Soley v. Soley

2014 Ohio 3965
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 12, 2014
DocketH-13-028
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2014 Ohio 3965 (Soley v. Soley) 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
Soley v. Soley, 2014 Ohio 3965 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

[Cite as Soley v. Soley, 2014-Ohio-3965.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT HURON COUNTY

Robert Stephen Soley Court of Appeals No. H-13-028

Appellant Trial Court No. CVH 20120481

v.

Katalin Terezia Soley, et al. DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Appellees Decided: September 12, 2014

*****

Robert W. Gentzel and James J. Martin, for appellant.

Justin C. Miller, for appellee, Katalin T. Soley.

Robert B. Daane, Danielle A. Higgins, and Mark Coriell, for appellees, Robert Harris and Mary Lou Harris.

YARBROUGH, P.J.

I. Introduction

{¶ 1} Appellant, Robert Soley, appeals the judgment of the Huron County Court of

Common Pleas, granting summary judgment in favor of appellees, Katalin Soley, Robert Harris, and Mary Lou Harris (Mr. and Mrs. Harris). For the following reasons, we

affirm, in part, and reverse, in part.

A. Facts and Procedural Background

{¶ 2} This appeal originates from a dispute concerning Katalin’s sale of a piece of

real property located at 231 Butler Rd., New London, Huron County, Ohio, to Mr. and

Mrs. Harris. Robert and Katalin were married on December 23, 1990. During the course

of their marriage, Robert decided to deed a portion of his real property to Katalin in an

effort to evade creditors. According to Robert, the property was conveyed to Katalin,

free of charge, under a constructive trust in which Katalin was to hold title of the real

estate for Robert’s benefit and deed the property back to him upon demand.

{¶ 3} Subsequent to the transfer, Robert and Katalin began experiencing marital

difficulties. As a result, Robert recorded an affidavit of dower with the Huron County

Recorder on March 30, 2008, evidencing the fact that Katalin was the owner of the

property and that he was entitled to a dower interest as her husband. Eventually, the

parties separated and divorce proceedings were initiated in Budapest, Hungary, which is

where the parties were living at the time. According to a translated judgment entry from

the Hungarian court, the parties were ultimately divorced on May 10, 2011. However,

the division of the marital assets had not yet occurred.1 Notably, the court expressly

1 Robert subsequently appealed the Hungarian court’s decision, seeking to delay the divorce until the marital property was divided. The appellate court rejected Robert’s argument and the appeal was denied on March 12, 2012.

2. declined to distribute the real property located in Huron County, as the court found that

property within the United States was beyond its jurisdiction.

{¶ 4} Four months after the parties were divorced, but before the Hungarian assets

were distributed, Katalin reached an agreement with Mr. and Mrs. Harris to sell the real

property located in Huron County for $170,000. The property was then transferred to

Mr. and Mrs. Harris by warranty deed.

{¶ 5} Seeking to set aside the conveyance, Robert filed his complaint in the

underlying action on June 3, 2012, alleging that the transfer was fraudulent because the

property was subject to a constructive trust. Moreover, Robert alleged that Mr. and Mrs.

Harris knew or should have known that the property was subject to a constructive trust in

Robert’s favor. As a result, Robert sought damages in excess of $25,000 and also

petitioned the court to set aside the conveyance and restore title to the real estate in his

name.

{¶ 6} On January 7, 2013, appellees filed a motion for summary judgment. In

their motion, appellees argued that Katalin, as the sole owner of the property, lawfully

conveyed the property to Mr. and Mrs. Harris. Because the marriage was dissolved prior

to the conveyance, appellees asserted that Robert had no interest in the property. Further,

appellees averred that Mr. and Mrs. Harris were bona fide purchasers for value insofar as

they were without actual or constructive notice of Robert’s claimed interest in the

property. As to Robert’s constructive trust argument, appellees contended that the

argument must fail under the statute of frauds because the agreement was not reduced to

3. writing. Finally, appellees argued that Robert was not entitled to recover on the basis of

any dower interest he may have had in the property, because such interest was

extinguished by operation of law as of the date the marriage was dissolved.

{¶ 7} In response to appellees’ arguments, Robert argued that the marriage was

not dissolved at the time of the conveyance because the marital estate had not been

divided by the Hungarian court. Thus, he contended that he possessed a dower interest in

the property at the time of the sale. Moreover, Robert noted the fact that the property had

not been classified as Katalin’s separate property at the time of the sale as the marital

assets had not yet been divided. He contended that the property was in fact his own

separate property because he owned the property prior to the marriage. In the alternative,

Robert claimed that the property would at least amount to marital property, entitling him

to a share in the proceeds from its sale. Robert also took issue with appellees’ argument

that the constructive trust must be in writing in order to be enforceable under the statute

of frauds. He argued that a constructive trust is unwritten by its very nature. In

supporting his arguments, Robert submitted several affidavits. In his own affidavit, he

averred that he transferred the property to Katalin “with the specific understanding by

both parties that the sole purpose of the transfer was to avoid [his] creditors and that

Katalin * * * would deed the property back to [him] upon demand.”

{¶ 8} Upon consideration of the parties’ arguments, the trial court issued its

decision on July 1, 2013. In its decision, the trial court granted Mr. and Mrs. Harris’

motion for summary judgment, thereby quieting title to the property in their name. At

4. this point, Katalin had been dismissed from the action due to service of process issues.

When she was later properly served, she renewed her motion for summary judgment,

which was granted on December 4, 2013. In granting Katalin’s motion for summary

judgment, the trial court found that Robert’s claim of a constructive trust was barred by

the statute of frauds. The court further found that the parties were divorced at the time of

the sale and that, as such, Robert’s dower interest was extinguished. Robert’s timely

appeal followed.

B. Assignments of Error

{¶ 9} On appeal, Robert assigns the following errors for our review:

FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR: IT WAS REVERSIBLE ERROR

FOR THE TRIAL COURT TO GRANT SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO

APPELLEE, KATALIN SOLEY, AND TO ORDER ATTORNEY CORIELL TO

DISBURSE TO HER THE BALANCE OF THE SALE PROCEEDS AS

GENUINE ISSUES OF MATERIAL FACT EXIST AND SAID APPELLEE IS

NOT ENTITLED TO JUDGMENT AS A MATTER OF LAW.

SECOND ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR: IT WAS REVERSIBLE ERROR

FOR THE TRIAL COURT TO FIND AS A MATTER OF LAW THAT

APPELLANT’S CLAIM OF A CONSTRUCTIVE TRUST WAS BARRED BY

THE OHIO STATUTE OF FRAUDS.

THIRD ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR: IT WAS REVERSIBLE ERROR

FOR THE TRIAL COURT TO GRANT SUMMARY JUDGMENT QUIETING

5. TITLE TO THE PROPERTY TO APPELLEES HARRIS AS GENUINE ISSUES

OF MATERIAL FACT EXIST AS TO WHETHER SAID APPELLEES WERE

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