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On January 24, 2024, the Iowa Court of Appeals, in a split decision, overturned a district court’s ruling that an Iowa Limited Liability Company (LLC) lacked standing to sue one of its members when it did not obtain defendant member’s consent to s
On March 6, 2024, the Iowa Court of Appeals found that a family settlement agreement was invalid. The agreement was executed prior to the testator’s death and two of the signers had predeceased the testator.
Iowa has a new rule when it comes to boundary by acquiescence and property transferred from a trust. In a rare reversal of precedent, the Iowa Supreme Court overruled Heer v.
On January 24, 2024, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that a district court improperly determined that the heirs of deceased beneficiaries were to receive the deceased beneficiaries’ shares of a testamentary trust.
As March 1 approaches, we review the estimated tax rules for farmers.
On January 24, 2024, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s partition order. The judge ordered a hybrid partition, where a portion of the partitioned property would be sold, and the other portion given in-kind to one owner.
Recently the Court of Appeals released two opinions that discussed adjudication on the merits with agricultural related cases. The first case addressed a dismissal that resulted from failure to mediate prior to filing a foreclosure suit.
On January 10, 2024, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s determination of when to value farmland that was subject to a testamentary purchase option.
On February 2nd, 2024, the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed both the Court of Appeals and district court's finding that the injured plaintiff failed to bring forth evidence that the owner of a cow that caused an accident on Interstate 8
On January 10, 2024, the Iowa Court of Appeals held that the district court improperly considered extrinsic evidence when interpreting a will. The decedent’s will directed one farm property to be held in a trust and the other farm property be evenly divided between her three children. Based on the testimony of the scrivener of the will, the district court concluded that the testator intended both parcels to be placed in the trust. Because the will was not ambiguous, extrinsic evidence was inadmissible. Thus, the Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s order.
Update: On January 31, 2024, the House passed this bill with a bipartisan vote of 357 to 70. As of February 12, 2024, the future of the bill remains uncertain.
Many landowners have land that borders a road.
In two separate lawsuits, several advocacy groups challenged Iowa’s Farm Trespass law and Trespass Surveillance statute. In both cases, a judge from the Southern District of Iowa previously held that the law violated the First Amendment and granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, 591 F.Supp.3d 397 (S.D. Iowa 2022); Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, 630 F.Supp.3d 1105 (S.D. Iowa 2022).
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals released two separate opinions on January 8, 2024, and reversed the district court’s decisions, ruling that both statutes passed intermediate scrutiny and were, thus, constitutional. The cases are Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-1830, (8th Cir. Jan. 8, 2024) and Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-3464 (8th Cir. Jan. 8, 2024).
Note: In 2024, the Iowa Legislature reinstated the capital gain deduction for the sale of breeding, draft, dairy, and sport livestock, retroactively to include the 2023 tax year. Read more about this change.
On December 21, 2023, IRS announced a Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) through which eligible employers may repay 80 percent of the employee retention credit (ERC) to which they were not entitled and avoid civil litigation, penalties, and intere
In a split decision, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s determination that a deed executed by a 79-year-old with dementia conveying her half-interest in a hog site to her business partner should be invalidated due to lack of c
On November 21, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision to value farmland on the date of distribution, rather than date of death, when determining a residuary beneficiary’s inheritance.
On November 21, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed that Iowa’s partition law did not apply to farmland owned by a trust.
On November 8, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s directed verdict in a surviving spouse’s case against her husband’s estate.
On October 25, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s ruling that a 96-year-old woman had testamentary capacity when she rewrote her will to disown her family and to give all farmland to charity.
