The Utah Court of Appeals tossed a punitive 75% asset award against Brandon Reynolds Bonham, forcing a district court to recalculate his divorce settlement based on a strict 50-50 split. The reversal stems from a dispute over at least $367,599 in marital funds Bonham spent during proceedings, including an Airstream trailer, a BMW for his daughter, and jewelry.
The district court originally found Bonham in contempt for violating temporary orders that prohibited dissipating assets without his wife Emily’s consent. Judges noted he failed to provide a full accounting until Emily discovered the purchases herself. The lower court initially awarded Emily 75% of the missing funds as a sanction for his repeated breaches and opacity regarding the marital estate, which included their home and the family business, RMT Equipment.
But the appeals panel disagreed with the punitive math. In the judgment for Bonham v. Bonham, the higher court ruled that while Bonham did breach the injunction, the remedy must be a standard equitable division of the dissipated amount. Emily is now entitled to half of the established total, not the inflated 75% share. The court also sent back issues regarding the equity in the Rolling Brook house and Bonham’s ability to pay alimony, requiring fresh findings on his actual monthly expenses and tax rate.
The case traces back to a 2019 separation after Bonham admitted to an extramarital affair that resulted in a child outside the marriage. Emily filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, leaving three minor children in the mix. The divorce trial stretched across four days in late 2022, with Bonham continuing to operate RMT Equipment under temporary support orders.
The district court must now return to the drawing board. It faces a deadline to issue new findings on the specific dissipation amount, the classification of the Rolling Brook property, and revised support arrears. Both parties will also see further assessments of their attorney fees, a common battleground in high-stakes family law disputes that often outlast the initial trial.