Preview:

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 6-140 / 05-1500 Filed April 26, 2006

IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF KEVIN ROBERT GOULD AND ABIGAIL ELIZABETH GOULD Upon the Petition of KEVIN ROBERT GOULD, Petitioner-Appellant, And Concerning ABIGAIL ELIZABETH GOULD, Respondent-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, James Q. Blomgren, Judge.

Kevin Gould appeals the district court's award of primary care in his dissolution proceeding. AFFIRMED.

Michael Mollman of Mollman Law Office, Cedar Rapids, for appellant.

Daniel Kitchen of Tindal & Kitchen, P.L.C., Washington, for appellee.

Heard by Mahan, P.J., and Hecht and Eisenhauer, JJ.

2 MAHAN, P.J. Kevin Gould appeals the district court's award of primary care in his dissolution proceeding. He argues the district court erred in awarding Abigail Gould primary care of their two daughters. We affirm. I. Background Facts and Proceedings Kevin and Abigail were married in 1997. They have two daughters, born December 10, 1997, and February 14, 2000, respectively. During the first four years of their marriage, Kevin served in the United States Navy. The couple lived in Virginia and Maryland while Kevin was in the service. When he was deployed, Abigail and the children lived with or near the couple's relatives in Brighton, Iowa. When Kevin was discharged from the Navy in 2001, the couple moved back to Iowa. They lived with Kevin's parents while Kevin worked to renovate the second level of his father's funeral home into an apartment for the family. Abigail began working at Wal-Mart. Kevin also began attending college, where he

performed well. He earned his bachelor's degree in May 2005. Sometime during this period, Abigail left her job at Wal-Mart for a bank teller position with Federation Bank. She was terminated from that job in November 2004. She admits she committed serious mistakes that resulted in her termination. Kevin filed for dissolution in June 2004. In September 2004 the district court ordered that temporary and legal custody be placed jointly in both parties. Trial was held on July 13, 2005. On July 28, 2005, the district court entered its ruling granting Abigail primary physical care of both children. Kevin filed a

motion to reconsider. The court denied Kevin's motion on August 29, 2005.

3 Kevin filed an application for additional findings of fact, citing the fact that Abigail had been convicted of supplying alcohol to a minor. The district court denied his application on September 8, 2005. II. Standard of Review We review dissolution decrees de novo. Iowa R. App. P. 6.4; In re Therefore, we

Marriage of Knickerbocker, 601 N.W.2d 48, 50 (Iowa 1999).

evaluate the entire record and adjudicate anew issues properly presented on appeal. Knickerbocker, 601 N.W.2d at 51. Though we are not bound by the district court's factual findings, we give weight to its credibility determinations. In re Marriage of Murphy, 592 N.W.2d 681, 683 (Iowa 1999). Our guideline for reviewing custody awards is the best interests of the children. Iowa R. App. P. 6.14(6)(o); Murphy, 592 N.W.2d at 683. Our goal is to place the children "in the environment most likely to bring them to a healthy physical, mental, and social maturity." In re Marriage of Williams, 589 N.W.2d 759, 761 (Iowa Ct. App. 1998). To help us determine which parent would be the better primary caretaker, we evaluate several factors. See Iowa Code

Download IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF KEVIN ROBERT GOULD AND ABIGAIL ELIZABETH GOULD Upon the Pe

Iowa Law