Opinion ID: 2334143
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Newell Coach

Text: Finally, as part of his expert testimony before the Family Court, husband had represented the value of a motor coach owned by Active Crane, Inc., husband's wholly-owned business, at $103,000. However, subsequent to this sworn representation, wife discovered that husband had contemporaneously listed the motor coach for public sale in Oklahoma at a price of $225,000. She disclosed this to the trial court. Having considered this matter upon the reopening of the valuation proceedings, the Family Court nevertheless opined that property offered for sale is often listed at an inflated for sale price, a figure which does not indicate the true value of the property. Although the court held that husband's testimony contained certain nuances that were suggestive of [his] lack of candor, it accepted husband's courtroom valuation of the Newell Motor Coach as it was the only value presented in the orderly production of testimony. We acknowledge that the Family Court has discretion to determine questions of property valuation. Standing alone, the husband's $103,000 valuation of the motor coach, rather than his higher concealed valuation, might be explainable, but in the total context of his deliberate campaign to violate the statutory scheme established under 13 Del.C. § 1509, it is not. At the very least, the matter bears on husband's credibility throughout the proceedings, and his intent to defraud.