Orwick v. Orwick, Unpublished Decision (9-21-2005)

2005 Ohio 5055
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 21, 2005
DocketNo. 04 JE 14.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 2005 Ohio 5055 (Orwick v. Orwick, Unpublished Decision (9-21-2005)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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
Orwick v. Orwick, Unpublished Decision (9-21-2005), 2005 Ohio 5055 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

OPINION
{¶ 1} Appellant Leonard Orwick is appealing a number of aspects contained in his divorce decree issued by the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas. Appellant challenges, inter alia, the award of spousal support, the court's finding that Appellant committed financial misconduct, the division of marital property, the court's failure to reserve jurisdiction over spousal support, and the trial court's decision to allow Appellee to be restored to her former name. The trial court does appear to have erred in its calculation and distribution of the marital debt, and the divorce decree is hereby reversed and remanded for further proceedings to clarify or correct the division of marital property.

{¶ 2} The parties were married in 1974. They had two children, who are now emancipated. After 28 years of marriage, Appellant filed for divorce on June 11, 2002.

{¶ 3} On June 24, 2002, Appellee filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent Appellant from disposing of marital assets. Appellee alleged that Appellant had recently disposed of a pontoon boat and a personal jet ski, and had depleted marital banking accounts. The motion was granted on July 15, 2002.

{¶ 4} On July 10, 2002, Appellee filed a request for production of documents, asking for disclosure of the parties' financial records for the prior four and one-half years. Appellee filed a motion to compel discovery on August 26, 2002. The court sustained the motion on September 13, 2002, and ordered Appellant to provide the financial data within 30 days. Appellee filed another motion to compel discovery on February 28, 2003. Appellant filed his own motion to compel discovery on March 12, 2003. A hearing on the motions was held on March 24, 2003.

{¶ 5} On March 26, 2003, the trial court ordered Sky Bank and GM MasterCard to turn over records to both parties, and ordered both parties to promptly respond to any outstanding interrogatories, requests for admissions, and requests for production of documents.

{¶ 6} The final divorce hearing was held on June 12, 2003.

{¶ 7} On March 5, 2004, the court filed its Finding of Facts.

{¶ 8} On March 23, 2004, Appellee filed a motion to have her maiden name restored.

{¶ 9} On April 7, 2004, the court filed its Final Decree of Divorce. Appellant was 53 and Appellee was 52 years old at the time the divorce was granted. The court awarded Appellee spousal support of $500 per month. The court divided the household goods, vehicles, and miscellaneous items almost evenly, except that Appellant was required to reimburse Appellee for one-half the value of a pontoon boat and a personal jet ski that he sold, and Appellee was required to reimburse Appellant for one-half the amount that she had withdrawn from a checking account.

{¶ 10} On July 8, 2004, Appellant filed with this Court a motion for a stay of proceedings, which was in actuality a motion for stay of execution. Appellant had filed a similar motion with the trial court, which was denied on April 27, 2004.

{¶ 11} On July 21, 2004, this Court granted Appellant's motion for a stay of execution of two aspects of the divorce decree: 1) the disposition of the marital home; and 2) the disposition of the Appellant's pension. The stay did not apply to any other aspect of the decree.

First Assignment of Error
{¶ 12} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY THE COURT'S OWN ADMISSION THAT IT FAILED TO RESERVE JURISDICTION ON THE AWARD OF SPOUSAL SUPPORT"

{¶ 13} R.C. § 3105.18(E)(1) provides for modification of the amount or terms of spousal support if the court determines that the circumstances of either party have changed and if the divorce decree contains a provision "specifically authorizing" such modification. The decision as to whether to include a provision retaining jurisdiction to modify spousal support is a matter within the trial court's discretion. Johnson v.Johnson (1993), 88 Ohio App.3d 329, 331, 623 N.E.2d 1294. An abuse of discretion is, "more than an error of law or judgment; it implies that the court's attitude is unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable."Blakemore v. Blakemore (1983), 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219. Abuse of discretion signifies a, "perversity of will, passion, prejudice, partiality, or moral delinquency." Pons v. Ohio State Med. Bd. (1993), 66 Ohio St.3d 619,621, 614 N.E.2d 748.

{¶ 14} Appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by attempting to force Appellant into giving up his right to appeal in order to have the trial court reserve jurisdiction to modify spousal support. The record does not support Appellant's allegation. First, there is nothing in the record, up to and including the time that the divorce decree was filed, that mentions in any way whether the trial court would reserve jurisdiction to modify spousal support. The evidence Appellant cites is from the transcript of the hearing on Appellant's motion for stay of execution of the divorce decree, held on April 26, 2004. Assuming arguendo that this transcript is even admissible on appeal of a judgment entry filed two weeks earlier, the trial judge stated the following:

{¶ 15} "I am telling you I did leave out the retaining jurisdiction which should have been included. I can do a nunc pro tunc and correct that if that's all there is. If there's other issues I guess it won't help." (4/26/04 Tr., pp. 11-12.)

{¶ 16} There is nothing in the trial judge's statement that can be construed as a threat to Appellant. Furthermore, Appellant does not appear to have filed a motion for the trial court to correct the divorce decree nunc pro tunc, as offered by the trial court.

{¶ 17} Although Appellant did not raise any other arguments under this assignment of error, the wording of his assignment of error appears to imply that the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to include, sua sponte, the reservation of jurisdiction language in the divorce decree. We are mindful of a fairly large body of caselaw that allows for an abuse of discretion review when a trial court orders a relatively long period of spousal support and fails to expressly state, sua sponte, that it is reserving jurisdiction to modify the spousal support award. As stated in Berthelot v. Berthelot, 154 Ohio App.3d 101,2003-Ohio-4519, 796 N.E.2d 541:

{¶ 18} "Where a trial court orders spousal support for definite periods of relatively long duration without a reservation of authority to modify the amount of support due to a change of circumstances, the trial court may be found to have abused its discretion." Id. at ¶ 55.

{¶ 19}

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Bluebook (online)
2005 Ohio 5055, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/orwick-v-orwick-unpublished-decision-9-21-2005-ohioctapp-2005.