Amended July 31, 2015 In RE the Marriage of Susan Michelle Thatcher and Ronald Dean Thatcher Upon the Petition of Susan Michelle Thatcher, Anna Carson as for the Estate of Susan Michelle Thatcher

WATERMAN, Justice.

This appeal presents a question of first impression in Iowa: whether the district court has discretion to end a marriage through a decree of dissolution without dividing the marital property until a later judgment. This two-step process is known as a “bifurcated divorce” and is expressly allowed by statute in other states. Iowa Code chapter 598 (2013) does not expressly permit such bifurcation. Our rules of civil procedure allow separate trials of issues, but can be superseded by statute. Iowa Rs. Civ. P. 1.101, 1.914. Iowa Code section 598.21(1) states, “Upon every judgment…