In Re Marriage of Jacobo

526 N.W.2d 859, 1995 WL 25986
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJanuary 18, 1995
Docket93-1371
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 526 N.W.2d 859 (In Re Marriage of Jacobo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Marriage of Jacobo, 526 N.W.2d 859, 1995 WL 25986 (iowa 1995).

Opinion

526 N.W.2d 859 (1995)

In re the MARRIAGE OF Elias C. JACOBO and Judith A. Jacobo.
Upon the Petition of Elias C. Jacobo, Appellant,
And Concerning Judith A. Jacobo, Appellee.
Elias C. JACOBO, Plaintiff,
v.
IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR BLACK HAWK COUNTY, Defendant.

No. 93-1371.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

January 18, 1995.

*861 Theodore F. Sporer, Des Moines, for appellant.

Jay P. Roberts and Eric W. Johnson of Beecher, Rathert, Roberts, Field, Walker & Morris, P.C., for appellee.

Considered by CARTER, P.J., and LAVORATO, NEUMAN, SNELL, and TERNUS, JJ.

SNELL, Justice.

Elias C. Jacobo appeals rulings of the district court which modified the dissolution decree of Elias and his former wife, Judith A. Jacobo and found him in contempt of court. The district court held him in contempt for willfully and deliberately disobeying court rulings which ordered him to pay specified amounts of alimony to his former wife, child support for his children, and the college expenses of his children. Subsequent to Elias' filing of an appeal of the modification and contempt order, the trial court ordered Elias arrested and extradited from Florida for his failure to obey the court's orders. Elias now appeals the trial court's modification, its contempt ruling, the propriety of its order issued after he filed an appeal, and the constitutionality of the statute authorizing his extradition for failure to pay court-ordered support. Elias has also filed a petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the finding that he is in contempt of court. We have consolidated this action with the appeal from the modification of the dissolution decree. We affirm in part and reverse in part on the appeal. We sustain the writ.

I. Factual Background

The parties' marriage was dissolved on June 21, 1982. A stipulation the parties filed in accordance with the decree, granted them joint custody of their three (then minor) children, Jennifer Leigh Jacobo, Kelly Jane Jacobo, and Jason Andrew Jacobo. The stipulation placed primary physical placement of the children with Judith which meant generally, that the children would reside with Judith during the school year and with Elias during the summer months.

The parties stipulated that even though Judith intended to move to Michigan, it was in the best interests of the children that Iowa retain jurisdiction for as long as Elias maintained his domicile and residence in Iowa, and until the children attained majority. The stipulation noted that Judith had been *862 diagnosed and received treatment for a malignant brain tumor and provided that if she should become unable to care for the children, Elias would attain custody of Kelly and Jason.

The stipulation provided that Elias was to pay to Judith $402 for support of the children, or $134 per month for each child until they attained majority or left home. If, after graduation from high school, any of the children chose to continue their education, the stipulation provided that Elias would "support said child and pay for the cost of said education." If the child had trust funds available to pay for the additional education, Elias was only responsible for that portion of education and reasonable living expenses the trust funds did not cover.

The stipulation further required Elias to maintain medical and dental insurance for the minor children and pay all such expenses which insurance did not cover. It required Elias to maintain health insurance for Judith and pay any medical expenses she incurred which insurance did not cover. Elias further agreed to maintain at least $100,000 in life insurance with Judith named as a primary beneficiary and the children named as contingent beneficiaries. Elias was also to pay Judith alimony in the amount of $2300 per month until her death or remarriage.

In January of 1985, the parties filed a Joint Application for Modification of the decree seeking to alter the primary physical placement of the children. The district court subsequently modified the decree to: (1) place primary physical placement of Jason with Elias; and (2) require Elias to pay child support to Judith for Jason only during the summer months in which Jason was to stay with Judith. The court also held Elias was not required to pay to Judith unpaid child support for months in which Jason had actually lived with Elias.

On April 14, 1987, Elias filed a petition seeking modification of the divorce decree on the ground that he entered into the original stipulation based on his belief that Judith would not survive her illness. He asserted that the absence of her premature death amounted to a substantial change in circumstances. On May 27, 1987, Judith filed an answer to Elias' petition as well as her own modification petition seeking an increase in Elias' alimony and child support obligations.

On April 25, 1988, the district court denied Elias' request to decrease alimony on the ground that he failed to demonstrate that Judith had recovered from her illness to the point she could be gainfully employed. The court denied Judith's request for an increase in alimony on the ground that the original alimony request had been based in part on an assumption that she would ultimately need nursing and home care, and this did not occur. The court noted that the children had incurred substantial medical bills and Judith was in fear of Elias and therefore had not tried to collect the amounts from him. The court required Judith to provide Elias with all medical bills insurance had not paid, and ordered Elias to pay those amounts within thirty days of receiving the bills.

With regard to child support, the court noted that the only child remaining at home at the time of the order was Kelly. The court held that Kelly's progression into her "teens" constituted a material change in circumstances and therefore raised Elias' support obligations for her from $134 to $300 per month. The court also ordered that once Judith provided Elias with proof that Jennifer was enrolled in college and taking a normal course load, he would be responsible for paying her educational expenses. The court also held that Elias was to pay $134 per month to Judith for the support of Jennifer for those months Jennifer attended college. The order further continued the requirement that Elias maintain the life insurance referred to in the original stipulation. The court of appeals affirmed the district court's decision on August 23, 1989.

On March 31, 1992, Judith filed a new Application for Modification of Decree requesting that the court increase Elias' alimony obligation because a deterioration in her health had decreased her earning capacity and increased her medical expenses while Elias' income had substantially increased. On the same date, she also filed an Application for Contempt Citation requesting that *863 the court hold Elias in contempt for numerous failures to pay court-ordered support.

In her Application for Contempt Citation, Judith stated that even though Elias' alimony payment was $2300 per month, he reduced his payment to $1300 in July and August of 1989, did not pay any alimony in February of 1990, and otherwise has only paid $2000 per month since August of 1989. Judith further asserted that Elias had completely failed to maintain health insurance or pay the medical expenses of herself and the children. She also stated that Elias has failed to pay the required child support associated with Jennifer and Kelly and failed to pay for the educational expenses of the children.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
526 N.W.2d 859, 1995 WL 25986, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-jacobo-iowa-1995.