Opinion ID: 884056
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Martha's Home

Text: The District Court found the value of Martha's home at the time of the marriage to be $15,000. It was undisputed that the house was encumbered by a $10,000 mortgage at the time of the marriage but the District Court failed to match that premarital debt to Martha's premarital equity in the home. Instead, the court found that upon the sale of the home the first $15,000 of value after payment of debt against the house should go to Martha. Dennis argues that in awarding Martha $15,000 as her premarital equity interest in the home the District Court erred by failing to take into account the $10,000 mortgage which encumbered the property at the time. Martha counters that she requested over $19,000 as her premarital interest in the home, and therefore, the District Court did not err in awarding her $15,000. She claims that the home improvement loan in the amount of $27,000 was actually a home equity loan based on the appraisal ordered by the bank. Martha contends that the result reached by the District Court was sound, even if its reasoning was flawed by not taking into account the mortgage lien against the home. We are not persuaded by Martha's arguments. In valuing the home at $15,000 the District Court concluded that Dennis's opinion and expertise as an experienced carpenter carried more weight than Martha's opinion that the home was worth $30,000. Furthermore, in reaching the $19,000 figure as her premarital interest in the home Martha herself subtracted the $10,000 mortgage from her $30,000 estimate. The District Court should have done the same when it calculated Martha's equity interest in the home. We therefore determine Martha's premarital equity interest in the home to be $5,000 ($15,000 estimated value minus $10,000 mortgage). The District Court's finding that the first $15,000 of value after payment of debt against the home should go to Martha is not supported by substantial evidence and is therefore clearly erroneous. We conclude that the District Court abused its discretion in failing to account for the outstanding mortgage when it determined Martha's interest in the home. We reverse the District Court on this issue and remand for further proceedings in this regard.