Hetterick v. Hetterick

2013 Ohio 15
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 7, 2013
DocketCA2012-02-002
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 2013 Ohio 15 (Hetterick v. Hetterick) 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
Hetterick v. Hetterick, 2013 Ohio 15 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

[Cite as Hetterick v. Hetterick, 2013-Ohio-15.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

BROWN COUNTY

RALPH T. HETTERICK, :

Plaintiff-Appellant, : CASE NO. CA2012-02-002

: OPINION - vs - 1/7/2013 :

ROBERTA A. HETTERICK n.k.a. : Clonch, et al., : Defendants-Appellees. :

APPEAL FROM BROWN COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS Case No. DRA 2005 0543

John Woliver, 204 North Street, Batavia, Ohio 45103, for plaintiff-appellant

L. Patrick Mulligan & Associates, L.P.A., L. Patrick Mulligan, 225 West Court Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202, for defendants-appellees, Roberta A. Hetterick and Monica Harless

George A. Katchmer, 1886 Brock Road, N.E., Bloomingburg, Ohio 43106, for defendant- appellee, Heather Hetterick

PIPER, J.

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, Ralph Hetterick, appeals a decision of the Brown County

Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, finding him in contempt for failing to

pay college-related expenses as ordered in a divorce decree. Brown CA2012-02-002

Statement of Facts

{¶ 2} Ralph (Father) and Roberta (Mother) Hetterick were married in 1981, and had

two children born issue of the marriage. Father and Mother divorced in 2005, at which time,

both children were emancipated. Within the parties' Separation Agreement, Father agreed to

be "solely responsible for payment of the college expenses of the two children of the parties *

* *." Father further agreed to hold Mother harmless on the children's student loan debt that

existed at the time of the separation, as well as "future college expenses for each of the two

children, not to exceed 4 years."

{¶ 3} The Separation Agreement also contained an incorporation clause,

incorporating the agreement regarding college expenses into the divorce decree. Within that

incorporation clause, the parties agreed that Father's obligation regarding the college

expenses was limited to a total of four years for each child and that the older child, Monica,

had already completed three years of college so that Father "shall pay for 1 additional year."

At the time of the agreement, Heather, the younger child, was a freshman in college and

Father was obligated to pay for "3 ½ years" of her college expenses.

{¶ 4} Father initiated several federal loans designed for parents in order to pay for the

college expenses. While Monica did not finish college, and instead got married and began

having children, Heather began taking general-course classes at the University of Cincinnati,

Clermont campus. Although Heather had been accepted into a school in New York, she

agreed to stay in Ohio so that she could live with her grandparents and save her father

money on room and board. Heather would initiate loans in her name that were intended for

students, and either pay for books or give the money to Father to pay on the overall college

expenses. The first few years of Heather's college experience passed without much incident.

{¶ 5} However, when Heather began the final years of her schooling, Father refused

to take out additional loans to pay for summer courses and a trip to France that Heather -2- Brown CA2012-02-002

needed in order to complete her degree in Marketing and International Business. Heather

first informed her father of her intention to take summer classes in order to ensure her

graduation within four years. However, Father told her that he was not going to pay for

college courses during the summer. Heather also informed Father that she was required to

study abroad as part of the curriculum for International Business, and that she was going to

France. Father also refused to pay for the study abroad program. In addition to the student

loans she had already taken out in her own name for college expenses, Heather was forced

to take out loans in her own name to pay for the summer classes, as well as the study

abroad program. Heather graduated from college and became liable on the student loans

she procured in her own name, and those she procured in order to pay for summer school

and the study abroad program.

{¶ 6} Also during this time, Mother received multiple calls from Great Lakes, the

servicer of Monica's student loans, stating that loan payments were not being made. Mother

informed Great Lakes that Father was under a court-ordered obligation to pay for the loans,

and to hold her harmless. While Father paid the loan payments, he did so sporadically and

the payments were often late. Nonetheless, Mother did not pay a single loan payment, and

Father continued to make payments.

{¶ 7} When Mother received more phone calls from Great Lakes, she filed a show

cause motion, alleging that Father was in contempt for not paying the loans as ordered in the

Separation Agreement and divorce decree. Mother also asserted that her credit rating had

suffered because of Father's late payments, and that she was unable to receive financing for

her own educational endeavors as a result.

{¶ 8} Monica and Heather were granted leave to join in the contempt motion. Monica

asserted that Father's failure to pay on the loan for her college expenses negatively impacted

her credit, that she and her husband were unable to obtain a mortgage with favorable interest -3- Brown CA2012-02-002

rates, and that she had been unable to refinance her home to a more favorable interest rate.

Heather asserted that Father failed to pay for the loans in her name, including those taken

out to pay for the summer courses and the study abroad trip, and that his failure to do so was

impacting her credit negatively because evidence of default appeared on her credit report.

Heather also produced evidence that she had been forced to make payments on the loans in

her name to stop the negative impact on her credit.

{¶ 9} A magistrate held a hearing on the joint motion to show cause, at which Mother,

Monica, Heather, and Father testified and submitted evidence regarding the loans, payments

made, and outstanding balances that were due and owing. The magistrate found that Father

failed to pay all of the college expenses as ordered in the divorce decree. The magistrate

further found that Mother's credit had been harmed, but that Monica's credit rating had been

harmed by other factors not limited to Father's late payment history. The magistrate also

found that Father was required by the divorce decree to pay for Heather's college expenses,

which included the loans Heather took out in her own name, as well as the loans Heather

procured for the summer courses and study abroad trip.

{¶ 10} The magistrate, finding Father in contempt, ordered that Father serve 30 days

in jail, and suspended that sentence provided that Father comply and pay the college

expenses as ordered. Within the orders, Father was required to bring current all the student

loan payments, as well as pay Heather directly for the amounts she had paid toward her

student loans. Father was also ordered to pay attorney fees to Mother and Heather. The

magistrate ordered that Father was required to comply with the orders within six months, or

serve the 30-day sentence.

{¶ 11} Father filed objections to the magistrate's decision, arguing that the magistrate

erred in finding that he had failed to pay all of Heather's college expenses, and by finding that

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2013 Ohio 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hetterick-v-hetterick-ohioctapp-2013.