Smith v. Smith

912 N.E.2d 1170, 182 Ohio App. 3d 375, 2009 Ohio 2326
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 15, 2009
DocketNo. 2008 CA 37.
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 912 N.E.2d 1170 (Smith v. Smith) 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
Smith v. Smith, 912 N.E.2d 1170, 182 Ohio App. 3d 375, 2009 Ohio 2326 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Donovan, Presiding Judge.

{¶ 1} This matter is before the court on the notice of appeal of Freda Smith, filed April 28, 2008. Freda and her husband, Timothy Smith, were married June 22, 1997, and on October 5, 2006, Timothy filed a complaint for divorce. No children were born of the parties’ marriage. The trial of the parties’ divorce began on July 6, 2007, and concluded on September 14, 2007.

{¶ 2} On October 26, 2007, the trial court issued an entry on marital residence, pursuant to which Timothy was ordered to refinance the parties’ marital home *377 and issue a check to Freda in the amount of $5,450, her share of the equity in the residence, less one-half of the cost of the court-ordered appraisal. The entry further provides, “Wife shall have fourteen days to vacate said property from the time of the closing on the refinancing of the marital residence, and shall be allowed to remove any and all personal items, personal belongings, and personal property.”

{¶ 3} On January 30, 2008, Freda filed a motion to increase temporary spousal support. Attached to the motion is an affidavit indicating that Freda “recently” vacated the marital home and that her expenses are “much different.” The trial court overruled the motion the same day, and its entry provides, “The Court anticipates the Final Decree of Divorce will be filed shortly. Any inequities in spousal support will be addressed in the Final Decree.”

{¶ 4} On April 1, 2008, the trial court issued a judgment entry and final decree of divorce. The final decree provides

{¶ 5} “1. Marital Residence — The marital residence is AWARDED to the Plaintiff. The Court finds the real property is valued at $134,00.00. The parties owe $122,800 on the mortgage. Each party is AWARDED on[e] half of the equity or $5,600.00 each. The Plaintiff will refinance the real property within sixty (60) days of this entry’s time-stamped date and pay the Defendant $5,600.00, representing her equity award in the property * * *.

{¶ 6} “ * * *

{¶ 7} “2. Spousal Support After considering the factors listed in R.C. 3105.18(C)[,] the Court finds that spousal support is neither reasonable nor appropriate for this case. Defendant’s request for spousal support is OVERRULED.

{¶ 8} “JUDICIAL INTENT REGARDING SPOUSAL SUPPORT Pursuant to statute, the court has divided the parties’ marital assets, including pension rights, and liabilities, prior to considering the award of spousal support. * * * The issue of spousal support shall be subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the court for purposes of establishment, termination, or modification in both amount and duration, in the event that either party obtains relief in any bankruptcy court from any obligation, including pension obligations, due directly to the other party, or obtains relief from any debt which either party must as a result of the relief pay, or which effectively modifies the property division between the parties, thus affecting the need for support by either party.

{¶ 9} “ * * *

{¶ 10} “10. Personal Property — During the hearing a coin was tossed with Plaintiff winning the right to choose the first piece of contested personal property listed on Joint Exhibit 1. This exhibit was submitted by the Defendant. The *378 Defendant was instructed from the bench to submit a clean copy of Joint Exhibit 1 to the Court so that it could be made a part of the record and be used to divide the contested items. She has failed to submit the exhibit and the Court has nothing before it at this time to use as a master list. Therefore, each party is awarded the personal property in his or her care.”

{¶ 11} Freda asserts two assignments of error. Her first assignment of error is as follows:

{¶ 12} “The trial court abused its discretion when it did not make findings of fact under O.R.C. § 3105.171(F) and distributed property based upon a failure of an attorney to file a ‘clean’ joint exhibit.”

{¶ 13} Freda argues, “The Court set forth no factual basis for awarding the marital residence to the Appellee. Although the division appears to be equitable, the failure of the court to set forth some factual findings as to its reasoning, the Court’s award of the marital residence to the Appellee was inappropriate.” Freda further argues that the parties had an agreement regarding the division of most of their household goods, but as she was only allowed to remove her personal belongings from the marital residence, Timothy “received all of the household goods and furniture due to the Appellant’s failure to provide the Court with a clean joint exhibit.”

{¶ 14} Timothy argues in response that Freda was not awarded the marital residence because she was unable to obtain financing and that the parties have since divided their personal property that was not in dispute. According to Timothy, “if this Court does see the need to remand on this issue, as a practical matter the ‘clean’ exhibit would now be a small list of less than $500.00 worth of property and not the original list requested by the Trial Court.”

{¶ 15} In Ohio, “[mjarital property is defined as any real property, personal property, or interest therein that is owned by either or both spouses that [was] acquired by either or both spouses during the course of their marriage. R.C. § 3105.171(A)(3)(a). ‘A trial court is vested with broad discretion when fashioning [the] division of marital property.’ Bisker v. Bisker (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 608, 609, 635 N.E.2d 308, citing Berish v. Berish (1982), 69 Ohio St.2d 318 [23 O.O.3d 296], 432 N.E.2d 183.

{¶ 16} “Accordingly, an appellate court will uphold a division of marital property absent a determination that the trial court abused its discretion. * * * ‘An abuse of discretion is more than an error of law or of judgment; it implies that the trial court’s attitude is unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable.’ Blakemore v. Blakemore (1983), 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219 [5 OBR 481], 450 N.E.2d 1140. When applying an abuse of discretion standard, the appellate court is not free to simply substitute its judgment for that of the trial court. Berk v. *379 Matthews (1990), 53 Ohio St.3d 161, 559 N.E.2d 1301. A trial court has broad discretion to determine what property division is equitable in a divorce proceeding. * * * The mere fact that property division is unequal, does not, standing alone, amount to an abuse of discretion.” Shehata v. Shehata, Montgomery App. No. Civ.A. 20612, 2005-Ohio-3659, 2005 WL 1685099, ¶ 10-11, citing Cherry v. Cherry (1981), 66 Ohio St.2d 348, 20 O.O.3d 318, 421 N.E.2d 1293.

{¶ 17} R.C. 3105.171 provides:

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Bluebook (online)
912 N.E.2d 1170, 182 Ohio App. 3d 375, 2009 Ohio 2326, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-smith-ohioctapp-2009.