Gerving v. Gerving, 956 N.W.2d 403

Ben and Janet Gerving married in 2004; they have two minor children and operate a multi‑generation family farm.
Trial was held May 7, 2019; the district court initially awarded Ben the entire farm (land, homestead, livestock, equipment) and ordered equalization payments to Janet, noting sale proceeds would be split if Ben sold the land.
This Court reversed the original division in Gerving I, finding Ben received about 90% of the marital estate and the court erred in retaining jurisdiction over a final property distribution.
On remand the district court divided real property (each party received two parcels), awarded Ben the equipment, animals, and farm debt, and ordered Ben to make equalization payments to Janet over 20 years; the court found the net result was an equal division.
Ben appealed the amended divorce judgment and parenting plan, arguing the remand distribution effectively forces eventual sale of the farm and is clearly erroneous; Janet sought appellate costs and fees under Rule 38.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court's property distribution on remand was clearly erroneous	Ben: remand order makes sale of the family farm an eventual certainty and the division is incorrect	Janet: remand division fairly equalized assets; court adequately explained its decision	Court affirmed; evidence supports findings and the division is not clearly erroneous (summarily affirmed)
Whether the appeal is frivolous and entitles Janet to appellate costs and attorney's fees under Rule 38	Ben: raised a nonfrivolous claim that remand distribution was erroneous	Janet: appeal is flagrantly groundless and devoid of merit	Court held the appeal was not frivolous and denied Janet's request for fees

Gerving v. Gerving, 943 N.W.2d 797 (2020) (reversed original unequal property division and remanded for final distribution)
Larson v. Larson, 653 N.W.2d 869 (2002) (defines when an appeal is frivolous under Rule 38)
Williams v. State, 405 N.W.2d 615 (1987) (frivolous appeal assessed by absence of facts and law supporting success)