Gebran v. Gebran

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJanuary 28, 2026
Docket1 CA-CV 24-0932 FC
StatusUnpublished
AuthorAnni Hill Foster

This text of Gebran v. Gebran (Gebran v. Gebran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gebran v. Gebran, (Ark. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE

In re the Matter of:

ALINE FOUAD EL MAKARI GEBRAN, Petitioner/Appellant,

v.

GEBRAN ASSAD GEBRAN, Respondent/Appellee.

No. 1 CA-CV 24-0932 FC FILED 01-28-2026

Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. FN2020-096189 The Honorable William R. Wingard, Judge

AFFIRMED

COUNSEL

Stevens & Van Cott, PLLC, Scottsdale By Charles C. Van Cott Counsel for Petitioner/Appellant

Berkshire Law Office, PLLC, Tempe By Keith Berkshire, Alexandra Sandlin Counsel for Respondent /Appellee GEBRAN v. GEBRAN Decision of the Court

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Judge Anni Hill Foster delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge James B. Morse Jr. and Judge Veronika Fabian joined.

F O S T E R, Judge:

¶1 Aline Fouad El Makari Gebran (“Wife”) appeals the superior court’s order adopting the family law master’s (“Special Master”) rulings in this divorce proceeding relating to her marriage to Gebran Assad Gebran (“Husband”). Wife challenges the denial of child support, evidentiary rulings and the division of property. This Court affirms.

FACTS1 AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 Following their marriage in 1999, Wife and Husband moved from Lebanon to the United States and had three children in common. In 2012, Wife and the three children moved to Lebanon while Husband stayed in the United States. At the time Wife petitioned for dissolution in Arizona in 2020, she and the children lived in Lebanon. In the superior court proceedings, the parties disputed three issues relevant to this appeal: (1) jurisdiction regarding child support; (2) the value of two real estate properties in Lebanon; and (3) the marital community’s interest in Husband’s ownership of restaurants and real estate entities.

¶3 First, on the question of the appropriate jurisdiction for determining child support, the court noted at a temporary order hearing that the children resided in Lebanon for almost ten years before proceedings began. Based on these facts, the court found Lebanon was the children’s home state. The court also acknowledged that though it could order child support based on Arizona law (A.R.S. § 25-1271), it would not do so in this case because it would be “[in]appropriate to issue such an order in the absence of parenting time orders.” The court noted that such orders would impact the amount of child support. After an evidentiary hearing, the Special Master recommended that determinations of child

1 This Court views the facts in the light most favorable to upholding the

superior court’s ruling. See Lehn v. Al-Thanayyan, 246 Ariz. 277, 283, ¶ 14 (App. 2019).

2 GEBRAN v. GEBRAN Decision of the Court

support and child custody related issues “should be resolved at the same time and by the Lebanese court.” The Special Master reasoned that it would not overrule the court’s previous decision not to award child support on a temporary basis.

¶4 Second, Husband faced difficulty in obtaining an appraisal for a home in Lebanon. Husband’s appraiser, listed as an expert witness, resided in Lebanon and was tasked with valuing the two properties there, the Haret El Ballaneh apartment (“Ballaneh home”) and the Dik El Mehdi apartment (“Mehdi home”). In October 2022, the parties filed a joint statement of discovery dispute in which Husband argued that Wife thwarted attempts to appraise the Mehdi home. He alleged his appraiser could not complete the appraisal because she felt intimidated and threatened by Wife. Husband further provided that Wife informed the appraiser “if [the appraiser] took any photos, [Wife] would sue her.” In November, the court ordered Wife to allow the appraiser to complete the appraisal. Husband filed a Petition for Contempt that same month alleging Wife had blocked his appraiser from completing an appraisal on the Mehdi home, contrary to the court’s order. During an oral argument regarding Wife’s failure to comply with disclosure, the court denied Husband’s request to admit his appraiser’s report into evidence without testimony.

¶5 Meanwhile, Husband continued to struggle to obtain an appraisal on the Mehdi home. In May, Husband filed a motion with the Special Master to admit his appraiser’s report without testimony. Husband stated in his motion that his appraiser feared criminal action by Wife in Lebanon. He asserted that questions relating to appraisals “can be addressed by other witnesses” and that the appraisal report met the requirements of Arizona Rules of Evidence (“Evidence Rule”) 902(11) and (12). The Special Master denied Husband’s motion and reasoned that, given the circumstances, it would be improper to admit evidence the trial court already denied, absent a “manifestly erroneous and unjust” finding.

¶6 Husband moved for reconsideration. He claimed that the facts presented to the trial court differed from those in his motion to the Special Master and were supported by an affidavit from Husband’s attorney affirming the situation. He also claimed that admission of his appraiser’s report without testimony was a hearsay exception under Evidence Rule 804(b)(6). And he argued the Arizona Supreme Court carved out an exception to the “law of the case” doctrine when there exists a substantial change in evidence to permit his request. (Citing Dancing Sunshine Lounge v. Indus. Comm’n, 149 Ariz. 480, 483 (1986).) The Special Master granted the motion for reconsideration and allowed Husband to use

3 GEBRAN v. GEBRAN Decision of the Court

the appraisal report without testimony. He explained that there were “important facts not before the trial court at the time of its ruling,” such as the fact “that no appraisers, including [Husband’s appraiser] . . . will testify for fear of being named in a criminal complaint.”

¶7 Third, as to Husband’s business interests, Husband asserted that they were his sole and separate property. Husband disclosed that his father gifted him a partial interest in the entity US Egg Tempe five years before the marriage. Husband asserted that his remaining five restaurant investments flowed between the gifted funds from Husband’s father and US Egg Tempe, making them sole and separate property. Husband also argued various real estate parcels were his sole and separate property because his entity, Gebran Resources, LLC, (“Gebran Resources”) was created before the marriage and all parcels were purchased or funded by Gebran Resources. Conversely, Wife presented evidence that Husband had 25 business entities. Wife agreed that US Egg Tempe and Gebran Resources were established before the marriage, but she contested the subsequent acquisitions and businesses arising from those two entities during the marriage. Wife claimed that Husband did not report compensation regarding US Egg Tempe from 1999 to 2020 nor did he provide documentation concerning distributions of his LLCs from 1999 to 2020. Wife also claimed Husband failed to report any gift traced from Husband’s father to Husband relating to US Egg Tempe and its subsequent purchases.

¶8 After a two-day evidentiary hearing, where the formal rules of evidence were invoked under Arizona Rule of Family Law Procedure (“Family Rule”) 2, the Special Master filed his report.

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Gebran v. Gebran, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gebran-v-gebran-arizctapp-2026.