We have written detailed reviews of Iowa law impacting agricultural producers and landowners. Access these reviews by clicking on the tiles below. You can also review Iowa cases on a particular subject by searching our list of Iowa case law reviews at the bottom of this page.
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In 1987, a trust was created upon the death of the plaintiff’s grandfather. At the time of his death, the grandfather’s wife received one-half of the real estate owned by the grandfather directly and the other half was conveyed into a trust. The wife received the income from the trust during her life with the grandfather’s daughters as residual beneficiaries upon her death.
In order for a will to be executed, there are several actions that must be taken. The testator must put the purported will in writing and state that the document is her declared will. The document must be signed by the testator, which must be witnessed by two persons who have no claim to anything in the will, are of legal age and mental capacity, and are witnessing the signing of will at the request of the testator. The witnesses must also sign the will in front of each other and in the presence of the testator.
(Note: On August 8, 2012, the Iowa Court of Appeals revised their earlier opinion regarding the amount of the inheritance tax reimbursement. The earlier opinion was vacated and the August 8, 2012 opinion replaces it.)
In Iowa, marital property is to be equitably distributed upon the dissolution of a marriage. Inherited property, however, is normally awarded to the individual spouse who owns the property and distributed to the individual independent from the equitable distribution process. But, under Iowa law, the court does have the power to require distribution of inherited property if equity demands it in light of the particular circumstances of the spouse or children. Several factors are considered, including the following:
Installment sale contracts are a popular method to sell real estate, especially farmland. One popular feature is that the downpayment is usually low, quite often less than 20 percent of the purchase price. Beginning farmers and others with minimal amounts of cash like that. But, to be a valid contract all the requirements to have a binding contract must be satisfied - including the requirement that the seller has the authority to convey the real estate. That was the issue in this case.
Many lawsuits have been filed over land deals that have gone bad. A lot of those involve buyers that get cold feet and renege on the deal. But, what if the seller tries to back out after agreeing verbally to a particular party’s offer to purchase the property? That’s what happened in this case, and it illustrates a fundamental rule of contract law - contracts for the sale of real estate must be in writing to be enforceable. That’s known as the Statute of Frauds. It’s an old rule that date backs to 1677 in England.
Iowa law requires certain disputes involving farmers to be submitted to mediation before filing a court action. Disputes subject to mandatory mediation are those involving contracts for the care and feeding of livestock. In this case, the parties entered into an oral contract for the raising and feeding of hogs. The defendant purchased feeder hogs and placed them with the plaintiff to be cared for until they reached market weight.
It’s always a good idea to reduce farm leases to writing. Unfortunately, most farm leases in Iowa (and elsewhere) are oral. But, even if the lease is in writing it is critical to make sure that the lease terms are clear and that both the landlord and the tenant have a common understanding of what the lease terms mean. This case drives those points home.
A contract for the sale of goods for $500 or more is generally not enforceable unless there is a written agreement signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought. But, there are exceptions to the general rule. For example, under the “Merchant’s Confirmatory Memo Rule,” oral contracts between merchants are enforceable if a written confirmation of the oral agreement is received within a reasonable time, and the recipient doesn’t object to the writing within ten days. The rule often comes into play in the context of grain sales between buyer and sellers of grain.
Contracts involving an interest in real estate must be in writing to be enforceable. That rule is known as the “Statute of Frauds.” But, there are exceptions to the rule.
The defendant, a real estate developer, purchased 120 acres to develop and resell as residential lots. The plaintiff purchased a multi-acre lot from the plaintiff for $35,000. Based on the defendant’s representation, the plaintiff believed that the southern boundary of the lot was located along a terrace, but that later proved to be incorrect with the effect that the plaintiff actually owned about one acre less than what the plaintiff originally thought she had purchased. That created a problem – the plaintiff would have to change her septic system laterals and relocated her house on the
Consideration is something that is done or promised in return for a contractual promise. It’s a central concept in the common law of contracts, and is required for a contract to be enforceable. Essentially, consideration is what must be given up by each party when making an agreement. It may be means of doing or not doing an act or simply promising to do or not do an act. It’s a benefit to one party and a detriment to the other party. In general, for a contract to satisfy the requirement of consideration, the contract must fulfill three elements: (1) there must be a bargain regarding
With certain purchases, buyers cannot determine whether the purchased items are defective until sometime after the items are purchased and used. For example, when a farmer buys seed, there is no way that the farmer can determine if the seed is defective (such as by failing to germinate properly) until after the seed has been purchased, planted and begins to produce a crop. By the time the farmer realizes that the seed is defective, substantial sums may have been expended to not only buy the seed, but also to plant the seed, spray chemicals for weed control and cultivate the soil.
In this case, a California couple signed a contract to buy an Iowa home. The purchase of the Iowa home was not contingent upon the buyer’s selling their California home or obtaining acceptable financing. The contract provided for inspection of the Iowa home within 10 days, but the buyers waived their inspection right by not filing a written repair request within the ten-day timeframe. The contract explicitly stated that if the buyers waived their right to inspect, the sellers were not responsible for repairs. Shortly after signing the contract, the buyers e-mailed the sellers’ real esta