IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 24-0398 Filed May 21, 2025
IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF CARRIE E. SULENTIC AND JAMES R. SULENTIC
Upon the Petition of CARRIE E. SULENTIC, Petitioner-Appellant,
And Concerning JAMES R. SULENTIC, Respondent-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County,
Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.
A former spouse appeals the distribution of assets and denial of expert and
attorney fees in a dissolution of marriage decree. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.
Andrew B. Howie of Shindler, Anderson, Goplerud & Weese, P.C., West
Des Moines, for appellant.
John J. Wood of Beecher, Field, Walker, Morris, Hoffman & Johnson, P.C.,
Waterloo, for appellee.
Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Buller and
Langholz, JJ. 2
BULLER, Judge.
Carrie Sulentic appeals the division of property in the decree dissolving her
marriage with James (Jim) Sulentic. She also makes claims regarding trial
attorney and expert witness fees and requests appellate attorney fees. We find
the increased net value of a limited liability company (LLC) formed during the
marriage with the spouses as members should have been considered marital
property, and we modify the decree accordingly. We otherwise affirm the district
court and deny Carrie’s request for appellate attorney fees.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
In late 2015, Carrie and Jim entered into what was the second marriage for
both. They had been dating since 2011—shortly after Jim’s first wife died and
during Carrie’s first divorce. The couple did not have any children together; Carrie
has three children from her prior marriage, and Jim does not have any children.
At the time the couple entered into the marriage, Jim was fifty-five years old.
He had significant premarital assets, including several houses he owned through
a personal LLC in and around Waterloo and a real estate business he built with his
first wife and later a business partner. After his first wife’s death, Jim used money
she had saved to embark on a separate real estate business relationship with
Brent Dahlstrom buying, selling, and developing properties under a series of LLCs.
Jim’s net worth at the time of his marriage to Carrie was more than $5 million.
Carrie was thirty-eight years old when she married Jim. She had worked
as a real estate agent while they were dating, and in 2014 she went to work as a
marketing manager for a company operating out of the University of Northern Iowa.
Carrie shared custody of her three then-minor children with her ex-husband. She 3
rented her home at a below-market rate from Jim, drove a leased car for which Jim
helped with the down payment, and had some student loan debt.
Carrie and Jim could not come to an agreement on the terms of a prenuptial
agreement—particularly as to jointly titling Jim’s premarital property—and so they
did not sign one. The newly-married couple made their home in one of Jim’s
properties and did an “extensive remodel.” They continued to travel frequently,
spending freely on their trips and shopping. In 2017, the couple purchased a
second home in Clear Lake—the only property that was in both their names. This
house was sold during the dissolution proceedings, with the proceeds from the
sale placed in escrow pending the decree.
According to Carrie, Jim “authored [their] lifestyle,” both before and during
the marriage. Jim gave generous gifts to Carrie, provided a $2500 monthly
allowance, and took her on “expensive vacations”—some of which included
shopping without “any discussion about spending limits.” In 2017, Carrie left her
job; Jim encouraged her to not find further employment to make traveling easier
and help with family obligations. Around that time, Jim increased Carrie’s
allowance to $5000 a month, which she used for her own expenses and some of
her children’s expenses. In 2018, Jim retired from his first real estate business
and began selling his properties to continue to fund their lifestyle. Carrie described
her post-employment occupation as acting as Jim’s personal assistant, errand
running, and helping Jim with technology. Jim bought a house for Carrie’s parents
to live in (paying below-market rent), bought her and two of her children vehicles,
and later rented an apartment to one of her children at below-market rate. Carrie
described Jim as sometimes having a “rage-filled meltdown” about aspects of their 4
lifestyle straining their resources, but he would then calm down about it. Jim
described it as telling “her repeatedly that this lifestyle was not sustainable. It could
not go on forever with both of [them] not working.”
Jim’s LLCs with Dahlstrom have significant loans on them. The partners
“move money constantly from one account to another. All the time.” Sometimes
they shift funds from one project (or LLC) to another to make mortgage and
contractor payments when due (or overdue). Dahlstrom is the partner in charge
of the financials for the LLCs. In 2017 and 2018, Jim’s businesses with Dahlstrom
bought several properties in and around Clear Lake and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls
area. Jim borrowed significant cash from Dahlstrom and their companies to fund
his and Carrie’s lifestyle—estimated at between $25,000 to $50,000 per month
while they had the Clear Lake property—because he did not have a stable income.
He fell behind on his obligations to the businesses as time passed.
In 2017, Jim formed a new company—Carrie James LLC—to purchase a
gas station location in Missouri for $5 million. Carrie asserted she “was a full part
owner of that property,” while Jim insisted he owned the entire LLC. The LLC’s
tax filings show Jim has 99% ownership interest and Carrie has 1% ownership
interest. The $1 million down payment was funded through Jim taking out a large
loan and using equity on some of his premarital properties—while Carrie did not
contribute any funds. The LLC entered a twenty-year lease with the gas station
company which covered the mortgage payments and some income. The lending
bank advised it did not want Carrie on the loan based on her credit and income
history. The purchase and associated rent payments were “intended long term to
eventually fund our lifestyle ongoing and our retirement.” Jim’s accountant John 5
Adams explained the LLC used accelerated depreciation, resulting in a net
operating loss used for years to offset gains from other sources—the Sulentics had
not had to pay income tax since 2017.
In 2020, the couple hit some rough patches, particularly in disagreements
over their finances, and they eventually agreed they should divorce. In early 2021,
Carrie petitioned to dissolve the marriage. The court ordered Jim to pay her $7000
per month in temporary spousal support. Carrie remained in the marital home
while Jim lived in one of his other properties; Jim continued to pay the mortgage
on the marital home. Carrie began to pay the utilities on the house in 2022.
Carrie appears to have made little to no attempt to obtain full-time
employment, not returning to either her real estate or marketing careers during
their separation after the divorce proceedings began.1 She explained: “What I
understood about the situation was that things were to kind of remain as they were
during our marriage even through our divorce proceedings,” so Jim would pay for
her expenses during the separation. She requested “an equal share” of “the
property assets as a whole” and asked the court to not give any value to premarital
assets.
The matter finally was tried to the court in late 2023. Carrie’s expert witness
Tedford Lodden evaluated the marital estate—including all of Jim’s premarital
assets and all his shared business assets—at around $9 million, with nearly $5
million in assets held by the Dahlstrom LLCs. Lodden examined and valued the
1 At trial, she claimed a medical issue hampered her ability to work. Jim also claimed a serious medical issue. Neither provided any medical records to support the claim or affect distribution or support, so we do not consider it in our analysis. 6
marital assets and Jim’s businesses by looking at records from 2021 through 2023.
Lodden contacted Dahlstrom, Dahlstrom’s accountant, and Jim’s accountant trying
to examine and understand the records for Jim’s assorted ventures with
Dahlstrom—the examination was complicated with unexpected transfers among
the various LLCs. Among other things, Lodden observed a significant negative
change in equity available to the Dahlstrom entities in late 2021 and early 2022,
sales proceeds he couldn’t track, and uneven distributions to Jim and Dahlstrom.
Carrie asked for a cash and property settlement totaling around $4 million. Jim
submitted a personal financial statement placing his net worth at just over
$6 million, most of which was tied up in real estate investments—four properties
he owned in his own LLC, the gas station property, and an estimated $2 million in
assets for the Dahlstrom LLCs.
The district court issued a thorough and thoughtful decree, examining both
parties’ assertions about what was included in the marital finances. The court
rejected Carrie’s claims seeking to include Jim’s premarital and business assets in
the marital property distribution, noting Jim operated the assets before the
marriage, during the marriage, and after the separation “without any identifiable
active involvement from” Carrie, so any distribution of interest to her was “not
equitable.” The court also denied her request for half the value of the Carrie James
gas station property, instead awarding her the 1% share of the net value based on
her taxable ownership interest; the court also considered that Jim’s premarital
assets were still leveraged for the loans needed for the 20% down payment. The
court awarded Jim the marital home (which he had owned before the marriage)
and awarded Carrie one of Jim’s paid-off rental houses—the house her parents 7
had rented for several years—worth approximately half the marital home’s value.
Carrie later opted for a cash equalization payment rather than the award of one of
Jim’s rental properties; the court calculated the appropriate settlement at
$372,097.43 based on a one-half share of investment proceeds and Jim’s personal
funds. The court split equally the proceeds from the sale of the parties’ Clear Lake
home. Carrie also retained significant jewelry and luxury goods gifted to her and
purchased during the marriage, three vehicles for herself and her children, and
multiple homes’ furnishings. In addition to the property and equalization payments,
the court ordered three years of decreasing spousal support to transition and
rehabilitate Carrie back into gainful employment. The court’s calculations placed
Carrie’s distribution “in excess of $1 million in cash and assets.” The court then
denied Carrie’s request for trial attorney and expert witness fees.
Carrie appeals the court’s division of property and denial of her request for
attorney and expert witness fees.
II. Standard of Review
A dissolution-of-marriage proceeding is heard in equity, and we generally
review the resulting dissolution de novo. In re Marriage of Gust, 858 N.W.2d 402,
406 (Iowa 2015). “We give weight to the factual determinations made by the district
court; however, their findings are not binding upon us.” Id. “We will disturb the
trial court’s order only when there has been a failure to do equity.” Id. (cleaned
up).
III. Discussion
In dissolution-of-marriage cases, courts divide martial property equitably,
considering the factors outlined in Iowa Code section 598.21 (2023). In re 8
Marriage of Hansen, 733 N.W.2d 683, 702 (Iowa 2007). What qualifies as an
equitable distribution depends on the circumstances of each case, as “[a]n
equitable division is not necessarily an equal division.” Id.
A. Division of Business Assets
Carrie first challenges the district court’s division of assets, asking for more
than $1.8 million in additional equalization payments. She argues the court’s
decision not to award her any of Jim’s premarital or business assets was
inequitable. The district court walked through the factors enumerated in Iowa Code
section 598.21(5) when crafting its distribution of assets. In relation to premarital
and shared business assets, Carrie focuses her challenges on the length of the
marriage (section 598.21(5)(a)), the contributions made by each party to the
marriage and earning power (section 598.21(5)(c) and (e)), and equitable
principles (arguably section 598.21(5)(m)).
First, Carrie tries to include their relationship before marriage in the court’s
calculation to increase its duration for calculation of marital assets from short-term
to ten years. As the district court recognized, we have previously rejected including
a period of cohabitation as part of the marriage’s duration for purposes of asset
division. In re Marriage of Naylor, No. 17-0770, 2018 WL 5850223, at *3 (Iowa Ct.
App. Nov. 7, 2018). And here, the parties did not even cohabit while dating before
marriage, with Jim buying and renting a house to Carrie rather than the two moving
in together. The time they dated does not extend the duration of the marriage
under these circumstances.
Then Carrie argues she “actively participated in and helped grow Jim’s
businesses.” But the record lacks any substantial evidence of significant 9
contributions by Carrie to Jim’s personal ventures or their shared businesses.2 Jim
testified that Carrie did not participate in his businesses, and his business partner
Dahlstrom corroborated this testimony. The parties agree Jim “told Carrie
everything,” but Carrie does not explain how Jim talking with her about his
business was anything beyond typical conversations between spouses at the end
of a work day. And the evidence does not support Carrie’s assertions she was a
full participant in Jim’s businesses, or that her status as his wife resulted in any
beneficial change to his business practices. Instead, Jim and Carrie’s marital
spending was such that Jim’s business interests—both alone and with Dahlstrom–
have not appreciated much in value because Jim largely cashed out those
business gains to fund their lavish lifestyle. We affirm the decree’s determination
Carrie is not entitled to half of Jim’s share of assets from his businesses with
Dahlstrom.
As for Carrie’s claim that it is equitable to award her half of Jim’s premarital
assets for a relatively short marriage, we reject her argument. We recognize
“marriage does not come with a ledger” and each person’s contributions “cannot
be reduced to a dollar amount.” In re Marriage of Fennelly & Breckenfelder, 737
N.W.2d 97, 103–04 (Iowa 2007). But we also bear in mind that when “there is a
wide disparity between the assets of the parties at the time of the marriage the
2 Despite clear direction in the rules of appellate procedure, Carrie’s brief does not
cite to the record to support her claim of contribution to counter the district court’s findings. See Iowa R. App. P. 6.903(2)(a)(8)(3). Her “evidence” included emails sending her potential commissions as a real estate agent, the listing information on the house she had lived in for years, plans Jim wanted to review on Carrie’s iPad rather than his phone, some marketing on a seasonal restaurant, and some general requests that appear related to managing their home or personal matters and not Jim’s businesses. 10
length of the marriage is a major factor in determining the respective rights of the
parties at the time of the dissolution.” In re Marriage of Dean, 642 N.W.2d 321,
326 (Iowa Ct. App. 2002). And “the claim of a party to the premarital property
owned by the other spouse in a short-term marriage is ‘minimal at best.’” In re
Marriage of Hansen, 886 N.W.2d 868, 872 (Iowa 2016) (citation omitted) (four
years); see In re Marriage of Peiffer, No. 12-1746, 2013 WL 5498153, at *3 (Iowa
Ct. App. Oct. 2, 2013) (seven years). In fact, “it is often equitable to simply award
the property to the party that brought it into the marriage.” Hansen, 886 N.W.2d
at 873. Only the “appreciation in value” of the premarital assets during the
marriage is a marital asset. Here, the appreciation in value found by the court
consisted of the Clear Lake house proceeds and realized profit from one of Jim’s
investments. And the court awarded a property worth half the value of the marital
home to Carrie.
Carrie asks on appeal for half the net value of the Carrie James LLC
property (separate from the cash equalization she requested), increasing her share
from 1% at $14,650 to 50% for $732,500—an additional distribution of $717,850.
The district court made its division of Carrie James LLC based on the tax-return
ownership percentages, reasoning they “are the only documentation of the parties’
relevant ownership” and the court was “without other evidence on which to base
this determination.” And the court noted the downpayment was leveraged off Jim’s
assets, only his name was on the LLC management and the loan, and Carrie was
not knowledgeable about the LLC she claimed to have a 50% interest in.
As far as ownership interests go, the tax returns support the court’s
determination Carrie owned 1% of the Carrie James LLC. We have no doubt these 11
parties do not wish to be in business together. Since Jim is the primary
shareholder, it makes sense for him to buy Carrie out of the LLC. And a payment
of 1% of the net value of the company was a fair price for her 1% share.
But this does not end our analysis—this is a marital asset with appreciation
in net value wholly within the marriage. Jim told Carrie the LLC was “intended long
term to eventually fund [their] lifestyle ongoing and [their] retirement.” Carrie
James LLC’s creation was wholly during the marriage, with both Jim and Carrie
listed as owners with no others. The purchase of the gas-station location occurred
during the marriage, with the tax consequences shared by Jim and Carrie. The
LLC’s increase in value from zero to the court-determined net value of $1,465,000
occurred entirely during the marriage. We recognize that Jim did the lion’s share
of the work relating to the LLC, but the appreciation of the property appears to
need very little ongoing effort on Jim’s part. And the parties used the rental income
(after mortgage payments) as marital funds to pay for their life together. We think
these circumstances demonstrate the LLC and its assets are marital property.
So, in our view, equity demands Carrie be awarded part of the increase in
value of the marital asset. See Fennelly, 737 N.W.2d at 103–04. But since the
initial purchase of the asset would not have been possible without Jim’s premarital
property and banking connections and he did all the initial work to set up the LLC
and the purchase, we think a reasonable amount to equalize their interests is to
award Carrie one-third of the proceeds from the urged sale of the property. See
In re Marriage of Friedman, 466 N.W.2d 689, 692–93 (Iowa 1991) (finding it
“equitable to treat the appreciated value of the stock that we have deemed a marital
asset in the same manner as the unappreciated values” to increase the minority 12
shareholding wife’s distribution by another 10% of the value); In re Marriage of
Grady-Woods, 577 N.W.2d 851, 853 (Iowa Ct. App. 1998) (splitting business
appreciation 13% and 87% based on respective contributions). Starting with the
district court’s net valuation at $1,465,000, we also account for the taxes that would
have been owed—somewhere around $675,000 between federal and state
assessments—making the net amount to be divided $790,000. Carrie’s third
would be $263,333. We modify the decree to increase the cash equalization
payment to Carrie by an additional $263,333 for her share of the appreciation in
the marital asset.
B. Trial Attorney and Expert Witness Fees
At trial, Carrie requested Jim pay her attorney and expert fees—more than
$195,000 in attorney fees and more than $106,000 in expert fees at the time of
trial. The district court denied the request, ordering each party to “pay their own
attorney’s fees [and] expert witness fees.” The court determined the case’s
excessive motions, exhibits, experts, and depositions “arose more from the actions
and positions of [Carrie] in this case than from the messy bookkeeping of [Jim].”
The court found most of Carrie’s excessive fees were incurred in her attempt to
obtain a large share of Jim’s premarital and non-marital business assets and
determined she should bear those costs. On appeal, she only requests half her
trial attorney fees and all the expert witness fees—a sum still exceeding $200,000.
We note Jim already paid $12,000 of Carrie’s attorney fees as part of the temporary
matters order, and each party stipulated to both their attorneys receiving $12,000
from the Clear Lake house proceeds in a joint stipulation. 13
“The court has considerable discretion in awarding attorney fees” and “may
consider expert fees in an award of attorney fees.” In re Marriage of Schenkelberg,
824 N.W.2d 481, 488 (Iowa 2012). We review the court’s decision for an abuse of
discretion. In re Marriage of Sullins, 715 N.W.2d 242, 255 (Iowa 2006). “We
reverse the district court’s ruling only when it rests on grounds that are clearly
unreasonable or untenable.” In re Marriage of Erpelding, 917 N.W.2d 235, 238
(Iowa 2018) (citation omitted). We understand why Carrie urges us to reverse the
court’s decision, but we do not find it unreasonable or untenable. We affirm the
court’s ruling.
C. Appellate Attorney Fees
Carrie requests appellate attorney fees. She claimed she would “submit an
attorney fee affidavit upon submission of this case for disposition.” But she never
did.
When deciding whether to award appellate fees, we consider “the needs of
the party seeking the award, the ability of the other party to pay, and the relative
merits of the appeal” in determining whether to award fees. Sullins, 715 N.W.2d
at 255 (citation omitted). We decline to award Carrie any appellate attorney fees.
IV. Disposition
We modify the distribution to increase the equalization payment to Carrie
by $263,333 for the appreciation of the assets of marital property Carrie James
LLC. We otherwise affirm the distribution of property and the district court’s denial
of expert and attorney fees. We decline to award Carrie appellate attorney fees.
AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.