The Iowa Supreme Court has waded into a divorced Cedar Rapids couple’s battle over their very profitable business. The Iowa Supreme Court’s opinion begins with this: "When two people cannot get along, sometimes it is better for both of them to just pick up their toys and leave. Unfortunately in this case, that was not so easy." That’s because Jody and Connie Keener founded a very successful toy company called Alpha International.

A district court awarded all of the stock in the company to Connie but required her to pay Jody nearly 7-million dollars over 11 years. Among other things, his attorneys argued in appeals that there was a need for some security — collateral — to make sure he’d get the money he was due.

Her attorneys argued the company’s value had been over-estimated. The Iowa Supreme Court has agreed with that ordered Connie to pay her ex-husband nearly 4.3 million — but over six years instead of 11. In response to Jody’s claims, the high court also placed a lien on the toy corporation’s stock to secure those payments and ordered five-percent interest be charged on the payments Connie is to make to her ex-husband.

Audio:Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson report. :64 MP3