Alexander v. Alexander

927 N.E.2d 926, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 794, 2010 WL 2006427
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 20, 2010
Docket79A02-0906-CV-528
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 927 N.E.2d 926 (Alexander v. Alexander) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alexander v. Alexander, 927 N.E.2d 926, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 794, 2010 WL 2006427 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Respondent, Jerry J. Alexander (Jerry) appeals the trial court's amended disposition decree issued pursuant to the dissolution of his marriage to Appellee-Petitioner, Susan C. Alexander (Susan), and Susan cross-appeals.

We affirm in part, and remand for further proceedings.

ISSUES

Jerry presents three issues for our review, which we restate as the following issue: Whether the trial court abused its discretion or committed clear error when valuing the property of the marriage and then distributing it.

Susan presents two issues in her cross-appeal, which we restate as the following issue: Whether the trial court abused its discretion or committed clear error when valuing the marital property and then distributing it.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On June 12, 1976, Jerry and Susan were married. During their marriage, they had three children, all of whom are emancipated. They also accumulated a significant amount of property, both real and personal. On December 19, 2007, they separated, and on December 28, 2007, Susan filed a petition for the dissolution of their marriage in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Both Jerry and Susan resided in Boone County, Indiana, but Jerry submitted to the jurisdiction of Tippecanoe County.

During the pendency of their divorce, Susan and Jerry had numerous disputes which they brought to the attention of the trial court. They attempted to resolve their differences through mediation, but were unsuccessful. On December 16, 2008, the trial court began a two day trial where the parties presented competing evidence regarding the valuation of their property. On February 5, 2009, the trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law at the parties' request dissolving their marriage and detailing the distribution of the marital property. On March 4, 2009, Susan filed a motion to correct error, and on March 6, 2009, Jerry filed his motion to correct error. The trial court conducted a unified hearing on the motions on March 26, 2009. The trial court granted in part, and denied in part the motions to correct error and issued amended findings of fact and conclusions of law, which provided in pertinent part:

7. [Jerry] and [Susan] operated Alexander and Associates Real Estate, Inc. [ (Alexander and Associates) ] during the course of their marriage. The business is operated as a franchise of Century 21 Realty Group Alexander. The business is located in Lebanon, Indiana.
8. [Jerry] is the sole share holder of Alexander and Associates [ ].
* # *#
*930 10. [Susan] obtained [a] valuation report by Michael Strauch, valuing Alexander and Associates [] at $288,600.00.
11. [Jerry] obtained an appraisal of Alexander and Associates [] by Michael Stover [ 1. Stover valued the business at $35,800.00.
* # "#
13. The business appraisals disagreed in several areas, best summarized as follows: (1) Strauch eliminated all of the interest expenses incurred by the corporation, and Stover found the expenses to be legitimate expenses (2) Strauch increased the cash flow of the business, and Stover used the actual Federal Income Tax Returns filed by the parties to reflect the expenses and income of the business.
* a *
22. The [clourt accepts Stover's valuation except the 85% reduction value for negative cash flow.
23. The [clourt determines that the appropriate reduction is 50%, and accordingly, the [clourt values Alexander and Associates [ ] at $119,475.00.
24. [Jerry] is the sole shareholder of Development Corporation of Indiana that owns the commercial real estate located at 1121 S. Lebanon Street, Lebanon, Indiana, and known as the Enterprise Car Leasing Property.
25. Development Corporation of Indiana also has [a] Property Management/Leasing Agreement with William E. Daniels, dated January 1, 2002.
26. Strauch valued the Daniels Property Management Agreement between William E. Daniels and Development Corporation of Indiana at the sum of $199,208.00. Strauch assumed the monthly income to be $2,000.00 and did not take into account any expenses of the management of the Daniels Property Management Agreement.
i x x
338. [Jerry] retained Michael Stover [] to value the Daniels Contract. Stover determined the Contract had no present value.
*# # *
35. Stover found the compensation received by [Jerry] is similar to compensation that an employee or independent contractor would receive, and therefore it should be classified as income received by [Jerry], not a present value asset of the marriage.
36. The [clourt adopts the finding of Stover and determines that there is no present value of asset to be assigned to the Daniel Property Management Agreement.
37. [Susan] owns a five percent limited partnership interest in Bush and Bush Farms [], gifted to [her] by [her] parents, James and Christina Bush, during the marriage of the parties. All partners in said partnership are related to [Susan].
38. The total acreage owned by Bush and Bush Farms [] is 1,838.65 acres.
39. The Court finds that the following factors impact the value of [Susan's] limited partnership interest:
a. [The Bush Farms Partnership Agreements specifically provide [ ] that a limited partner cannot bring an action for partition to force the sale of land.
b. The general partners, James and Christina Bush, [Susan's] parents, have full control over the company and [Susan] has no decision making ability.
c. For any action upon which the limited partners are allowed to vote, 90% of the limited partners *931 must agree before any action can be taken.
d. Before a limited partner can sell to an outsider, the ownership interest of the limited partner must be offered for sale by the other partners.
e. A new limited partner who is assigned the limited partner's interest has no right to inspect the books, vote or obtain any information about the partnership.
f. Modification of the partnership agreement requires 90% of the limited partner's approval plus obtaining the general partners approval.
40. Michael Strauch [] valued [Susan's] interest in Bush and Bush Farms [] at $152,100.00 as of December 31, 2007. 41. The 25% minority discount for lack of control and the 15% marketability discount used by Mr. Strauch in establishing the value of [Susan's] interest in Bush and Bush Farms [] are justified and are supported by the facts in this case.

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Bluebook (online)
927 N.E.2d 926, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 794, 2010 WL 2006427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-alexander-indctapp-2010.