Auck v. Stump

Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided September 8, 2026·No. 3-25-26·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

CRAWFORD COUNTY

PATTY STUMP NKA AUCK, CASE NO. 3-25-26

PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,

v.

MARK STUMP, OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Appeal from Crawford County Common Pleas Court Domestic Relations Division Trial Court No. 88-DR-0068

Judgment Affirmed

Date of Decision: September 8, 2026

APPEARANCES:

Samuel H. Shamansky and Ashton C. Gaitanos for Appellant Thomas L. Cole for Appellee

MILLER, J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Mark E. Stump (“Stump”), appeals the August 19, 2025 judgment of the Crawford County Court of Common Pleas overruling his motion for relief from paternity, request for genetic testing, and request for recovery of child support payments. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

{¶2} In 1980, Stump married plaintiff-appellee, Patty Auck (“Auck”). According to the parties’ testimonies, their marriage was strained between the years of 1980 and 1982. In 1982, Auck had an extramarital affair with a man named Patrick Egnor (“Egnor”) during which they had sexual relations. Auck also had intercourse with Stump on his birthday, November 12, 1982. Approximately nine months later, Auck gave birth to Jennifer Stump (“Jennifer”) on August 26, 1983. The marriage did not last. The parties’ entered a separation agreement and on April 13, 1988 their marriage was dissolved. Pursuant to the separation agreement, Stump paid approximately $41,000 in child support payments over the period of time from the dissolution until Jennifer was emancipated on May 26, 2002.

{¶3} On December 24, 2018, Jennifer received a text message from Egnor claiming he was her real father. Jennifer forwarded the text message to both Stump and Auck. Auck responded that it was possible Egnor could be her father. Shortly thereafter, in January of 2019, Jennifer and Egnor took a commercial DNA test to establish paternity. The results of this DNA test indicated Egnor was Jennifer’s father. Until he received the text message from Jennifer, Stump testified he had no reason to believe Jennifer was not his child.

{¶4} Following this revelation, Stump sought legal counsel. He consulted with six or seven different attorneys over a period of two to four years before finally finding counsel willing to take his case. On June 14, 2023, Stump filed a motion for relief from paternity, request for genetic testing, and request for recovery of child support payments (“Motion for Relief”). On July 10, 2023, Auck filed for summary judgment, which the trial court granted on October 31, 2023. This court reversed the summary judgment award and remanded the matter back to the trial court to address several issues in order to permit appellate review. Auck v. Stump, 2024-Ohio-2220 (3d Dist.).

{¶5} On September 30, 2024, after discussing the matter with the trial court’s magistrate, Auck abandoned her attempt to proceed with summary judgment to defeat Stump’s Civ.R. 60(B) motion. Instead, the magistrate conducted an evidentiary hearing on the merits of the Civ.R. 60(B) motion. On March 4, 2025, the magistrate issued a decision denying the Motion for Relief.1 Stump filed timely objections to the magistrate’s decision concerning, among other things, the absence of a formal reference of the matter to the magistrate. The trial judge decided to rehear the motion, himself, and conducted a second hearing on July 22, 2025. The trial court subsequently overruled the Motion for Relief and adopted the magistrate’s decision in a judgment entry filed on August 19, 2025.

{¶6} Stump timely appealed. He raises three assignments of error.

1 Attached to the magistrate’s decision is a “Judgement Entry” signed by the trial judge which reads: “The Court, upon independent consideration and review of the file, the evidence, including the testimony, finds the decision of the Magistrate to be correct in all respects and therefore, adopts the same as the Judgement of this Court.” This document bears no case caption and is not file stamped.

First Assignment of Error

The trial court abused its discretion and unlawfully deprived appellant of his constitutional right to due process when it improperly adopted the magistrate’s decision.

{¶7} In his first assignment of error, Stump argues his due process rights were violated when the trial court failed to independently review the record and rule on all of the objections raised regarding the magistrate’s March 4 decision. We disagree.

Standard of Review

{¶8} In accordance with Civ.R. 53(D)(4)(d), the trial court reviews a magistrate's decision de novo. In contrast, an appellate court reviews a trial court’s adoption of a magistrate’s decision for abuse of discretion. In re Estate of Humphrey, 2014-Ohio-5859,

¶ 15 (10th Dist.). “The term ‘abuse of discretion’ connotes more than an error of law or judgment; it implies that the court’s attitude is unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable.” Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219 (1983). “Claims of trial court error must be based on the actions taken by the trial court, itself, rather than the magistrate’s findings.” Mayle v. Ohio Dep’t of Rehab. & Corr., 2010-Ohio-2774, ¶ 15 (10th Dist.). Therefore, the trial court’s decision to adopt the magistrate’s decision will only be reversed if the trial court acted unreasonably, arbitrarily or unconscionably. Id.

Analysis

{¶9} As an initial matter, because there is no judgment entry on the record referring this particular case to the magistrate, Stump contends the magistrate lacked authority to conduct any proceedings in the matter. Indeed, Civ.R. 53(D)(1)(a) states “[a] court of record may. . . refer a particular case or matter or a category of cases or matters to a magistrate by a specific or general order of reference or by rule.” In order for an appellate court to reverse a trial court’s decision for failure to comply with Civ.R. 53, it must be shown that (1) the alleged error has merit and (2) the appellant was prejudiced. Vance v. Vance, 2024-Ohio-1533, ¶ 20 (3d Dist.). “The purpose of a magistrate is to assist the trial court in managing its docket.” Id. at ¶ 22. The failure of a trial court to refer a case to a magistrate is a procedural, not a jurisdictional matter. Proctor v. Proctor, 48 Ohio App.3d 55, 59 (3d Dist. 1988). “‘It is only in instances in which the trial court lacks jurisdiction that a judgment is void rather than voidable. Reversible error can only be attained by prejudice that affects the substantial rights of the complaining party. The mere failure to properly journalize a referral to a referee does not produce prejudice per se.’” (Citations omitted.) Id., quoting Hines v Amole, 4 Ohio App.3d 263, 265 (2d Dist. 1982). Stump fails to identify any prejudice against him as it relates to this procedural matter.

{¶10} Furthermore, while Civ.R. 53 does require an order of reference, it does not proscribe any restrictions on the manner or method by which such order must be submitted. White v. White, 50 Ohio App.2d 263. 267 (8th Dist. 1977). “[W]e have no authority before

us to indicate . . . the appointment of the referee or the order of reference must be affirmatively displayed in the record in every case,” such that “we must presume these events did not occur. On the contrary, absent any indication otherwise, we will presume they did occur.” Proctor at 59. Such presumption is bolstered in the present case by the order of reference being listed on the court’s docket on June 15, 2023, which bears a notation of “Referee Assignment” and the magistrate’s name.2 An individual journal entry reflecting an order of reference to a magistrate is simply not a blanket requirement of Civ.R. 53.

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