Glassner v. Glassner

828 N.E.2d 642, 160 Ohio App. 3d 648, 2005 Ohio 1936
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 18, 2005
DocketNo. 2004CA00154.
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 828 N.E.2d 642 (Glassner v. Glassner) 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
Glassner v. Glassner, 828 N.E.2d 642, 160 Ohio App. 3d 648, 2005 Ohio 1936 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

Edwards, Judge.

{¶ 1} Appellant and cross-appellee, Rodney Glassner, appeals from the decision . of the Stark County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, which granted him a divorce from appellee and cross-appellant, Elisa Glassner. Elisa has filed a cross-appeal.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE

{¶ 2} Rodney Glassner (“appellant”) and Elisa Glassner (“appellee”) were married on November 16, 1991. Two children were born as issue of the marriage, namely, Joshua, born December 30, 1996, and Gianna, born March 22, 1999.

{¶ 3} On August 15, 2003, appellee filed a complaint for divorce against appellant. The matter then proceeded to trial before the court on April 21, 2004. The following evidence was adduced at trial.

{¶ 4} At trial, appellant, who is a high school graduate and who was 44 years old and in good health at the time, testified that he had been employed by Classic Pools since April 2003 and that he earned $20 an hour. Since the job is a seasonal job, appellant is laid off over the winter. In 2003, appellant earned $17,102.50 and received $1,530 in unemployment compensation, for a total gross income of $18,632.50.

*650 {¶ 5} Before he married appellee, appellant was employed by Smucker’s in Orrville part-time for six or seven months. When the parties decided to get married, they decided that appellant should go back into the construction trade. Early in the parties’ marriage, appellant did cement work in Ohio, Illinois, and Virginia before his son was born and he became a stay-at-home father. While working in Chicago, appellant earned approximately $34,000 a year in the cement business “because the rate was so high, * * * benefits and hourly wage in Chicago at that time was almost $40.00 an hour.” Appellant testified that he made $30,000 or more a year three times in his life at most and that some years, he was lucky to make $20,000. When the parties moved from Chicago to Virginia in 1996, appellant took a $14-an-hour pay cut.

{¶ 6} According to appellant, after their son was born, the parties agreed that appellant would stay home and take care of the children rather than work outside the home because daycare was expensive. The parties decided that it would be best for appellant to stay at home since his income was less than appellee’s and so that appellee could travel for work. From 2000 through 2002, the parties lived in Detroit, Michigan, and then moved back to Ohio in 2002. Testimony was adduced at trial that after the parties moved to Michigan, appellant was the primary caregiver for the children and took the children to preschool and doctor appointments, cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and attended parent-teacher conferences.

{¶ 7} At the April 21, 2004, trial, appellee testified that she was 36 years old, in good health, and that she had received a Master of Business Administration (“MBA”) degree in 2002 from Michigan State. Appellee, who had received her Bachelor of Arts (“BA”) degree prior to her marriage to appellant, testified that her MBA degree was paid for entirely by Ford Motor Company, her employer. As of the date of the trial, appellee had been employed by Ford Motor Company for approximately 15 years and was employed as a sales zone manager. In 2003, appellee earned $90,825.33 through her employment with Ford. Appellee was required to relocate frequently in order to advance at Ford. Appellant testified that every time they moved, appellee got a promotion and that she “never wanted to turn down a move.”

{¶ 8} At the trial, appellant presented a statement showing that his monthly expenses were $4,145, and appellee submitted a statement showing that her monthly expenses were $5,338.

{¶ 9} Pursuant to a judgment entry filed on April 28, 2004, the trial court granted the parties a divorce on grounds of incompatibility and approved the parties’ shared-parenting plan. Pursuant to the shared-parenting plan, the parties agreed that “physical placement of the children shall be alternated between the parents on an alternating week schedule” and that the “parent not having physical placement of the children shall have a mid-week placement period *651 with the children on Wednesday each week from 3:00 p.m. until the start of school on Thursday.” With respect to child support, the trial court made the following findings of fact in its entry:

{¶ 10} “7. The Court finds the husband’s gross income to be $18,632 and the wife’s annual gross income to be $90,825. According to the child support schedules and worksheet calculations, the Court finds that annual child support for two children is $17,583. The husband’s obligation is $2,993, or 17%, and the wife’s obligation is $17,583,[ 1 ] or 83% (See attached worksheet.)[ 2 ]

{¶ 11} “8. Because this amount of child support is unjust, inappropriate, and not in the best interest of the child, the Court deviates from the schedules for the following reasons: Sec. 3113.215(B)(3)(a) through (o). The parties have agreed in their shared parenting plan to equally sharing time with the children and related expenses.”

{¶ 12} The trial court further ordered appellee to pay appellant $1,800 a month in spousal support effective May 1, 2004, and that such support would terminate upon either party’s death or appellant’s remarriage, or after four years, whichever came first. In addition, the trial court ordered that “[njeither party shall be ordered to exchange child support.”

{¶ 13} Appellant now raises the following assignments of error on appeal:

{¶ 14} “I. The trial court abused its discretion by failing to award appellant child support.

{¶ 15} “II. The trial court abused its discretion by failing to award the appropriate amount of spousal support to appellant.”

{¶ 16} In turn, appellee raises the following assignment of error is her cross-appeal:

{¶ 17} “If this court remands the trial court’s support award, it must also remand the trial court’s spousal support award.”

I

{¶ 18} Appellant, in his first assignment of error, argues that the trial court abused its discretion in faffing to award appellant child support for the parties’ two minor children. We agree.

*652 {¶ 19} It is well established that a trial court’s decision regarding child-support obligations falls within the discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed absent a showing of an abuse of discretion. Booth v. Booth (1989), 44 Ohio St.3d 142, 144, 541 N.E.2d 1028. An abuse of discretion is more than an error in judgment or law; it implies an attitude on the part of the trial court that is unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable. Blakemore v. Blakemore (1983), 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219, 5 OBR 481, 450 N.E.2d 1140.

{¶ 20} At the time a trial court orders child support, a child-support-guideline-computation worksheet must be completed and made a part of the trial court’s record. See Cutlip v.

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Bluebook (online)
828 N.E.2d 642, 160 Ohio App. 3d 648, 2005 Ohio 1936, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glassner-v-glassner-ohioctapp-2005.