In Re Estate of Carlisle

LARSON, Justice.

Dorthy Carlisle appealed from a district court ruling that her surviving-spouse benefits under Iowa Code chapter 633 (1999) had been extinguished by a prior decree of separate maintenance. We disagree and therefore reverse and remand.

I. Facts and Prior Proceedings.

Francis and Dorthy Carlisle had been married for sixty-five years when, in 1998, Dorthy fell and broke her hip. She wanted to install a bathroom on the first floor of their home to accommodate her resulting disability. Francis refused because it would be too expensive to cut into the limestone walls of their home.…