Kadel v. Kadel

250 N.E.2d 420, 21 Ohio Misc. 232, 49 Ohio Op. 2d 179, 1969 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 260
CourtClark County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedFebruary 20, 1969
DocketNo. 59798
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 250 N.E.2d 420 (Kadel v. Kadel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Clark County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kadel v. Kadel, 250 N.E.2d 420, 21 Ohio Misc. 232, 49 Ohio Op. 2d 179, 1969 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 260 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1969).

Opinion

Goldman, J.

The relevant facts are as follows:

On August 11, 1964, plaintiff filed her petition against defendant seeking a divorce, alimony (both temporary and permanent), and certain real property, and praying the court to determine the equity she had in a certain corporation which operated a restaurant in the city of Springfield, Ohio.

No answer having been filed by the defendant, the petition came on for hearing without contest on October 5, 1964, following which a decree of divorce was granted and the defendant ordered to pay plaintiff the sum of $50 per week for one year, and further to pay within one year the sum of $8,194.04, which the court found represented such interest as she possessed in the restaurant, and plaintiff was granted certain other relief as therein provided for.

The specific provisions that are involved in the instant matter are as follows:

“It is further ordered by the court that the said defendant pay or cause to be paid to the plaintiff herein the sum of $50 per week for one year; that such payments so ordered by this court be paid by the defendant through the Clerk of the Common Pleas Court, Clark County, Ohio, commencing on the date of the filing of this entry of final decree and continuing each week thereafter for a period of one year.
“It is further ordered by the court that, as a full and complete settlement of all moneys due this plaintiff from the defendant, the said defendant pay or cause to be paid to the plaintiff the sum of $8,194.04, representing such interest as she possessed in KadePs Colonial Hideaway, [234]*234Inc., and more specifically the assignment of 250 shares of plaintiff’s stock in Kadel’s Colonial Hideaway, line., the owners of Kadel’s Hideaway real property, to Worthington O. Kadel; that such sum so ordered by this court be paid by the defendant to the plaintiff within one year from the date of the filing of this entry.”

The decree of divorce was signed by counsel for the plaintiff and also by the defendant himself, thus signifying his awareness of the order made by the court and his waiver of any objection thereto.

Thereafter the defendant was cited into court on several occasions for his alleged willful failure to comply with both the order for weekly payments and for the payment of the sum which the court ordered him to pay within one year.

Finally, on June 3,1968, upon application of the plaintiff, a judgment was rendered by this court for $100, which represented that portion of the weekly payments which still remained unpaid, and for $8,194.04, representing the lump sum which the defendant was ordered to pay within a year but which he had completely failed to pay; for a total sum of $8,294.04. On the same date charges in contempt were filed because of defendant’s failure to comply with the orders of this court, and the defendant was further ordered to appear to show cause why he should not be punished for violating the orders of the court.

Thereafter, on November 4, 1968, hearing on the contempt citation was held, at which time the parties appeared in court with counsel and at which time evidence was taken.

At this hearing the defendant offered as a defense for his failure to comply with the orders of the court, and as a reason why he should not be cited for contempt, his discharge in bankruptcy. It appeared and it was agreed and stipulated that the defendant had filed his petition in bankruptcy on August 29, 1966, that the case was closed on December 9, 1966, and that plaintiff’s claim for alimony and moneys due under the decree granting her a divorce was not included in defendant’s schedule of debts, nor was plaintiff herself served with notice by the Bankruptcy [235]*235Court of such filing. (All emphasis by italics in this decision is by the court.)

At the hearing it was further established that plaintiff had remarried following her divorce, that her present husband from whom she is now estranged was a creditor of the defendant at the time the petition in bankruptcy was filed, and that her husband as creditor actually did receive formal notice of the bankruptcy proceedings. However, plaintiff denied that she received similar notice, and was not certain as to whether she herself ever became aware of the bankruptcy proceedings during the period they were pending.

Under these circumstances, was the obligation imposed on defendant by this court discharged in bankruptcy?

Plaintiff contends it was not, because of the provision of the Bankruptcy Act itself. 11 U. S. Code, Section 35, titled “Debts not affected by discharge,” provides in part as follows:

“A discharge in bankruptcy shall release a bankrupt from all of his provable debts, whether allowable in full or in part, except such as * * * (2) are liabilities for * * * alimony due or to become due, or for maintenance or support of wife or child. * * *”

Defendant, on the other hand, contends that the obligation imposed on the defendant was in fact a result of a property settlement agreement between the parties, as distinguished from alimony, and therefore was not exempt from discharge. Following the hearing, briefs were filed and the matter submitted to the court for decision.

The authority of the court to issue the order involved is found in Section 3105.18, Revised Code, which section is titled “Alimony,” and is as follows:

“The court of common pleas may allow alimony as it deems reasonable to either party, having due regard to property which came to either by their marriage, the earning capacity of either and the value of real and personal estate of either, at the time of the decree.
“Such alimony may be allowed in real or personal property, or both, or by decreeing a sum of money, pay[236]*236able either in gross or by installments, as the court deems equitable.”

The evidence revealed that the sum of $8,194.04 which was awarded to the plaintiff in the decree reflected three loans which plaintiff had made in behalf of the defendant in order to acquire an interest in the restaurant business, which loans she had become obligated to repay. This award, therefore, was made after taking into consideration how the property which the parties owned came to either of them, as contemplated by the statute, and was also related to and obviously concerned with her future maintenance and support.

Defendant contends that this award was tantamount to a property settlement and was not, strictly speaking, “alimony.” The few authorities submitted in support of defendant’s contention suggest that in some instances differences between property settlements and alimony have been recognized, but only where there was in fact an agreement or contract between the parties themselves with respect to a division of their property. However, neither the decree nor the evidence offered warrants any finding that the order made by this court was a result of a contract or agreement between the parties respecting the same.

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Bluebook (online)
250 N.E.2d 420, 21 Ohio Misc. 232, 49 Ohio Op. 2d 179, 1969 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kadel-v-kadel-ohctcomplclark-1969.