After sixty-five years of marriage, Francis and Dorthy Carlisle separated in 1998 over a dispute about whether to install a bathroom on the first floor of their home. Mrs. Carlisle moved in with her daughter and filed a petition for legal separation and maintenance. Although Mr. Carlisle counterclaimed for a decree of dissolution, the district court entered a decree of separate maintenance and divided the couple's assets. Mr. Carlisle died in 2001, leaving a will that specifically excluded Mrs. Carlisle. The executor of Mr. Carlisle's estate filed a petition for a declaratory ruling to determine Mrs. Carlisle's rights in her husband's estate.
The district court ruled that as a result of the separate-maintenance decree, Mrs. Carlisle was not a 'surviving spouse' and therefore could not elect against Mr. Carlisle's will or occupy the homestead as a surviving spouse, and was not entitled to support.
The Supreme Court of Iowa reverses, ruling that the separate-maintenance decree notwithstanding, Mrs. Carlisle is the surviving spouse and entitled to all the benefits of one. The court holds that sections of the Iowa code that are applicable to all dissolution, separate-maintenance, and annulment cases are merely procedural in nature, while the more substantive sections at issue here pertain to cases where the marital relationship has been terminated and are 'clearly not applicable to separate-maintenance actions.'
For the full text of this decision, click here.
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