Boyles v. Boyles, Unpublished Decision (10-5-2001)

CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 5, 2001
DocketAccelerated Case No. 2000-P-0072.
StatusUnpublished

This text of Boyles v. Boyles, Unpublished Decision (10-5-2001) (Boyles v. Boyles, Unpublished Decision (10-5-2001)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyles v. Boyles, Unpublished Decision (10-5-2001), (Ohio Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION
This is an accelerated calendar appeal submitted on the briefs of the parties from the judgment entry issued by the Portage County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, granting appellant, Viola E. Boyles, and appellee, Stephen R. Boyles, a divorce.

Appellant and appellee were married on August 24, 1985. The parties had two children born as issue of their marriage. After almost fourteen years of marriage, appellant filed a complaint for divorce on June 29, 1998.

This matter came on for a hearing before the trial court on June 24 and 25, 1999. After taking the matter under consideration, the trial court issued a judgment entry on October 12, 1999. In relevant part, the trial court found as follows: (1) appellee was ordered to pay spousal support in the sum of $900 a month for forty-eight months; (2) while there were several different values provided for the Wilbur Realty Company ("the corporation"), a marital asset, the trial court adopted the capitalized assert earning value, which was $266,000; (3) the Brookdale, Summers, and Garrett properties were the separate property of appellee; and (4) appellant was awarded $412,736 or 49.3 percent of the marital assets while appellee was awarded $424,437 or 50.7 percent, a difference of $11,701. To equalize the asset distribution, the court ordered appellee to pay appellant the sum of $5,850.50, bringing appellant's total marital asset award to $418,586.50, or 50 percent.

In response to the trial court's determination, appellee filed a motion for a new trial on October 22, 1999, arguing that the trial court failed to deduct certain debts which would reduce the total equity value of the corporation.

Likewise, on November 22, 1999, appellant filed her own motion for new trial, in conjunction with a response to appellee's motion for a new trial. In her motion, appellant argued, inter alia, that the trial court did not identify and divide all of the insurance policies owned by appellee. In addition, appellant challenged the trial court's characterization of the Brookdale, Summers, and Garrett properties as constituting appellee's separate property.

Due to the filing of these motions, the trial court revisited this case on November 22, 1999, by conducting a brief hearing on the matter. On June 26, 2000, the trial court ruled on these motions through a judgment entry and modified the divorce decree.

Specifically, the trial court acknowledged that it had erred in the calculation of the marital assets, and that the tax refund amount should have been $6,456, not $9,456. Pursuant to this new calculation, appellant was awarded $409,736 or 49.1 percent of the marital assets, while appellee was awarded $424,437, or 50.9 percent, a difference of $14,701. Again, to equalize the property division, the trial court ordered appellee to pay appellant the sum of $7,350.50, bringing her total marital asset award to $417,086.50, or 50 percent.

Although not raised by either party, there is a potential jurisdictional problem with respect to appellant's motion for a new trial. Civ.R. 59(B) provides that "[a] motion for a new trial shall be served not later than fourteen days after the entry of the judgment." As mentioned above, the decree of divorce was issued on October 12, 1999, while appellant's motion for a new trial was filed on November 22, 1999, well beyond the fourteen-day limit.1 Thus, the trial court was without authority to consider appellant's untimely filed motion for new trial. Horner v. Toledo Hosp. (1993), 94 Ohio App.3d 282, 290; Snow at 5. Consequently, we will not consider this motion or its contents on appeal.

Despite this jurisdictional defect, this court still has jurisdiction to entertain appellant's appeal. App.R. 4(A) provides that the thirty days time period to file a notice of appeal is tolled when any party files a motion for a new trial. See, also, Connolly v. Connolly (1990),70 Ohio App.3d 738. Ergo, appellee's timely motion for a new trial filed on October 22, 1999, suspended the time limit for filing a notice of appeal from the trial court's judgment and divorce decree. The time limit for filing a notice of appeal began to run immediately after the trial court ruled on appellee's motion for a new trial, which was May 26, 2000. Subsequently, appellant timely filed her notice of appeal on June 26, 2000.

Having resolved our jurisdictional concerns, we return to the merits of this appeal wherein appellant presents five assignments of error for our review:

"[1.] The trial court erred in determining the value of Wilbur Realty, Inc.[,] as the evidence before the court does not provide an adequate evidential predicate to support the court's finding.

"[2.] The trial court erred in overruling plaintiff-appellant's post trial motion to divide marital assets which were not divided following trial.

"[3.] The trial court's decision finding three (3) properties owned jointly by the parities and used by the parties as collateral for mortgages owed jointly by the parties, were pre-marital assets, constitutes an abuse of discretion.

"[4.] The trial court's award of spousal support was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion.

"[5.] The trial court's judgment entry is silent as to whether or not the court considered any of the nine (9) statutory factors relevant to a determination whether to make a distributive award to plaintiff-appellant of defendant-appellee's property determined to be pre-marital or separate property of defendant pursuant to R.C. 3105.171(C)(4)(F)."

Under the first assignment of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred in assessing the value of the corporation at $266,000 as the evidence presented to the court did not support this value. Appellant further claims that the trial court failed to explain how it arrived at this figure.

We review a trial court's determination of the value of marital property for an abuse of discretion. Holcomb v. Holcomb (1989),44 Ohio St.3d 128, 131; Berish v. Berish (1982), 69 Ohio St.2d 318, 319;James v. James (1995), 101 Ohio App.3d 668, 681; Cottage v. Cottage (June 13, 1997), Trumbull App. No. 96-T-5412, unreported, 1997 WL 360977, at 3. An abuse of discretion connotes more than an error in judgment; it implies the court's attitude is unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable. Blakemore v. Blakemore (1983), 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219.

In this cause, the October 12, 1999 judgment entry indicates that the trial court adequately explained how it assigned the value of the corporation:

"The Court further finds that of the several differing values for the Wilbur Realty Company, the most appropriate value and the one adopted by the Court is the Capitalized Asset Earnings (see Page 12 of the Greenwald Valuation Report) value, which is $266,000."

Thus, by referring to and relying on the report prepared and submitted by appellant's expert, Robert M. Greenwald ("Mr. Greenwald"), which calculated the fair market value of the corporation, the trial court reached its determination as to the value of this marital asset.

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Related

Connolly v. Connolly
591 N.E.2d 1362 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1990)
Stafinsky v. Stafinsky
689 N.E.2d 112 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1996)
Peck v. Peck
645 N.E.2d 1300 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1994)
Szerlip v. Szerlip
718 N.E.2d 473 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1998)
Horner v. Toledo Hospital
640 N.E.2d 857 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1993)
James v. James
656 N.E.2d 399 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1995)
Berish v. Berish
432 N.E.2d 183 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1982)
Blakemore v. Blakemore
450 N.E.2d 1140 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1983)
Kaechele v. Kaechele
518 N.E.2d 1197 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1988)
Holcomb v. Holcomb
541 N.E.2d 597 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1989)
Kunkle v. Kunkle
554 N.E.2d 83 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
Boyles v. Boyles, Unpublished Decision (10-5-2001), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyles-v-boyles-unpublished-decision-10-5-2001-ohioctapp-2001.