In re Marriage of Probasco
Supreme Court of Iowa
676 N.W.2d 179 (Iowa 2004)
Ralane Probasco (defendant) and Craig Probasco (plaintiff) married in college in 1985 and both earned business degrees in 1986 without financially supporting each other's education. In 1989 they pursued a Perkins restaurant franchise together — Craig focused on securing it while Ralane both supported the family financially and helped run the franchise, which grew to nearly $4 million in annual sales. Craig filed for divorce in 1999. The trial court found Ralane a smart, educated businesswoman with strong future prospects, divided the marital estate based partly on the franchise's fair market value (awarding Ralane $801,082 in net assets and Craig $716,070), and additionally awarded Ralane $60,000 in alimony over 13 years to reimburse her contribution to acquiring the franchise, reasoning she had a future expectation of value from that contribution. Craig appealed.
Whether reimbursement alimony is appropriate for a marriage that is not of short duration, was not devoted almost entirely to one spouse's educational advancement, and did not yield only a small accumulation of tangible assets.