Hurst v. Hurst

2014 Ohio 4762
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 27, 2014
DocketCA2013-10-100
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2014 Ohio 4762 (Hurst v. Hurst) 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
Hurst v. Hurst, 2014 Ohio 4762 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

[Cite as Hurst v. Hurst, 2014-Ohio-4762.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

WARREN COUNTY

JEFFREY HURST, : CASE NO. CA2013-10-100 Plaintiff-Appellee, : OPINION : 10/27/2014 - vs - :

SHEILA HURST n.k.a. SILVA, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

APPEAL FROM WARREN COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISION Case No. 07DR31257

Jason A. Showen, 324 East Warren Street, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, for plaintiff-appellee

Penick & Deters, Bryan K. Penick, 1800 Lyons Road, Dayton, Ohio 45458, for defendant- appellant

M. POWELL, J.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Sheila Hurst (Mother), appeals a decision in the Warren

County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division. For the reasons detailed

below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

{¶ 2} Mother and plaintiff-appellee, Jeffrey Hurst (Father), married in 1991. The

couple has five children, four of whom remain minors: Ja.H., M.H., Jo.H., A.H. In 2008, Warren CA2013-10-100

Father and Mother divorced and entered into a shared parenting plan, which essentially

allowed them to maintain equal parenting time with the children. During this time, Father and

Mother both lived in Carlisle, Ohio located in Warren County and the children attended

school in the Carlisle School District.

{¶ 3} In July 2012, Mother decided to move to San Antonio, Texas to be closer to her

extended family and care for her ill father. Mother also applied for, and subsequently

accepted, a new employment opportunity at Bill Miller's Barbeque in San Antonio, which

provided her with a higher wage than she previously earned in Carlisle.

{¶ 4} On July 18, 2012, Mother sent an email to Father indicating her intentions to

accept the new position at Bill Miller's Barbeque and relocate to San Antonio. Subsequently,

both Mother and Father moved to modify the shared parenting plan and separately sought

custody of the minor children. In addition, Mother and Father also moved to suspend and

modify child support based on the pertinent changes to custody. During the pendency of this

matter, all of the minor children remained in Carlisle with Father and continued to attend

school in the Carlisle School District. Mother remained in San Antonio.

{¶ 5} The case was tried to a magistrate on June 13, 2013. The parties agreed that

Ja.H. would reside in Carlisle with Father. The only contested issues were the living

arrangements for M.H., Jo.H., and A.H. and the consequent issues relating to child support.

{¶ 6} In a written decision, the magistrate found that it was in Jo.H.'s and A.H.'s best 1 interest to reside with Father, and in M.H.'s best interest to reside with Mother. In its

decision, the magistrate noted that Mother had made minimal efforts to see the children since

she moved to San Antonio and had only seen them four times since August 2012. The

magistrate also acknowledged that, since Mother's move to San Antonio, Father has had the

1. The trial court also found that it was in the best interest of Ja.H. to reside with Father, however, that finding is not contested by the parties. -2- Warren CA2013-10-100

sole responsibility to care for the children and Mother had not contributed to the support of

the children. The magistrate further found that the children have done very well while in

Father's care. Specifically, the children earned straight As on their report cards and A.H. was

promoted to first grade. Furthermore, the children were involved in a number of

extracurricular activities and are well-adapted socially.

{¶ 7} In addition to the evidence presented by the parties, the magistrate also

considered the wishes of the children. The magistrate concluded that A.H. was not

sufficiently mature to express her wishes concerning parenting. However, Jo.H. and M.H.

were sufficiently mature to express their wishes, with Jo.H. indicating a desire to reside with

Father during the school year and M.H. indicating a desire to reside with Mother during the

school year. Both children expressed a desire to spend as much time as possible with their

nonresidential parent during the summer months.

{¶ 8} Because of the change in custodial arrangements, the magistrate made two

child support orders. Each order was based upon Mother's present income at Biller Miller's

Barbeque of $44,900. The first order was based upon the retroactive child support Father

was entitled to as the residential parent for all four children from the time Mother moved to

San Antonio in July 2012 until the current order. The second order addressed future child

support payments based upon the split-custody arrangement, with Father the residential

parent of three children and Mother the residential parent of one child. The magistrate did

not deviate from the child support called for pursuant to the applicable child support

worksheets and schedules. Finally, the magistrate also concluded that, because it was

Mother's sole decision to relocate to San Antonio, Mother should be responsible for all travel

costs associated with the exercise of parenting time.

{¶ 9} Mother filed eight objections to the magistrate's decision and the trial court

subsequently overruled those objections. Mother now appeals the decision of the trial court, -3- Warren CA2013-10-100

raising four assignments of error for review.

{¶ 10} Assignment of Error No. 1:

{¶ 11} THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY ORDERING MOTHER TO

PAY ALL TRANSPORTATION COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PARENTING TIME.

{¶ 12} In her first assignment of error, appellant argues the trial court abused its

discretion in the division of travel expenses associated with parenting time.

{¶ 13} When fashioning a visitation order for a nonresidential parent, trial courts are

required to issue an order that is "just and reasonable" under all the conditions the court

directs. Ornelas v. Ornelas, 12th Dist. Warren No. CA2011-08-094, 2012-Ohio-4106, ¶ 60,

citing R.C. 3109.051. Although there is not an express statutory provision authorizing trial

courts to allocate travel expenses associated with visitation, courts have found that trial

courts possess this authority. Id., citing Carlson v. Carlson, 3d Dist. Union No. 14-88-20,

1990 WL 72413, *4 (June 4, 1990); and Rayner v. Rayner, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 14011,

1994 WL 312930, *10 (June 29, 1994). In determining whether a trial court abused its

discretion in allocating travel expenses, courts have considered the relative income of the

parents and whether one parent moved from the place of residence. Burnett v. Burnett, 2d

Dist. Clark No. 02-CA-04, 2002-Ohio-3561. In Burnett, a visitation order that required a

mother to bear the entire expense associated with visitation was affirmed where the mother

earned substantially more income than the father and where mother voluntarily relocated. Id.

at ¶ 36.

{¶ 14} We begin by noting that the record reflects that the children are well-bonded

with both parents and it is in the best interests of the children to have parenting time with

both of their parents. The trial court's order provides that, during the school year, Ja.H.,

Jo.H., and A.H. are to reside in Ohio with Father and M.H. is to reside with Mother in San

Antonio. After school lets out in the summer, Ja.H., Jo.H., and A.H. are to travel to San -4- Warren CA2013-10-100

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