Shteiwi v. Abdelmassih

2025 Ohio 2901
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided August 15, 2025·No. C-240429·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

CHRISTINA SHTEIWI, : APPEAL NO. C-240429 TRIAL NO. DR-2201712 Plaintiff-Appellee, :

vs. :

WILLIAM ABDELMASSIH, :

JUDGMENT ENTRY

Defendant-Appellant. :

This cause was heard upon the appeal, the record, the briefs, and arguments.

For the reasons set forth in the Opinion filed this date, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Further, the court holds that there were reasonable grounds for this appeal, allows no penalty, and orders that costs be taxed under App.R. 24.

The court further orders that (1) a copy of this Judgment with a copy of the Opinion attached constitutes the mandate, and (2) the mandate be sent to the trial court for execution under App.R. 27.

To the clerk: Enter upon the journal of the court on 8/15/2025 per order of the court.

By:_______________________ Administrative Judge

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

CHRISTINA SHTEIWI, : APPEAL NO. C-240429 TRIAL NO. DR-2201712

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

vs. : WILLIAM ABDELMASSIH, : OPINION Defendant-Appellant. :

Appeal From: Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division

Judgment Appealed From Is: Affirmed Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: August 15, 2025

Katz, Teller, Brant & Hild and Wijdan Jreisat, for Plaintiff-Appellee, DeBra Law, LLC, and Ryan L. DeBra, for Defendant-Appellant.

MOORE, Judge.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant William Abdelmassih (“Husband”) and plaintiff-

appellee Christina Shteiwi (“Wife”) countersued one another in a divorce action before the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division. Now, Husband appeals the lower court’s judgment, raising six assignments of error. These arguments concern the court’s classification of rental properties as marital assets, the court’s division of certain marital assets including cryptocurrencies, as well as the court’s child support order. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

I. Factual and Procedural History {¶2} In October 2022, Wife and Husband countersued one another for divorce. Within their respective complaints, the parties identified that they were married in January 2016 and had one minor child, G.M., born in January 2020. Both complaints alleged that the parties were incompatible.

{¶3} On March 26, 2024, the parties entered into a parental visitation agreement. The parties agreed that Wife would be the sole and residential custodian of G.M., and that Husband would have visitation with G.M. for two days a month, in addition to two weeks of extended visitation per year.

{¶4} In April 2024, the parties’ trial commenced and focused upon the division of marital assets. Wife testified on her own behalf and called Husband and Sam Al Seman, one of Husband’s business partners, to testify. Similarly, Husband testified on his own behalf and called Wife and Randall Kuvin, CPA-ABV, CFF, a forensic accountant, to testify.

{¶5} In his testimony, Husband explained that the parties met in 2013. At the time, Husband was living in California, while Wife was living in Ohio. Prior to the

marriage, Husband owned and managed multiple rental properties in California. Husband testified that in November 2016, he and a co-investor sold four co-owned California based rental properties. Husband recalled that in February 2017, he and the co-investor used $254,813.53 from the November sale to purchase the Harness Street property (“Harness”) through an Internal Revenue Code § 1031 like-kind exchange. Husband explained that Harness was a multi-unit apartment complex, also located in California.

{¶6} In 2017, the parties moved to California. While Wife transferred jobs, Husband was primarily unemployed and solely focused upon refurbishing Harness. Husband recalled that he and his co-investor only completed minor improvements to the property, and that major projects, such as the land excavation and flooring installation, were completed by contractors. While Husband asserted that Wife’s only contribution was occasionally running errands and bringing food to the property, Wife argued otherwise. Wife insisted that, in addition to supporting the family by maintaining full-time employment, she aided in the completion of outdoor work, painting, cleaning, and operational management of the property.

{¶7} At some point in 2017, Wife signed an interspousal deed, which recognized that Harness would be Husband’s separate property. While Husband asserted that both parties were aware of the effect of the document, Wife testified that she was not. Instead, Wife believed that the document was necessary for the couple to be eligible for optimal tax benefits.

{¶8} Husband testified that in November 2018, Husband sold Harness, and was paid $399,732.77 for his share, and reported a $227,000 profit on the parties’ joint tax return.

{¶9} In 2018, the parties moved back to Cincinnati. Husband testified that,

after returning to Cincinnati, he used the funds from the Harness sale to continue acquiring investment properties in both Ohio and Kentucky. In 2019, Husband purchased the Creek Knoll property as well as two properties at Phelps Court.

{¶10} Husband sold the Creek Knoll property in May 2020, and, in October 2020, he purchased the Capitol Avenue property.

{¶11} In 2021, Husband and Sam Al Seman, a family friend and business partner, co-purchased the Rufus Street property. Wife also insisted that in 2021 Husband and Al Seman, through Al Seman’s LLC, co-purchased two properties on Lafayette Avenue. Wife put forth no evidence in support of this assertion, and both Husband and Al Seman refuted this claim. In addition to real estate investments, the parties testified about their investment accounts, stock portfolios, and cryptocurrency wallets.

{¶12} Around 2019 the parties purchased the Van Gordon property, their first marital home. At some point in 2021, the parties sold the Van Gordon property and purchased the Auberger property. Both parties were named on the Auberger deed, while only Wife was listed on the mortgage.

{¶13} In 2022, the parties separated, and Husband moved out of the Auberger property. Soon thereafter, Wife also moved out and began renting what had been the marital home. Wife alleged that while moving out, she kept personal effects in the home’s basement and, at some point, Husband entered the home and took a miscellaneous collection of Wife’s personal effects. These items included jewelry Wife had received as gifts as well as familial memorabilia. Husband refuted this claim.

{¶14} Husband’s forensic accountant, Randall Kuvin, attempted to trace the parties’ finances. Kuvin testified that Husband owned $343,792 in separate property, the parties’ marital property was worth approximately $87,466, and Wife had $23,698

in separate property. Kuvin’s analysis commenced with the purchase of Harness and he opined that all sale proceeds from Harness constituted Husband’s separate property. Therefore, Kuvin believed that the subsequent real estate properties were Husband’s separate property because they were derived from the separate Harness proceeds.

{¶15} Kuvin’s testimony and report traced cash flow from Harness, noting how the funds were used in the subsequent purchase of rental properties in addition to the Van Gordon property.

{¶16} However, Kuvin’s asset tracing relied on a number of assumptions.

Kuvin assumed that Harness’s mortgage was not paid with marital funds, and that no marital efforts contributed to Harness’s appreciation in value. Kuvin conceded that his report was premised upon the assumption that Harness was entirely separate, and that if he were to be incorrect, all subsequent property classifications could be affected.

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