Funkhouser v. Funkhouser

2019 Ohio 733
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided March 1, 2019·No. E-18-039·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

ERIE COUNTY

Mirna Funkhouser Court of Appeals No. E-18-039 Appellee Trial Court No. 2009 DR 0084 v. Mark Funkhouser DECISION AND JUDGMENT Appellant Decided: March 1, 2019

*****

Mirna Funkhouser, pro se.

Mark Funkhouser, pro se.

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OSOWIK, J.

{¶ 1} This is an appeal from a judgment of the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, which modified the terms of child custody and child support obligations between the parties. For the reasons set forth below, this court affirms the judgment of the trial court.

{¶ 2} On May 1, 2009, appellee Mirna A. Funkhouser filed a complaint for divorce against appellant Mark J. Funkhouser on the grounds of gross neglect of duty and incompatibility. The parties were married on July 1, 2000, had three children together, and then separated in 2008. Appellant filed an answer in which he denied the allegations and counterclaimed for gross neglect of duty, extreme cruelty, and incompatibility.

{¶ 3} A final divorce hearing was held before a magistrate on June 18, 2013. On September 17, 2013, a “consent” judgment entry decree of divorce was filed which, among other divorce matters, designated appellee the sole residential parent and legal custodian of the children and ordered appellant to pay appellee child support and uncovered healthcare expenses. The “consent” judgment contained only the signatures of appellant, his attorney, the magistrate and the trial court. Attached as Exhibit A to the “consent” judgment entry was the unsigned worksheet used to calculate child support and allocate uncovered healthcare expenses pursuant to R.C. 3119.022. Using appellant’s income of $52,863 and appellee’s income of $64,887, the worksheet calculated, among other items, monthly child support by appellant to appellee of $531.46 per month, plus a 2-percent processing charge, for $542.09 per month, and allocated uncovered healthcare expenses at the ratio of 45-percent (rounded) to appellant and 55-percent (rounded) to appellee.

{¶ 4} On May 2, 2014, the trial court journalized a judgment entry decree of divorce, which terminated the marriage, and determined, among other matters, allocation of parental rights and responsibilities and child support, including arrearage. We affirmed the trial court’s judgment and modified the child support arrearage provision. Funkhouser v. Funkhouser, 6th Dist. Erie No. E-14-086, 2015-Ohio-73.

{¶ 5} Thereafter and through August 11, 2017, appellant filed a variety of motions with the trial court with ever-evolving requests to modify the May 2, 2014 child custody and child support judgment, the last of which sought sole custody of the oldest child, N.F., who was then 16 years old.

{¶ 6} Throughout the majority of this divorce proceeding, the parties each retained and dismissed representation by counsel a few times. By the time of the October 27, 2017 magistrate hearing on appellant’s motion, each party waived the right to representation by counsel and proceeded pro se. At the hearing, the parties agreed in writing to change the “residential and custodial parent status” of N.F. from appellee to appellant and to the details of visitation and income tax treatment.

{¶ 7} The remaining unresolved and contested divorce matter was modifying child support for all three children, which the magistrate decided on November 14, 2017. Appellant timely filed objections to the magistrate’s decision, and as journalized on June 14, 2018, the trial court filed a decision and judgment entry overruling all objections. Using appellant’s income of $44,000 and appellee’s income of $16,952, the worksheet calculated, among other items, modified monthly child support by appellant to appellee of $496.80 per month, plus “poundage,” for $506.74 per month, and allocated uncovered healthcare expenses at the ratio of 72-percent (rounded) to appellant and 28- percent (rounded) to appellee.

{¶ 8} Appellant timely appealed pro se and set forth five assignments of error:

I. The trial court erred when it named the defendant as only the residential parent of the parties’ minor child, [N.F.].

II. The trial court erred when it did not make the specific finding that the plaintiff is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed.

III. The trial court abused its discretion when it imputed the plaintiff’s income for child support purposes at $16,952 per year.

IV. The trial court abused its discretion when it assigned the portion of uninsured medical expense to be paid by each parent.

V. The trial court erred when it overruled the defendant’s objection to [the] magistrate’s decision in its entirety despite undisputed facts in the record supporting certain objections.

{¶ 9} We will address the assignments of error together, as they collectively challenge the trial court’s judgment to overrule appellant’s objections to the magistrate’s decisions on modifications to the original child custody and child support order.

A. Objections to Magistrate’s Decision

{¶ 10} Where a party timely files objections to a magistrate’s decision, the trial court is required to rule on the objections after “an independent review as to the objected matters to ascertain that the magistrate has properly determined the factual issues and appropriately applied the law.” Civ.R. 53(D)(4)(d). This “independent review” is a de novo review by the trial court. Brancatto v. Boersma, 6th Dist. Lucas No. L-12-1271, 2013-Ohio-3052, ¶ 8. We review a trial court’s ruling on the objections to a magistrate’s decision for an abuse of discretion. Id. at ¶ 9. 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, 450 N.E.2d 1140 (1983), quoting State v. Adams, 62 Ohio St.2d 151, 157, 404 N.E.2d 144 (1980).

{¶ 11} Appellant argued the trial court erred four times when it overruled his objections to the magistrate’s decision: (1) determining appellant was the “residential parent” of N.F. for child custody purposes rather than the “residential and custodial parent”; (2) determining appellee’s income as minimum wage for child support purposes rather than finding appellee was voluntarily unemployed or underemployed; (3) determining appellant’s occupation as “flight mechanic” for child support purposes rather than “flight paramedic”; and (4) determining for child support purposes the 28- percent and 72-percent allocation of uninsured medical expenses between the appellee and appellant, respectively, rather than a 60-percent allocation to appellee for her voluntarily unemployment or underemployment.

{¶ 12} In response, appellee, also pro se, essentially argued the trial court did not err, and the trial court’s judgment should be affirmed.

{¶ 13} The trial court’s June 14, 2018 judgment stated:

The Court having fully reviewed all of the evidence presented; the Magistrate’s Decision; and the law applicable to this matter as well as the Objections, hereby determines that there is no error of law or other defect evidence on the fact of the Magistrate’s Decision. The Defendant’s Objections are found to be without merit and OVERRULED. (Emphasis sic.)

{¶ 14} We reviewed the entire record. For the reasons set forth below, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied appellant’s four objections to the magistrate’s decision.

B. Objection to Child Custody Modification

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Funkhouser v. Funkhouser, 2019 Ohio 733 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).

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