In re A.B.M.

2020 Ohio 3590
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 2, 2020
Docket108440
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2020 Ohio 3590 (In re A.B.M.) 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
In re A.B.M., 2020 Ohio 3590 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

[Cite as In re A.B.M., 2020-Ohio-3590.]

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

IN RE A.B.M. : : No. 108440 A Minor Child : : [Appeal by Father, T.M.] :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: July 2, 2020

Civil Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Division Case No. CU-16-117933

Appearances:

Stafford Law Co., L.P.A., Joseph G. Stafford, and Nicole A. Cruz, for appellant.

The Law Office of Eric J. Cherry and Eric J. Cherry, for appellee.

ANITA LASTER MAYS, J.:

Appellant T.M., the established father (“Father”) of minor child

A.B.M., appeals the March 12, 2019 judgment of the Cuyahoga County Court of

Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, arising from a custody action. For the reasons

stated herein, we affirm. I. Background and Facts

This court recently issued an opinion in In re A.B.M., 8th Dist.

Cuyahoga No. 107556, 2019-Ohio-3183 (“A.B.M. I”). In that case, Father appealed

the August 20, 2018 judgment entry (“Parenting Order”) that determined the

parental rights of Father and M.R. (“Mother”), the single mother of A.B.M. Excerpts

of the opinion that are pertinent to the current appeal are included below.

A.B.M. was born to [Mother] * * * shortly after Mother’s high school graduation. Father was also a recent high school graduate. On March 11, 2014, Father was established as the biological father by the Cuyahoga County Department of Job and Family Services (“CCDJFS”). The parties never married but lived together sporadically.

Id. at ¶ 2.

Father moved to Florida in January 2015, Mother and A.B.M.

followed shortly afterward. After several moves between Florida and Ohio,

Father decided to remain in Ohio. Mother decided to remain in Florida. On December 12, 2016, Father filed an application to determine custody of A.B.M. and a motion to restrain Mother from returning to Florida after Mother’s visit to Ohio. Father alleged that Mother: (1) was unable to provide stable living conditions, (2) had not maintained stable employment for more than three months in the past two years, and (3) A.B.M., who was four years of age at the time, had not been in a structured school environment.

The trial court granted the ex parte motion filed by Father on March 17, 2017, to restrain Mother from returning to Florida where she and A.B.M. were residing. An interim parenting order was issued governing visitation.

Id. at ¶ 3-4.

At the April 25, 2018 hearing, the trial court heard testimony from

Father, Mother, the maternal grandmother, and the guardian ad litem. Mother testified that she became engaged and gave birth to her fiancé’s child while in

Florida. She planned to return to Florida with A.B.M. if the trial court allowed.

The trial court awarded equal parenting time to Father and Mother, designated each parent as the legal custodian and residential parent during their respective parenting times, and designated Mother as residential parent for school purposes. Father was ordered to pay child support of $214.47 per month and was also required to provide health insurance. The trial court also set forth parenting time in the event the Mother chose to move to Florida after filing a notice of intent to relocate.

Id. at ¶ 34.

This court addressed Father’s opposition to the relocation decision:

Father challenges the trial court’s finding that “[s]hould mother choose to move to Florida and upon the filing of a notice of intent to relocate, Father shall have the standard long-distance parenting time.” Journal entry No. 0911440943, page 2. Father asserts that the trial court failed to determine that relocating was in the child’s best interest and the court did not consider the costs associated with the standard long- distance parenting schedule.

In re A.B.M., 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 107556, 2019-Ohio-3183, at ¶ 52.

This court decided

The trial court’s requirement that Mother file a notice of intent to relocate does not negate the right of Father to oppose the notice based on appropriate grounds. See, e.g., In re R.N., 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 87027, 2006-Ohio-4266, ¶ 11 (relocation alone does not constitute changed circumstances justifying a parenting modification). Based on the evidence before us and the presumption afforded by the absence of findings of fact [in this case], we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in determining that the relocation is in the child’s best interest.

Id. at ¶ 56.

Finally, this court concluded that “there is competent, credible

evidence supporting our determination that the conclusion of the trial court is in the child’s best interest.” Id. at ¶ 57, citing In re A.M.S., 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 98384,

2012-Ohio-5078, ¶ 18, and In re L.S., 152 Ohio App.3d 500, 2003-Ohio-2045, 788

N.E.2d 696 (8th Dist.).

The A.B.M. I opinion was released and journalized on August 8, 2019.

Postjudgment and prior to the release of A.B.M. I, the trial court denied Father’s

motion to stay execution of the Parenting Order pending appeal in A.B.M. I. On

September 21, 2018, this court denied Father’s stay request, and on October 9, 2018,

Father again asked the trial court to stay execution of the Parenting Order to

preempt Mother’s anticipated relocation filing.

Mother filed the relocation notice on October 10, 2018, and

immediately relocated to Florida with A.B.M. Sua sponte, on October 12, 2018, the

trial court issued an order restraining the relocation and granted temporary custody

of A.B.M. to Father pursuant to Juv.R. 13 (“Restraining Order”). The same date,

Mother moved to vacate the Restraining Order on the ground that the Parenting

Order provided that Mother could relocate upon filing a notice to relocate, and it set

forth the long-distance visitation schedule in the event of relocation. Mother also

provided evidence of employment and, subsequently, housing and school

enrollment.

On October 17, 2018, Father demanded attorney fees and litigation

expenses in his request that Mother be held in contempt for violating the Parenting

Order and the Restraining Order. Mother filed for temporary custody on

November 13, 2018. On November 27, 2018, Father opposed the motion and advised that documentation had been filed in Florida and a hearing was scheduled

to register the temporary custody order for enforcement.

Mother allowed A.B.M. to return to Ohio with Father during the

Christmas break with the understanding he would deliver A.B.M. to Mother at the

January 2019 hearing on the pending motions. Upon his return to Ohio, Father

notified Mother that A.B.M. would remain with Father due to the temporary custody

award.

The January hearing was rescheduled to March 8, 2019. This court

denied Father’s March 4, 2019 renewed emergency motion to stay the Parenting

Order pursuant to App.R. 7(A). A stay was currently pending in the trial court and

this court did “not find it impracticable” for Father to “wait for the trial court to rule

on the pending motion to stay.” Journal entry No. 0912094958 (Mar. 6, 2019).

The hearing proceeded on March 8, 2019. On March 12, 2019, the

trial court issued a decision. The trial court determined that “based on the facts that

have arisen since the filing of the final judgment entry and that were known to the

Court at the time” of the original entry, “no change of circumstance has occurred

necessitating a modification of the Court’s order to serve the best interests of the

child.” Id.

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2020 Ohio 3590, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-abm-ohioctapp-2020.