In Re the Marriage of Rachelle Wheatcraft and William Wheatcraft Upon the Petition of Rachelle Wheatcraft, and Concerning William Wheatcraft ( 2015 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 15-0138
Filed December 9, 2015
IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF RACHELLE WHEATCRAFT
AND WILLIAM WHEATCRAFT
Upon the Petition of
RACHELLE WHEATCRAFT,
Petitioner-Appellee,
And Concerning
WILLIAM WHEATCRAFT,
Respondent-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Patrick H. Tott,
Judge.
William Wheatcraft appeals a district court order modifying the parties’
dissolution decree. AFFIRMED.
John S. Moeller of John S. Moeller, P.C., Sioux City, for appellant.
Jacquelyn S. Johnson of Vonnahme Law, P.C., Sioux City, for appellee.
Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and McDonald, JJ.
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VAITHESWARAN, Presiding Judge.
William Wheatcraft appeals a ruling (1) modifying the physical care
provision of a prior order to afford his ex-wife physical care of their children and
(2) requiring him to pay child support.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
Rachelle and William Wheatcraft married in 2001 and divorced in 2009.
Under a stipulated decree, the parents exercised joint physical care of their three
children. The decree was later modified to grant William physical care of the
children.
In 2013, Rachelle informally reassumed a primary caretaking role. In time,
she applied for a modification of the prior order to award her physical care and
child support. Following a hearing, the district court granted Rachelle physical
care of the children and ordered William to pay $1070 per month in child support.
William filed a post-trial motion seeking a redetermination of his child support
obligation. The district court denied the motion. William appealed.
II. Analysis
1. Physical Care
A party seeking a modification of physical care must establish (1) a
substantial and material change of circumstances that is more or less permanent
and affects the children's welfare and (2) an ability to provide superior care. In re
Marriage of Frederici, 338 N.W.2d 156, 158 (Iowa 1983). On our de novo review,
we are persuaded Rachelle made these showings.
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Rachelle assumed physical care of the children at least eleven months
before the modification hearing. She testified that she ended up with physical
care because of William’s work schedule.
William conceded his schedule as a truck driver required him to work up to
six days a week “anywhere from 6 to 7:30 in the mornings” to “anywhere from
8:30 at night to 10:30 at night.” He testified, “[g]enerally I have been working
11 1/2, 12, 12 1/2, 13, sometimes 14, 14 1/2-hour-day[s].” During the five
months preceding the modification hearing, William only saw the children five or
six times. He exercised no overnight visits in the previous ten months.
William’s living situation also was incompatible with a primary caretaking
role. He lost his home and was staying in a camper in the yard of a friend’s
house. While he testified there would be room for his three children in the house,
he conceded his friend had a wife and two children and he had not tested this
option.
After considering William’s circumstances, the district court concluded:
Rachelle has met her burden of proof in this case. The
children have been residing with her full-time for the last several
months. For whatever reason, William has not attempted to
enforce his custodial rights during that time. William has not been
in a position to be able to do so due to losing his residence and
living out of a camper for nearly the past year. While William
asserts various concerns regarding Rachelle’s parenting abilities
there have been no reports to [the Department of Human Services]
since the end of 2013. He has not had any overnight visits with the
children since at least June [2014].
Also there does not appear to be any significant chance that
William’s circumstances will change at any time in the foreseeable
future. Even if he obtains the local route and his work hours end at
7 or 8 p.m., he still is living in a camper and did not provide any
evidence or intention of finding a more suitable residence for him
and the children.
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We agree with the district court’s assessment. There was no practical way
William could exercise physical care of the three children. We affirm the district
court’s modification of the prior physical care ruling.
2. Child Support
William takes issue with the district court’s calculation of his child support
obligation and, specifically, the court’s determination that he earned $40,495
annually. In his view, the court should have found his annual earnings to be
$32,396.
In calculating child support, income “reasonably expected to be received
should be included.” Markey v. Carney, 705 N.W.2d 13, 19 (Iowa 2005). The
district court based its income figure on William’s testimony that he averaged two
to three roundtrip drives per day and earned $62.30 per roundtrip. The court
found that if William averaged two roundtrips, he would earn $32,396 and if he
averaged three roundtrips, he would earn $48,594. The court adopted the
average of these two figures and arrived at an annualized income of $40,495.
This figure found greater support in the record than William’s figure, which was
based on far fewer hours than he generally worked. If anything, the court
underestimated William’s earnings. We affirm the child support obligation of
$1070 per month.
AFFIRMED.