In Re Street, Unpublished Decision (8-25-2005)

2005 Ohio 4469
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 25, 2005
DocketNo. 05 BE 2.
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2005 Ohio 4469 (In Re Street, Unpublished Decision (8-25-2005)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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In Re Street, Unpublished Decision (8-25-2005), 2005 Ohio 4469 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION
{¶ 1} Appellant Johanna Harman appeals an order of the Belmont County Juvenile Court which set a schedule of grandparents visitation. The issues presented are whether the court gave special weight to the mother's wishes and whether the court properly applied a prior consent order. For the following reasons, the trial court's decision is reversed because the consent order specifically provided that the effect of the mother's failure to cooperate would be a motion by the grandparents for visitation, the grandparents never filed a motion for visitation, and thus, the court did not consider the statutory factors for grandparents visitation.

STATEMENT OF FACTS
{¶ 2} Johanna Harman gave birth to a daughter on January 8, 2003. Ronald Street II was determined to be the father, and child support was ordered administratively. Although the mother acted as the sole custodian, no official orders concerning custody and visitation existed. Thus, on June 23, 2004, the mother filed a motion to allocate parental rights and responsibilities asking that she be appointed residential parent and that she receive the tax exemption. The father responded with his own motion asking for sole or shared parenting and the tax exemption.

{¶ 3} When the case was called for hearing on August 4, 2004, the parties informed the court that an agreement had been reached. The father's counsel read his understanding of the agreement into the record. The mother would be the residential parent. The father would receive the tax exemption and more than standard visitation: every other weekend from Friday at 6:00 p.m. until Monday at 6:00 p.m., and on the alternating weeks, Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. until Thursday at 6:00 p.m. The father's counsel then stated:

{¶ 4} "In addition as has been common practice, not as much Mr. Street but his parents have helped as Johanna has um, proceeded with her post high school education, it's (inaudible) considered that help, continue to help with babysitting. They will not be definite days, or definite times but it would be considered in a capacity similar to what they have done in the past. * * *" (08/04/04 Tr. 4).

{¶ 5} "And just so there's no issue my clients understand that it's fully depended upon her (inaudible) scheduling and her need for the babysitting. * * * And basically this is if it would be a third party daycare provider, my client should be able to see the child there or pickup and deliver the child there. * * *" (08/04/04 Tr. 5).

{¶ 6} "I'm sorry. Thank you. There was one other matter Your Honor we have brought it to your attention at pretrial. As referenced Mr. Street has (inaudible) spent a lot of time with the child, but his parents have spent a great deal of time also, in an effort to resolve this we didn't want Miss Harm[a]n to think that once this is resolved then the Streets were going to come back and file something else and she's going to have to come back to Court. So we're here to stipulate and they're here to put on the record that any potential for grandparents visitation would be commenced with this so that as long as these terms are complied with and the occasionally babysitting or whatever continues then there would be no need for them to ever proceed with their own filing." (08/04/04 Tr. 6).

{¶ 7} The mother and the father then confirmed that this was their agreement and they are willing to comply. (08/04/04 Tr. 7). The paternal grandparents also confirmed that as long as there is compliance with the parenting time and babysitting time, they would not pursue their grandparents visitation rights. (08/04/04 Tr. 7-8). The court approved the agreement and asked that father's counsel prepare an entry within two weeks. Due to issues the mother had with the language used, the agreed entry was not signed by her counsel and filed by the court until October 5, 2004.

{¶ 8} Section 1 covers the father's parenting time. After setting forth his time, Section 1C provides:

{¶ 9} "The parties herein acknowledge that prior to and since the initial filings, Mr. Street and/or his parents, Ronald Street and Deborah Street, have provided day care assistance to Ms. Harman pursuant to her school and/or work schedule. Although a schedule with specifically identified days is not included herein, it is herein agreed that Mr. and Mrs. Street, as the paternal grandparents, shall continue to assist with day care in a format similar to what has been voluntarily undertaken by the parties prior to the initial filings."

{¶ 10} Thereafter, Section 4 advises:

{¶ 11} "It is further agreed that although Ronald Street and Debra Street had not filed a Petition to Establish Grandparents Rights, they wish to continue to cooperate with the afore described schedule and provide care and support for the child. Furthermore, it is herein agreed that so long as the above referenced terms and conditions continue as they have in the past and all parties abide by the terms set forth herein, neither Mr. nor Mrs. Street shall file an additional pleading seeking to establish visitation separate from that which is set forth herein."

{¶ 12} On October 29, 2004, the father filed a motion to hold the mother in contempt for enrolling the child in a day care and not asking the paternal grandparents to baby-sit. The mother then filed a motion to modify the order concerning the grandparents. She noted that she only used the day care for short periods of time between her classes and that she worried about the grandparents because they do not comply with her requests concerning her child. She also revealed that the grandparents were babysitting every other Monday and every other Thursday while the father worked and that this was what was contemplated by the agreement when giving the father more than standard visitation even though he worked during parts of it. She expressed concern that if the prior order remains, they will file contempt motions against her every time she declines their babysitting services.

{¶ 13} A hearing was held on December 22, 2004. The grandmother testified that she worked from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. (Tr. 16). She stated that the grandfather worked twelve hours Friday night, twelve hours Saturday night, and ten hours on Sunday. (Tr. 27-28). Thus, she said that together they are available to baby-sit all week. The grandmother noted that her son (the father herein) stays at her house during his entire parenting time. (Tr. 19). Thus, the child is at her house every other weekend from Friday at 6:00 p.m. until Monday at 6:00 p.m. and every other Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. until the next day at 6:00 p.m. She also noted that her son is not home during his parenting time on Mondays and Thursdays so she and her husband watch the child those entire days. (Tr. 20-21).

{¶ 14} The grandmother testified that during the spring quarter, she babysat the child on Tuesdays and Thursdays for eight hours while the mother was at school. (Tr. 23-24). She stated that under the agreement, she believed that if the mother had school for two hours here and there, she should be babysitting rather than a day care. (Tr. 26). Yet, she conceded that she never asked the mother if she could watch the child since the court order. (Tr. 25-26). She noted that it takes her twenty-five minutes to get to the court-ordered exchange point. (Tr. 27).

{¶ 15}

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Troxel v. Granville
530 U.S. 57 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Oliver v. Feldner
776 N.E.2d 499 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2002)
In Re Talkington, Unpublished Decision (8-9-2004)
2004 Ohio 4215 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2005 Ohio 4469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-street-unpublished-decision-8-25-2005-ohioctapp-2005.