Opinion ID: 2643660
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: conclusion

Text: We REVERSE the superior court’s finding that Conrad’s Tier 1 medical retirement benefits should be valued as Tier 2 and REMAND for a new valuation and property division. 27 (...continued) sales costs of the Reka condominium during the property division. The court knew that the family home was underwater (the balance owed on the home loan exceeded the value of the property) and that the home was in the process of being sold at short sale. The court knew that Tammy’s credit score would be severely negatively impacted by this short sale and by missed payments on the couple’s other debts, that it was awarding her all of the couple’s debt, and that it was requiring her to make an $11,590 equalization payment to Conrad within a year’s time. In her motion for reconsideration, Tammy cited Tollefsen v. Tollefsen, 981 P.2d 568 (Alaska 1999) and argued that the superior court erred by not considering in its property distribution the costs she would incur associated with selling the Reka condominium. The superior court declined to change its property distribution, stating that Tammy “has made business choices about how to manage the Reka property. She elected to sell rather than rent or refinance. . . . The defendant’s choices are just that, her choices.” This decision and rationale appear to be at odds with our decisions in Day v. Williams, 285 P.3d 256, 266-67 (Alaska 2012) (holding that the superior court’s failure to consider the costs associated with a forced sale of real property prevented the property distribution from being just and fair), Fortson v. Fortson, 131 P.3d 451, 461 (Alaska 2006) (holding that if “a court order or external conditions force a party to sell” some of the property she has been awarded, the court must consider the costs associated with the sale), and Tollefsen, 981 P.2d at 572 (holding that “although the superior court expressly found that Mary was the economically disadvantaged party, the court’s failure to make provision for the costs of repairs and sale of the real property awarded to Mary defeated its stated goal of awarding her the greater share of the marital estate”). -13- 6844