Ambyr Childers seeks restraining order against ex-husband Randall Emmett to prohibit him from disposing of their marital estate and to require him to disclose his assets and liabilities.
The parties to this action have been married for more than thirty-five years, the last child of the marriage was born in 1985. During the course of their marriage, the couple purchased a four-family house located at 906 West Market Street in the City of Des Moines, Iowa, on which they placed a mortgage for $75,000. During the summer of 1995, the parties sold their home to Mr. Childers for the $100,000 price which included a contract to purchase the house for $75,000 and the assumption of the mortgage at closing. Mr. Childers paid for the move in a cash payment of $35,000. Mr. Childers, in his declaration, claims that he is “a high earner, [who] has substantial assets and has very modest liabilities totaling only $250,000.”
Sometime thereafter, Mr. Childers began making substantial real estate transactions and using Ms. Childers’ name on the title of the property, for which she received no compensation, as though they had divorced. This practice continued for more than three years, until the property was sold in December of 1998 for a total price of $450,000. Mr. Childers has not paid Ms. Childers any portion of the sale proceeds that resulted from his use of her name for the transaction.
Over the years, Mr. Childers has made some transfers of property to his own relatives and to his sister, Patricia Childers. Mr. Childers also used Ms. Childers’ name on the title of a car registered in Mr. Childers’ name, which was titled in Ms. Childers’ name by a title company. Mr. Childers did not disclose any of these transfers to Ms. Childers and did not provide Ms. Childers with the legal description of the property being transferred.
Further, during the course of the marriage Mr. Childers, on five different occasions, transferred cash into a series of bank accounts in the name of Ms. Childers: in the amount of $5,000 on August 19, 1989; $20,000 on March 21, 1990; $20,000 on May 4, 1990; $10,000 on May 4, 1990