Rahn v. Cramer
| Decision Date | 12 November 1957 |
| Docket Number | No. 49035,49035 |
| Parties | Gordon E. RAHN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Caroline K. Rahn CRAMER, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Willis A. Glassgow, Silliman & Gray, Cedar Rapids, for appellant.
O. W. Lawrence, Albert T. Gravelie, Cedar Rapids, for appellee.
The trial court modified a divorce decree as to the care and custody of the parties' minor children and this order presents the sole issue on appeal.
Plaintiff and defendant, married in 1943, are the parents of three boys, now age ten, eight and five. In September, 1953, a divorce based upon cruel and inhuman treament was granted to the plaintiff. By stipulation of the parties, approved by the court and made a part of the decree, the custody of the children was given to the plaintiff and it was provided that the defendant
In August, 1954, applications were made for a modification of the decree as to the custody provision. By stipulation of the parties, approved by the court, the above custody provision was modified. As modified, her visitation rights were changed (not involved here) and as to the summer custody, it was provided,
In April, 1956, defendant filed an application for a modification of the decree as to her custodial rights, which is the matter now before this court. After a hearing the trial court modified the order of August, 1954 as follows: 'She shall have the right to have one or more of said children at her option but simultaeously for any part of the period beginning with the spring closing of the public school which the children attend and ending the first Sunday in August at which time the children are to be returned to the plaintiff.' During such period plaintiff was granted certain visitation rights.
Plaintiff, in appealing from such modification, asserts two propositions. (1) No substantial change of circumstances since the modification of 1954, and (2) It is contrary to the best interest of the children.
While not too clear, we think the record shows that at the time of the 1954 modification, the mother, appellee here, was working and was unable to provide 'adequate housing facilities for the children.' It is appellee's contention that conditions have so changed that such facilities are now available. The following facts are disclosed in the record: Defendant was married in 1955 to her present husband, Wayne Cramer. He owns a grain storage business at Kamrar, in Hamilton County but lives in Des Moines. He also owns an eight room house in Kamrar which is rented to a school teacher, and appears to have some financial means. He is a divorcee and has three children by his first marriage, two boys and a girl, ages sixteen, fifteen and fourteen. By his divorce decree the mother, who lives in Wisconsin, has their custody except during the summer months when it was given to their father.
The facilities available for the care of the children in question are as follows: Cramer has a trailer house 34 feet long and 8 feet wide with shower and bathtub, stool and lavatory. It has bunk beds, a double bed and a hide-a-bed and will sleep six people. This trailer will be taken to Clear Lake, Iowa, in May and placed in the City Trailer Camp, located a block or so from the lake. They will have as an addition thereto a cabana, 24 by 9 feet, with concrete floor, with bunk beds for two of the children. During the summer months these facilities would be used by Mr. and Mrs. Cramer, his three children, and her three children.
As to the home provided by the father, appellant, the record is as follows: He is a doctor and lives at Mt. Vernon, Iowa. He remarried in October, 1954, a woman with a son by a previous marriage, and there is a daughter by their marriage. They live in a nine room brick home with a full basement and located on two lots. It is but a short distance from school and at least the usual recreation facilities found in a city of that size are available to them. The children attended school and their grades show satisfactory work. They also attend the Methodist Sunday School regularly. The home life seems happy and a mutual affection exists between the three boys and their step-mother. There is some evidence of a lack of discipline on the part of the children after returning from a prolonged stay with their mother.
There is nothing in the record to show that either the father or the mother...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Alex v. Alex
...(emphasis added) York v. York also reverses the trial court and it too has been repeatedly approved. See e.g. Rahn v. Cramer, 249 Iowa 116, 120--121, 85 N.W.2d 924, 926--927. The present case is stronger for appellants than was appellants' claim to a reversal in Thein v. Squires, supra, 250......
-
Morrison, In Interest of
...this court will not interfere unless there has been an abuse thereof. Svoboda v. Svoboda, 245 Iowa 111, 60 N.W.2d 859; Rahn v. Cramer, 249 Iowa 116, 120, 85 N.W.2d 924. Although we find there was substantial evidence of the breach of specific circumstances listed in chapter 215, we are also......
-
Vanden Heuvel v. Vanden Heuvel
...and we have often said we reverse only when it appears this discretion has been abused. Patzner v. Patzner, supra; Rahn v. Cramer, 249 Iowa 116, 120, 85 N.W.2d 924, 926; Stillmunkes v. Stillmunkes, supra; Maron v. Maron, supra; Wood v. Wood, 220 Iowa 441, 447, 262 N.W. 773, 776; Voy v. Voy,......
-
Smith v. Smith
...Bennett v. Bennett, 200 Iowa 415, 418, 203 N.W. 26, 27; York v. York, 246 Iowa 132, 138-139, 67 N.W.2d 28, 32; Rahn v. Cramer, 249 Iowa 116, 120, 85 N.W.2d 924, 927; Huston v. Huston, 255 Iowa 543, 553, 122 N.W.2d 892, 898-899. York v. York, supra, says split custody should be granted 'only......