Opinion ID: 1668343
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: cash payments

Text: [T]o account for the disparity in division of property, the trial court ordered Ted to pay Lydia $10,000 in 20 monthly installments of $500. Lydia argues that the trial court erred by failing either to discount these payments to present value or to award interest on the deferred payments. This argument was also not raised in Lydia's post-judgment motion. We agree that a court should ordinarily expressly discount periodic payments without interest to present value, but the error is minor in this case. Periodic cash payments must be awarded with interest or discounted to present value if intended as a distribution of property. Sateren v. Sateren, 488 N.W.2d 631, 633 (N.D.1992). Otherwise, the [trial] court is relying upon an artificial value when it distributes the property and a reviewing court cannot determine whether the resulting property distribution is equitable. Id. An erroneous valuation of an asset does not justify reversal if it is relatively insignificant. Halvorson v. Halvorson, 482 N.W.2d 869, 872 (N.D.1992) (few thousand dollar error in marital estate of over $600,000); Dick, 414 N.W.2d at 291 (same); compare Sateren, 488 N.W.2d at 633 (requiring reconsideration of $4,500 error in marital estate of $55,000). Here, Lydia will receive a few hundred dollars less than intended by the trial court because of the mistake. As in Halvorson and Dick, this small error compared to the overall value distributed to her does not justify reversal.