Riemenschneider v. Riemenschneider
| Decision Date | 09 April 1948 |
| Docket Number | No. 47062.,47062. |
| Citation | 239 Iowa 617,30 N.W.2d 769 |
| Parties | RIEMENSCHNEIDER v. RIEMENSCHNEIDER. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from District Court, Marshall County; B. O. Tankersley, Judge.
A suit in equity by plaintiff for divorce, alimony, and the custody of two minor children. The alleged ground for the relief prayed was inhuman treatment endangering plaintiff's life. The defendant by answer filed before trial admitted the truth of the allegations asserting the said ground. From a decree granting her absolute divorce, the custody of the children, and alimony, the plaintiff has appealed only from that part thereof which pertains to the award of alimony.
Affirmed.
For supplemental opinion, see 32 N.W.2d 68.
Joe B. Tye, of Marshalltown, and Lundy, Butler & Lundy, of Eldora, for appellant.
Boardman, Cartwright & Druker, of Marshalltown, and Hyland & Hyland, of Tama, for appellee.
At the time of the trial which commenced on October 21, 1946, the parties had each reached the age of fifty-one years. When they were twenty-four years old they were married at Mason City, Iowa, on July 30, 1919. Shortly afterward they moved in with his mother on the old farm home of his parents on the west side of the town of State Center, in Marshall County, Iowa. The mother moved to State Center the following spring. Before the marriage plaintiff had clerked in a store in State Center. She brought into the home a bedroom suite, and a kitchen table which her father had made. Defendant had some farm equipment, horses, cattle and hogs, and some money. The farm contained 195 acres. Electricity and water from the public utilities at State Center, and hot water heat in the residence, afforded them modern conveniences. Each of them was a capable and industrious worker. They kept hired help on the farm. Plaintiff raised much poultry hatched in incubators on the farm. For some time they kept a large herd of cows and sold milk over a route and to dairies. Much of the defendant's time was spent in buying, feeding and selling cattle and hogs for the market. At times they had 200 head of cattle, and hogs enough to run with them.
Four children were born to them. Floy, the first child, was born March 19, 1922. She is married and lived near her parents. Wayne was born January 5, 1924. He also is married and lives nearby. Don Earl was born March 3, 1926, and is going to school at the University of Iowa. Jean was born August 9, 1928 and is attending the State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls.
Defendant, his two sisters, and a nephew, each inherited an undivided one-fourth interest in the home farm occupied by the parties. Just when they came into this inheritance does not appear. On May 26, 1944 defendant received deeds from his sisters to their interests in his home farm, and paid each $9,000 therefor. At the time of the trial he owned an undivided three-fourths interest in this farm which plaintiff and he occupied. His nephew, Roscoe Riemenschneider, owns the remaining one-fourth share.
Defendant bought a farm near Rhodes, in Marshall County, Iowa, which he sold prior to the divorce proceedings. The record does not show the size, cost, or selling price. About 1940, or shortly before, he bought what it known as the Allison farm, near State Center and about a mile from the home farm. It has good soil and lies perhaps better than the home farm. It was once rather overimproved with buildings for its size, but they are now quite delapidated. The farm contains 92 acres. The record does not show the purchase price. The son, Wayne, lives on this farm.
Defendant had a cousin, William A. Riemenschneider, ten years his senior, who lived at State Center. Their fathers were brothers and their mothers were sisters. In 1932 or 1933 defendant and William, from their own resources, bought lots on trackage of the Northwestern and Great Western railway companies, in Marshalltown, and erected buildings thereon which they equipped for a meat packing plant. One Ed Tehel, who had some experience in that business, had some interest in or connection with the venture. The business was operated for about two years and then was incorporated under the laws of Iowa on May 20, 1935, as the Marshall Packing Company, and started business as a corporation on July 1, 1935. Defendant was the president, W. A. Riemenschneider, the vice president, and Ed Tehel, the secretary of the corporation. Its authorized capital stock of $50,000 was divided into 500 shares of a par value of $100 each. One issue in the case is the number of shares of stock in the corporation owned by the defendant.
By stipulation of the parties, the court on June 3, 1946, made an order that R. A. Wester, a certified accountant of Marshalltown, be employed to make an audit and written report thereof upon the properties and business of the Marshall Packing Company, as of October 13, 1945, and as of June 1, 1946; and that Rau Appraisal Company of Chicago be employed to make an appraisal of all of the tangible and intangible properties of the company. Copies of each report for use of court and counsel were ordered filed with the clerk of the court, and the charges for each were ordered to be paid by defendant.
The parties stipulated that twenty-four items of property, real and personal, belonging to defendant, in addition to the farm properties and packing house stock, above noted, were of an aggregate value of $51,177.70.
The court, among other ‘Findings of Fact’ not complained of, found: that defendant had inherited an undivided one-fourth of the 195-acre home farm, and had purchased an undivided one-half, and was the owner of an undivided three-fourths thereof, fully paid for and free of incumbrance, other than current taxes, and that it had a market value of $225 an acre, at which the valuation of the inherited part would be $10,968, and of the purchased part approximately $21,936; that the 92-acre Allison farm is worth $225 an acre, or $20,770; that the 24 items of miscellaneous personal property, real estate, cash, bonds, etc., was of an agreed valuation of $51,177.70; that the defendant owns 190 shares of stock in the Marshall Packing Company and no more, W. A. Riemenschneider owns 190 shares, Ed Tehel, two shares, J. H. Brennecke, two shares, and the disputed 98 shares are the property of the Marshall Packing Company; that aside from the today's replacement value of the fixed properties of the company, and the book value of the assets,
The court directed the attorneys for plaintiff to prepare a decree granting an absolute divorce and custody of Jean and Don Earl, and awarding her the household goods in the nine-room home with finished and furnished basement, at a valuation of $500, and $36,500 in cash of which $16,500 was payable forthwith, and $20,000 on or before June 1, 1947. In addition the defendant to pay plaintiff's attorney fees in the sum of $1,500, and the costs of the suit including the charge of R. A. Wester for services as accountant in the sum of $600, and a reasonable charge for the Rau Appraisal Company.
As an alternative plaintiff was offered the same allowance of $37,000 with the choice of taking, as part satisfaction thereof, the 92-acre Allison farm at a valuation of $20,700, with costs and attorney fees as above stated.
The daughter Jean is in college and if she continues there, defendant will pay the expense thereof up to $800 a year for three years beginning in the fall of 1947.
Plaintiff chose the all-cash award and a decree was entered accordingly with the other provisions above noted.
The appraisal charge so far as the printed record shows has not been fixed. The decree provided that the court will determine the amount of it at a future time, ‘unless such charges shall have been adjusted by the parties.’ It is probable that this charge considerably exceeds the certified-accountant charge. The appraisal was the ascertainment of the to-day's replacement value of the physical plant (land, buildings, equipment, fixtures, machinery, tools, etc.), that is, the present cost of replacement. And from his valuation, depreciation was taken to arrive at an estimated net sound (depreciated) value. An experienced appraiser with assistants did the field work for five days and gathered the necessary data which was sent to Chicago (the home office), where from the information files, and by further correspondence, investigation, and replacement costs, including labor, materials, transportation, architect, supervision, etc., were ascertained, together with depreciation, and compiled in a 118-page report.
Plaintiff relies for reversal or modification on these propositions: 1. the evidence establishes a valuation of $250 on the home place; 2. the court should have awarded plaintiff the home place; 3. the court should have...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Arnold v. Arnold
...from the date each such payment becomes due and owing. Code section 535.3; Whittier v. Whittier, supra; Riemenschneider v. Riemenschneider, 239 Iowa 617, 634, 30 N.W.2d 769, 32 N.W.2d 68; Parker v. Parker, 155 Neb. 325, 326, 51 N.W.2d 753, 756; Gregory v. Gregory, 52 Ill.App.2d 262, 202 N.E......