Opinion ID: 1495433
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Business

Text: Husband was the sole stockholder of a corporation operating a retail liquor store which, at the time of hearing, had cash in the amount of $4,722 and an inventory valued at $22,000. It appears that in dividing the property, the Court valued the corporation at the sum of those assets, that is, at $26,722. But before a final order had been entered Husband made an agreement to sell the business for about $110,000, or about four times the value used by the Court as a basis for its property division. Wife applied to reopen the hearing so that she could submit evidence as to the sale but the Court refused to hear it. Given the equitable nature of the proceeding, the time at which the application was made (before final order), the total amount of property involved in the proceeding, and the substantial difference between the asset and sale value of the business, we conclude that the application should have been granted. We emphasize that not every post-hearing change in asset value requires reexamination, or an evidentiary hearing, but the difference here was so substantial that the Court, which was still attempting to finally settle the property issues, should have determined to what extent, if any, the sale price required a change in its award. Failure to do so was, in our view, an abuse of discretion.