Opinion ID: 1863924
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: valuation of, and inclusion of, certain assets in the marital property.

Text: All of David's issues concerning the property division rest upon the alleged error in valuing the marital property. David asserts that the trial court erred in its valuation by including in the marital assets $26,604.05 in property he brought into the marriage. David argues that since he accumulated these assets prior to the marriage they were not subject to the equitable property division and should have been deducted from the marital assets. We disagree. On review of a property division, this court will not attempt to place valuations on the assets because that is a task for the trial court as the trier of fact. Herrboldt v. Herrboldt, 303 N.W.2d 571 (S.D.1981). The only time this court interferes with the valuations determined by the trial court is when it has made a clearly erroneous valuation finding. Id. In valuing marital property, a trial court may consider when and how the property was accumulated but it is not obligated to do so. Buseman v. Buseman, 299 N.W.2d 807 (S.D.1980). Thus, we hold that the trial court was not clearly erroneous by including the assets David accumulated prior to the marriage in the marital property. David also argues that the trial court erred in its valuations because he was the only party who submitted evidence on the value of the assets and the trial court did not accept all of his figures. However, in valuing marital property, a trial court is not bound by the valuations set forth by the parties. Herrboldt, supra . The trial court need only set the values at a figure that lies within a reasonable range of figures, and it need not be an exact amount. Id. Here the trial court's valuations were all within a reasonable range of the figures David offered. Accordingly, we find no clear error based upon this argument.