January 23, 2024
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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.
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January 19, 2024|
Many landowners have land that borders a road.
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January 16, 2024|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).
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January 11, 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.
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January 4, 2024|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
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January 2, 2024|
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
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December 18, 2023|
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.
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December 18, 2023|
On November 21, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed that Iowa’s partition law did not apply to farmland owned by a trust.
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December 15, 2023|
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.
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December 8, 2023|
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.
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December 4, 2023|
On November 21, 2023, the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s ruling that farmland sold by a life estate holder was proper.
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November 30, 2023|Update: On March 1, 2024, in the case of National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-01448 (N.D.
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November 21, 2023|
On October 25, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s summary judgment ruling in a family transaction involving a long-term farm lease and purchase option.
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November 6, 2023|
On October 11, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals found that one brother failed to properly account to his brothers for the farming proceeds received while marketing organic crops.
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October 27, 2023|
On October 11, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the district court when it ruled that one owner of tenancy-in-common could not terminate a farm lease entered into by a life estate holder without the permission of the other co-owners.
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October 9, 2023|
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will undergo major changes for the 2024-2025 school year.
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September 28, 2023|On September 8, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) published a revised definition of “waters of the United States” or WOTUS. 88 FR 61964. To conform with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Sackett v. EPA, 143 S. Ct. 1322 (2023) ruling, the agencies made various changes including the removal of the “significant nexus” standard and amending the definition of “adjacent.” The new rule went into effect September 8, 2023. Because the revision was required to make the Rule comply with the Sackett decision, no notice and opportunity for public comment was necessary.
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September 12, 2023|
After disagreements over the boundary line between two neighbors occurred, the plaintiffs brought this lawsuit alleging boundary by acquiescence and adverse possession. The trial court found that the plaintiffs had maintained the 8.5-foot strip of land and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. On appeal, the court found that the plaintiffs only began maintaining the disputed area six years earlier when the defendants purchased the adjoining parcel. Because the plaintiffs did not meet the statutory ten-year requirement for either claim, the Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s ruling.
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September 1, 2023|On August 9, 2023, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed that a boundary by acquiescence was established between a farm and neighboring homeowner. The parties treated a fence as the boundary line for over ten years. Even though a homeowner later tore the fence down, the boundary line was still clearly marked from farming activities. Therefore, the Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s finding in favor of the plaintiffs.
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August 25, 2023|A commercial fishing business harvested shrimp by dragging nets along the ocean floor. The nets would trap other marine animals in addition to the shrimp. The fishermen would throw this “bycatch” back into the ocean. A conservation group brought a citizen-suit under the Clean Water Act (CWA) claiming that the company violated the CWA by 1) disturbing the sediment when it dragged nets along the ocean floor and 2) throwing the bycatch back into state waters bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The district court granted the fishing company’s motion to dismiss. On appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the court affirmed.