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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 0-354 / 09-1268 Filed June 30, 2010 IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF JOANN LOIS BARTEN AND SHAWN ROBERT COLE Upon the Petition of JOANN LOIS BARTEN, Petitioner-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, And Concerning SHAWN ROBERT COLE, Respondent-Appellee/Cross-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, William C. Ostlund, Judge.

The parties appeal from the economic provisions of the decree dissolving their marriage. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.

Andrew B. Howie of Hudson, Mallaney, Shindler & Anderson, P.C., West Des Moines, for appellant. Donald G. Juhl, Nevada, for appellee.

Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Tabor, JJ.

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TABOR, J. JoAnn Barten appeals and Shawn Cole cross-appeals from the property division provisions of the decree dissolving their marriage. JoAnn challenges the district court's valuation of her law practice and the award of $20,000 to Shawn for his labor in remodeling their joint properties. Shawn disputes the value

assigned to JoAnn's law office building and the credit granted JoAnn for $ 18,000 in equity in the Marshalltown house she purchased before the marriage. We modify the decree in one respect: by increasing the assigned value of the office building from $120,000 as calculated by the district court to $150,000 as acknowledged by JoAnn in a sworn affidavit before trial. On all of the other challenges, we affirm the district court's conclusions. I. Background Facts and Proceedings JoAnn and Shawn were married on August 17, 2002. They have no

children. The parties separated on December 26, 2007. JoAnn filed her petition for dissolution on March 27, 2008. The district court held trial in April 2009 to determine how to dispose of their property and debts. Only JoAnn and Shawn testified. JoAnn was born in 1970. She has an undergraduate degree from Iowa State University and graduated from St. Louis University law school in 1997. She financed her tuition with student loans, which she is still repaying. 1 After clerking one year with the Missouri Court of Appeals, JoAnn worked at a law firm in Marshalltown.
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In October of 2005, JoAnn started a solo practice in Ames,

JoAnn paid approximately $900 per month on these loans during the marriage, which was more than the minimum amount due.

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concentrating in immigration law.

She testified that she earns approximately

$44,000 per year. In 2007, her law practice took in gross receipts of $200,328 and she took home $43,003. JoAnn testified she operates her business at a loss and financed the firm's debts with credit cards. She anticipated a $15,000 loss for 2008. She enjoys good health. Shawn was born in 1968. He attended Iowa State University for a few years but did not graduate. He is a licensed journeyman plumber. He has been taking classes in engineering technology through Des Moines Area Community College in pursuit of an associate arts degree in civil engineering. The six credit hours he took per semester were paid for from joint funds. Shawn has worked as the zoning administrator for the City of Nevada since December 2000. He is also the building inspector and chief utility inspector. He earned $48,000 in 2008. He also is in good health. In May 2000, JoAnn bought a home in Marshalltown. An appraisal

conducted in October 2000 found the home's market value was $77,000. She refinanced her mortgage at that time for the principal amount of $59,000. Shawn moved into the home in the summer of 2001. The home was placed in joint tenancy in April 2002 in anticipation of the parties' pending nuptials. From the time it was purchased, extensive remodeling was performed on the home. JoAnn testified that before Shawn moved in she had completed the remodeling of the first floor of the home. After Shawn moved in, the roof was replaced and the second story was completed. The second story project

included adding two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a walk-in closet. The property

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was sold in June 2004 for $94,000. The sale of the home netted $23,400 in net proceeds, which were used to purchase a duplex in Ames. The Ames duplex, like JoAnn's Marshalltown home, required work. JoAnn and Shawn lived in the upper level of the duplex while they remodeled the lower level. When the lower level was finished, they moved down into it and remodeled the upper level. The duplex is now used as a rental property, which garners $550 per month in rent from one unit and $600 per month from the other unit. In 2008, the property was appraised for $107,000. In 2009, its assessed value was $100,300. As of April 2009, the parties owed $70,611.93 on the mortgage. They also owed a second mortgage in the amount of $4023.82 at the time of trial. In June 2006, the parties purchased a residence in Nevada for $65,000. Again, the parties performed work on the home. At the time of trial, the assessed value of the home was $71,800. An appraisal by the mortgage lender gave the home a market value of $77,000. As of April 2009, the parties owed

approximately $59,828 on the mortgage for this property. Shawn had the home appraised for $68,000. In April 2007, JoAnn and Shawn bought a building for JoAnn's law practice. JoAnn's parents loaned the parties the money for the $30,000 down payment. The loan is being repaid periodically at six percent interest. As of April 2009, $21,855.19 was owed on the loan. The rest of the building was financed by a mortgage for $117,000, on which the parties owed $107,975.86 as of April 2009.

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Like their other properties, the office building required remodeling. This time the remodeling was not structural, but cosmetic in nature to suit the building for a law practice. The parties opened a $30,000 line of credit with the bank to pay for remodeling expenses. The principal balance on this line of credit as of April 2009 was $22,173.02. A 2007 appraisal of the business building assessed its market value as $150,000. In 2008, the City of Ames assessed the property at $112,700. The building contains two suites; one is occupied by JoAnn's law practice, which pays $1501 per month in rent,2 and the other is leased to Story County for $900 per month. JoAnn pays the $900 she receives from Story County directly to her father to repay the loan her parents made. Shawn testified at length about the work he did on the Marshalltown home and the three properties the parties owned in Story County. With regard to the Marshalltown home, Shawn tiled floors, installed countertops, insulated the basement, and added a second story. With regard to the Ames duplex, Shawn installed flooring, added wainscoting, and replaced the roof. He performed this work during evening hours and took some vacation days to complete the remodeling. As for the business building, Shawn testified he took seven or eight days off work in 2007 and spent every weekend in April and every holiday working on it until it was finished just before Christmas of 2007. The work

included repainting, hanging doors, and framing work. Shawn also installed a

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The district court found the rent to be $1501 per month. JoAnn testified the rent was $1355 and that she had recently realized she was overpaying the rent by approximately $135 per month. Her pretrial statement lists the rent as $1501.61. The rental included the taxes and insurance for the entire building.

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kitchenette. Shawn estimated he logged approximately 370 hours getting the building ready. The district court entered its decree dissolving the marriage on June 18, 2009. It awarded JoAnn the rental duplex (valued at $105,000) and the office building (valued at $120,000), and awarded Shawn the Nevada home (valued at $70,000). It valued JoAnn's law practice at $50,000 , plus $6000 more for

equipment and furniture. In making the property division, the court also credited JoAnn $18,000 for assets brought into the marriage, but noted she benefited substantially from Shawn's contributions to the remodeling projects. Estimating that Shawn expended 1000 hours in the remodeling efforts and valuing his work at twenty dollars per hour, the court credited Shawn $20,000 for this work. After dividing the remaining assets, the court found a $30,000 disparity and ordered JoAnn to make an equalization payment to Shawn in the amount of $15,631. Both parties filed motions under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.904(2). Shawn argued there was no evidence that JoAnn should be credited for $18,000 brought into the marriage, that the office building should have been valued at $150,000, and that he should be reimbursed for one-half of the funds he expended for the parties' joint obligations while the action was pending. JoAnn's motion addressed funds in a joint bank account and an account in which the parties kept rental security deposits. In its July 7, 2009 order, the district court enlarged its findings and conclusions slightly, but did not significantly alter the decree. JoAnn filed a notice of appeal and Shawn cross-appealed.

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II.

Standard of Review We review dissolution of marriage proceedings de novo. Iowa R. App. P.

6.907 (2009); In re Marriage of Smith, 573 N.W.2d 924, 926 (Iowa 1998). We examine the entire record and adjudicate rights anew on the issues properly presented. In re Marriage of Geil, 509 N.W.2d 738, 740 (Iowa 1993). Although we are not bound by the district court's factual findings, we give them weight, especially when assessing the credibility of witnesses. Iowa R. App. P.

6.904(3)(g). We review the district court's decision regarding attorney fees for an abuse of discretion. In re Marriage of Witten, 672 N.W.2d 768, 773 (Iowa 2003). III. Analysis Iowa law requires that marital property be divided equitably between the parties. Iowa Code

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