, including past and future payments from a substantial personal-injury settlement. OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review—giving due deference to the district court’s advantage in assessing the parties and witnesses in person and without considering any of the challenged hearsay evidence—we agree with the court’s decision to place their daughter in the parties’ joint physical care. But Martin is correct that the court failed to properly consider the income Callender will be receiving from his personal-injury settlement and all his available current assets—including those derived from his earlier settlement payments—in ruling on her requests for child support and attorney fees. And because the record lacks evidence of Callender’s assets and ongoing financial needs, we cannot decide an equitable child-support or attorney-fee award ourselves. We thus reverse the district court’s denial of Martin’s requests for child support and attorney fees and remand for the court to consider both requests on a fully developed factual record. Given the inadequate record, we also remand the parties’ requests for appellate attorney fees for the district court to consider their respective financial needs in light of all their available resources.
