Parks v. Parks

— The question before us here is whether the Iowa court, which granted a decree of divorce and awarded custody of the child to the father, has jurisdiction to entertain a petition of intervention in said divorce action by the stepmother seeking an award of custody as against the natural mother after the father’s death, when none of the parties is domiciled in or residents of the state of Iowa.

On June 18, 1954, John Parks was granted a decree of divorce from defendant-appellee by the district court of Woodbury County, Iowa. He was awarded custody of their eighteen-month-old son. On May 3,…