Kaufman v. Kaufman

7 Ohio App. Unrep. 81
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 30, 1990
DocketCase No. 9-88-28
StatusPublished

This text of 7 Ohio App. Unrep. 81 (Kaufman v. Kaufman) 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
Kaufman v. Kaufman, 7 Ohio App. Unrep. 81 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

MILLER, J.

This is an appeal by defendant-appellant, Charlene Sue Kaufman, from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Marion County granting a divorce and division of marital property from plaintiff-appellee/cross-appellant, Martin Theodore Kaufman. Defendant asserts prejudicial error with regard to the valuation of certain marital property, the division of the marital property, conditions placed by the trial court upon the alimony award, and denial of a motion for attorney fees.

Plaintiff and defendant were married July 31, 1964 in Monroe, Michigan. Three children were born as the issue of the marriage, all of whom are now emancipated.

Plaintiff filed for divorce on November 20, 1986 on the ground that the parties had been separated for more than one year. Defendant filed her answer and cross-complaint alleging adultery on the part of plaintiff. The case was heard before a Referee who issued a report and recommendation, which was filed on October 1, 1987. Both parties filed objections to the report of the Referee and the trial court, upon hearing the objections, ordered the matter to be tried de novo.

After hearings were held on two separate dates, the trial court issued a Memorandum of Decision on May 18, 1988. Judgment was entered on June 16, 1988. In its decision, the trial court divided the property basically along lines of possession already agreed upon by the parties, valued the property, and determined the amount in possession of each party. Plaintiff was found to have received $61,747.39 more than plaintiff, and was ordered to pay half that amount to defendant plus $2,000.00 a month in sustenance alimony for 60 months or until the defendant died, remarried, or cohabitated with a male person who was not her spouse

Defendant appealed from this judgment setting forth five assignments of error and plaintiff cross-appealed also setting forth five assignments of ermr.

Before addressing the specific assignments of error, we note that it is well settled law in Ohio that a trial court is "vested with broad powers in determining the appropriate scope of property awards in divorce actions." Berish v. Berish (1982), 69 Ohio St. 2d 318, 319; second, "A reviewing court cannot substitute its judgment for that of the trial court unless, considering the totality of the circumstance^ the trial court abused its discretion." Kunkle v. Kunkle (1990), 51 Ohio St. 3d 64, 67; and finally, "(TJhe mere fact that a property division is unequal, does not, standing alone, amount to an abuse of discretion." Cherry v. Cherry (1981), 66 Ohio St. 2d 348, 353.

We consider the first two assignments of error together.

1. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED SUBSTANTIAL ERROR PREJUDICIAL TO THE APPELLANT WHICH AMOUNTED TO AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION IN MAKING AN INEQUITABLE DIVISION OF PROPERTY.

2. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED SUBSTANTIAL ERROR PREJUDICIAL TO THE APPELLANT BY ACCEPTING A VALUATION OF THE APPELLEE-HUSBAND'S BUSINESS WHICH FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THE INCOME PRODUCING POTENTIAL OF THIS MARITAL ASSET.

Assignments of error one and two are primarily directed to the trial court's valuation of the R.I.K. Corporation of which the plaintiff is the sole stock holder. Defendant's differences with the trial court's valuation of the plaintiffs corporation are two-fold. First, defendant claims that the accounting method accepted by the trial court in placing a value on the corporation was in error, and second, that the trial court erred in computing the liabilities of the corporation. We will address the second contention first.

Plaintiff bought the corporation from his mother for $300,000 after she had removed virtually all of the corporation's liquid assets Plaintiff paid $50,000 down, $15,000 of which came from the sale of a diaper service owned by both the plaintiff and defendant and the balance from a $35,000 bank loan. The $250,000 balance was secured by a promissory note signed by plaintiff and defendant payable to plaintiffs mother.

In a separate letter addressed to the plaintiff, and dated the same date as the promissory note, plaintiffs mother agreed that no demand for payment on the promissory note would be [83]*83made during her lifetime, in the absence of a disposition of the business, a sale of the corporate stock, or insolvency of the corporation. Furthermore, the letter stated that upon her death, the unpaid amount of the note would be included as a debt owed to her estate and that plaintiff s share of the estate would be applied to the satisfaction of the nota

Sometime after the sale of the corporation, plaintiffs mother made a $10,000 gift to all of her children. The plaintiffs gift was in the form of a $10,000 reduction in the balance due on the promissory note.

The trial court determined that the net value of the corporation at $165,784.39. The court arrived at this figure by reducing the value of the corporation in the amount of both the remaining balance on the promissory note ($240,000) and the $10,000 gift. We conclude that the trial court, in its broad discretion, did so properly.

Defendant contends that the $240,000 treated as a liability of the corporation is, in fact, a future inheritance of the plaintiff. Although R.C. 3105.18 requires the trial court to consider the expectancies and inheritances of the parties, the amount due on the note is not, as defendant claims, an inheritance during the marriage. Furthermore, defendant is not entitled to an award of a future interest in plaintiffs inheritance "Under R.C. 3105.18, the inheritance is a factor to be considered in awarding... sustenance alimony, but it is not a current asset to be divided either at the time of the divorce or in the future." Buckles a Buckles (1988), 46 Ohio App. 3d 102, 114. The anticipated inheritance from plaintiffs mother is not yet realized by the plaintiff, and should plaintiffs mother's estate be inadequate at her death to accomplish the goal of satisfying the promissory note, the plaintiff will be required to pay the note and the expected inheritance will never come into being.

Neither did the trial court abuse its discretion in crediting plaintiff with the amount of the $10,000 gift. As stated in Buckles, supra, at 111, property brought into the marriage is normally subject to division-of-property alimony, except when that property "is acquired by one spouse during the marriage by bequest, devise or gift from a third party unless such property so acquired was used for purposes of the marriage." Here, we cannot say that the $10,000 gift was used for purposes of the marriage It was a gift in the form of a reduction on a debt owed by the plaintiff to the grantor of the gift, plaintiffs mother.

The defendant also asserts that the method for valuating the corporation offered by the plaintiff, and accepted by the trial court, was reversible error. In support of this claim, defendant cites a decision of this Court, Collier v. Collier (1987), 36 Ohio App. 3d 130. In Collier, supra, the trial court used a balance sheet method for valuation of the husband's interest in a professional corporation. This court reversed on the grounds that it was prejudicial error for the trial court to fail to take into consideration the income producing potential of the corporation. Here, the trial court also used the balance sheet method of valuation. The difference, however, between Collier, supra, and this case is that the professional corporation in Collier, supra, was formed for the primary function of funding a pension plan.

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Related

Buckles v. Buckles
546 N.E.2d 950 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1988)
Collier v. Collier
521 N.E.2d 849 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1987)
Cohen v. Cohen
456 N.E.2d 581 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1983)
Cherry v. Cherry
421 N.E.2d 1293 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1981)
Berish v. Berish
432 N.E.2d 183 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1982)
Ressler v. Ressler
476 N.E.2d 1032 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1985)
Rand v. Rand
481 N.E.2d 609 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1985)
Stevens v. Stevens
492 N.E.2d 131 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1986)
Kunkle v. Kunkle
554 N.E.2d 83 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1990)

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