In re Marriage of Flieder
Dawn Jeannine Flieder, n/k/a Dawn Jeannine Cook, Petitioner-Appellant
Scott Allen Flieder, Respondent-Appellee
Attorney for Appellant
John S. Moeller
Attorney for Appellee
Robert B. Deck
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, James N. Daane, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ. Opinion by Badding, J. Dissent by Buller, J. (19 pages)
Dawn Cook appeals from a ruling that granted Scott Flieder’s petition to modify the parties’ dissolution decree to grant him physical care of the parties’ two children. After moving out of state in 2018 and leaving the children in her mother’s care since then, Dawn claims that her “heavy reliance upon her mother to assist in raising the children does not make Scott a superior parent,” considering Scott’s failure to pay her any child support and his sporadic visitation with the children. OPINION HOLDS: In this close case, we give careful consideration to the district court’s findings that Dawn previously denied Scott access to the children, Scott has recently become much more active in the children’s lives, and the children’s best interests are served by allowing them to remain in a familiar environment in their father’s care. We affirm the district court’s decision granting Scott physical care. DISSENT ASSERTS: Because the father is an unemployed convicted sex offender and admitted domestic abuser, has limited to no experience meaningfully parenting the children on his own, and has never paid a dime of child support, I dissent from the majority's finding that he is a superior caretaker compared to the mother, who prioritized her career to financially support the children.
