Slone v. Slone, Unpublished Decision (3-22-1999)

CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 22, 1999
DocketCase No. 98CA610
StatusUnpublished

This text of Slone v. Slone, Unpublished Decision (3-22-1999) (Slone v. Slone, Unpublished Decision (3-22-1999)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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
Slone v. Slone, Unpublished Decision (3-22-1999), (Ohio Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

Glen E. Stone appeals the judgment of the trial court and assigns the following errors:

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

"THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN CALCULATING CHILD SUPPORT BY IMPUTING INCOME TO DEFENDANT IN VIOLATION OF 3113.215(a)(5), BY NOT FIRST FINDING HIM TO BE VOLUNTARILY UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED AND BY NOT CLEARLY ARTICULATING A BASIS FOR THE FIGURES USED."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR II

"THE TRIAL COURT'S DECISION TO DENY APPELLANT A DEVIATION IN HIS CURRENT SUPPORT OBLIGATION PURSUANT TO 3113.215(b)(3)(D) FOR THE COSTS OF TRAVEL INCURRED IN EXERCISING HIS VISITATION RIGHTS WITH THE PARTIES (SIC) CHILDREN WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION AND AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR III

"THE TRIAL COURT'S REFUSAL TO USE $18,069 AS APPELLANT'S 1994 GROSS INCOME IN THE COMPUTATION OF APPELLANT'S PAST CHILD SUPPORT ARREARS WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION AND AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR IV

"THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY MAKING THE PAST CHILD SUPPORT MODIFICATION RETROACTIVE TO THE HEARING DATE, 7/17/95, INSTEAD OF THE DATE OF FILING OF DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR MODIFICATION, 5/8/95."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR V

"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY DENYING APPELLANT'S 60(B) MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT AND BY DENYING APPELLANT'S REQUEST FOR AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING ON SAME."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR VI

"THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY GRANTING A DISTRIBUTIVE AWARD WITHOUT MAKING A DETERMINATION THAT A DIVISION OF MARITAL PROPERTY IN KIND OR IN MONEY WOULD BE IMPRACTICABLE OR BURDENSOME AS REQUIRED BY R.C. 3105.171(E)(2)."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR VII

"THE COURT ERRED BY REFUSING TO GRANT JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF APPELLANT FOR 1/2 THE COSTS OF HIS COPY OF THE TRANSCRIPT AS RECOVERABLE "COSTS" UNDER APPELLANT RULE 24(b) AS AWARDED IN CASE NO. 95-CA-547."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR VIII

"THE TRIAL COURT'S DECISION GRANTING CUSTODY OF THE PARTIES' CHILDREN TO APPELLEE WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE, BECAUSE IT WAS BASED UPON CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH WERE FUNDAMENTALLY UNFAIR AND PREJUDICIAL TO APPELLANT, AND WHICH CIRCUMSTANCES WERE CREATED BY THE PRIOR ORDER OF THE TRIAL COURT, SAID ORDER HAVING PREVIOUSLY BEEN REVERSED ON APPEAL."

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR IX

"THE TRIAL COURT'S DECISION TO NAME APPELLEE AS RESIDENTIAL PARENT WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE."
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR X

"THE TRIAL COURT'S ADMISSION INTO EVIDENCE OF APPELLANT'S UNPAID CHILD SUPPORT ARREARS AT A TIME WHEN HIS PRIOR FINDING OF CONTEMPT WAS PENDING APPEAL WAS UNFAIRLY PREJUDICIAL AND WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION."
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR XI

"THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY ORDERING VISITATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH PIKE COUNTY'S STANDARD ORDER WHEN THE PARTIES LIVE APPROXIMATELY 100 MILES APART."

This is the fourth appeal relating to the parties' divorce. The parties were married in 1983, had two children and were divorced in 1994. In Slone v. Slone (Mar. 31, 1998), Pike App. No. 96CA586, unreported, we summarized the procedural history of this case:

"* * *In its December 7, 1994 decree of divorce, the trial court ordered shared parenting of the parties' two minor children and ordered appellant to pay $448.65 per month in child support.

Appellant appealed. Appellee cross-appealed. See Slone v. Slone (July 12, 1996), Pike App. No. 95CA547, unreported. * * * ["Slone I"].

On May 8, 1995, while the parties' respective appeals were pending before this court, appellant filed a motion with the trial court to reduce his child support obligation. On July 17, 1995, the trial court entered judgment reducing appellant's child support obligation to $246.72 per month, plus poundage. Appellant appealed. Appellee cross-appealed. See Slone v. Slone (Nov. 22, 1996), Pike App. No. 95CA557, unreported. ["Slone II"]

Thereafter, on June 18, 1996, while both sets of appeals were pending before this court, appellee filed a "Motion for Rule of Contempt," based upon appellant's alleged non-compliance with the trial court's July 17, 1995 support order.

On July 12, 1996, we handed down Slone I, in which we, inter alia, reversed the trial court's December 7, 1994 award of shared parenting. Finding error in the trial court's sua sponte creation/amendment of a shared parenting plan, we remanded the matter to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with R.C. 3109.04.

In Slone II, we reversed and remanded the trial court's judgment on appellant's motion to modify child support because the court had failed to complete a child support worksheet. InSlone III, we reversed the trial court's finding of contempt against appellant because the trial court failed to allow appellant an opportunity to present a defense against the contempt charge for failure to pay child support.

In his first assignment of error, the appellant argues that the trial court improperly imputed income to him in determining his income for child support purposes. We review this assignment under an abuse of discretion standard. An abuse of discretion involves more than a mere error of judgment; it connotes an attitude on the part of the trial court that is arbitrary, unreasonable or unconscionable. Blakemore v.Blakemore (1983), 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219. When applying the abuse of discretion standard of review, an appellate court may not simply substitute its judgment for that of the trial court.In re Jane Doe 1 (1991), 57 Ohio St.3d 135, 138.

In determining child support, the trial court may consider a person's "potential income" when it computes a support obligation if the trial court determines from the facts and circumstances of the case that the person is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed. Rock v. Cabral (1993), 67 Ohio St.3d 108. Before a trial court can impute income, it must expressly find that the person is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed. Leonard v. Erwin (1996), 111 Ohio App.3d 413, 417; R.C. 3113.215(A)(5). In doing so, it must apply the factors set forth in R.C. 3113.215(B)(3). The trial court made no express finding nor did it expressly consider the statutory factors in this case, so it was an abuse of discretion for it to impute income to the defendant.

We recognize that this case presents the trial court with a more complicated situation than the usual case because appellant's income varies from year to year and has dropped precipitously since the divorce. However, in determining income, a trial court cannot simply pick a historical figure and denominate it as the party's permanent earning capacity. The Revised Code has provided tools to deal with this type of situation including the factors set forth in R.C.3113.215(B)(3) and the discretion to average a party's income over a reasonable period of time. See R.C. 3113.215;Barnhart v. Barnhart (Dec. 9, 1998), Summit App. No. 18868, unreported.

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Slone v. Slone, Unpublished Decision (3-22-1999), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slone-v-slone-unpublished-decision-3-22-1999-ohioctapp-1999.