In an Iowa divorce case, the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s decision to reject the valuation of the husband’s expert for one of his three businesses. The court questioned the expert’s reliability given the phrasing used in the valuation report, which the court described as “fawning terms,” when describing the subject businesses. The court also pointed out that the expert used two valuation methodologies without explaining why one was more reliable than the other. The court accepted the valuation the wife’s expert did, which was much higher.

Other valuation matters in the case include the treatment of intercompany loans and whether a business started prior to marriage should be included in the marital estate. The case is In re Marriage of Marasco, 2023 Iowa App. LEXIS 472; 2023 WL 3862591, and a case analysis and full court opinion are on the BVLaw platform.