Spillane v. Spillane

2020 Ohio 5052
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 26, 2020
DocketCA2019-12-206
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2020 Ohio 5052 (Spillane v. Spillane) 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
Spillane v. Spillane, 2020 Ohio 5052 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

[Cite as Spillane v. Spillane, 2020-Ohio-5052.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

BUTLER COUNTY

MICHELLE T. SPILLANE, : CASE NO. CA2019-12-206

Appellee, : OPINION 10/26/2020 : - vs - :

DONALD J. SPILLANE, :

Appellant. :

APPEAL FROM BUTLER COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISION Case No. DR2018-12-1022

Gena R. Larison, 220 South Monument Avenue, Hamilton, Ohio 45011, for appellee

Cook Howard Law, Ltd., Melynda Cook Howard, 1501 First Avenue, Middletown, Ohio 45044, for appellant

M. POWELL, P.J.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Donald Spillane ("Husband"), appeals a decision of the Butler

County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, awarding spousal support to

appellee, Michelle Spillane ("Wife").

{¶ 2} The parties were married in May 1999 and have one daughter born issue of

the marriage in 2000. At the time of the parties' marriage, Wife had four children from a Butler CA2019-12-206

previous relationship; Husband had two children from a previous relationship, one of which

was already emancipated. Following the marriage, Wife cared for the children and was not

employed outside the home until 2007.

{¶ 3} In 2007, Wife became a part-time office manager at her current employer, the

Regis Investment Company ("Regis"). Wife has never held full-time employment and Regis

does not have a full-time position available to offer her. Wife is 58 years old, working 25-

27 hours a week and earning $18.75 an hour. Each year, she receives a pay raise between

50 cents and $1 an hour. Husband has always worked in finance and previously held a

CFO position. In 2017, he became Vice-President of Finance at the Hollaender

Manufacturing Company ("Hollaender"). Husband is 61 years old, earning a base income

of $2,600 per week. He received a $5,875 bonus in 2018 and a $8,125 bonus in 2019.

{¶ 4} During the marriage, the parties lived a comfortable lifestyle, sending the

children to private school, regularly going out, attending sporting events, and taking an

annual vacation. At the time of the divorce, the parties owned the marital home, four rental

properties, a vacation home and a tract of land in Tennessee, three vehicles, and a boat.

The vehicles and boat were all paid off. Wife did not have any retirement assets; Husband

had significant premarital and marital retirement assets.

{¶ 5} Wife filed a complaint for divorce in December 2018. At the time of Wife's

filing, the parties' daughter was emancipated. Pursuant to a separation agreement, the

parties settled all issues with the exception of spousal support. Wife received one of the

rental properties to use as her residence and one vehicle; Husband kept the marital home

as his residence and received three rental properties, the vacation home, two vehicles, and

the boat. Wife received $127,741 for her share of the marital portion of Husband's

retirement accounts and an additional $15,000 for her share of the marital equity in the

vacation home. The parties were ordered to sell the Tennessee tract of land. On June 25,

-2- Butler CA2019-12-206

2019, the trial court held a hearing regarding spousal support. Both parties testified on their

own behalf.

{¶ 6} By decision filed on October 17, 2019, the trial court found that awarding

spousal support to Wife was appropriate in light of the disparity between the parties' current

incomes and earning ability, their 20-year marriage, the parties' standard of living during

the marriage, the disparity in their respective retirement savings, Wife's "absence from the

workforce due to family responsibilities, and her need to obtain additional training or

education in order to better herself and accrue savings for the future." The trial court

awarded Wife spousal support as follows: $3,100 per month, effective August 1, 2019, until

August 1, 2022, and thereafter, $2,700 per month until August 1, 2027, Wife's remarriage,

or Wife's "cohabitation in a domestic relationship."

{¶ 7} On November 21, 2019, the trial court issued a final divorce decree, awarding

Wife spousal support and ordering that it be paid through the Butler County Child Support

Enforcement Agency ("CSEA") and subject to a two percent processing fee. The trial court

retained jurisdiction over the amount of spousal support.

{¶ 8} Husband appeals, raising three assignments of error.

{¶ 9} Assignment of Error No. 1:

{¶ 10} THE COURT ERRED IN ORDERING AN EIGHT YEAR SPOUSAL

SUPPORT OBLIGATION EQUA[L]ING PAYMENTS OF $273,600.

{¶ 11} Husband argues the trial court erred in its spousal support determination.

{¶ 12} A trial court has broad discretion in determining whether to award spousal

support, as well as the amount and duration of such award, based on the facts and

circumstances of each case. Curry v. Curry, 12th Dist. Butler No. CA2016-07-136, 2017-

Ohio-8127, ¶ 15. Absent an abuse of discretion, a spousal support award will not be

disturbed on appeal. Id.

-3- Butler CA2019-12-206

{¶ 13} A trial court has a statutory duty to base a spousal support order on a careful

and full balancing of the factors in R.C. 3105.18(C)(1). Id. at ¶ 16. Pursuant to that statute,

the court is required to consider factors such as income of the parties, earning abilities of

the parties, education of the parties, retirement benefits of the parties, assets and liabilities

of the parties, ages, duration of the marriage, the parties' standard of living during the

marriage, and "the time and expense necessary for the spouse who is seeking spousal

support to acquire education, training, or job experience so that the spouse will be qualified

to obtain appropriate employment, provided the education, training, or job experience, and

employment is, in fact, sought."

{¶ 14} As pertinent here, the trial court made the following findings: (1) Wife earns a

gross annual income of $26,325 and Husband earns a base annual income of $135,200;

(2) averaging the bonuses Husband received the prior two years, he can reasonably be

expected to receive $7,000 in annual bonuses; (3) Wife has no retirement benefits other

than the marital portion she will receive from Husband; by contrast, Husband has significant

premarital retirement assets and currently deposits ten percent of his gross base income

into his retirement account which is matched by his employer in the amount of $5,408

annually and which is not reported as additional income; (4) the parties were married for 20

years; (5) Wife "hopes to further her education by obtaining an Associate's Degree in

Business, with an emphasis in accounting. She testified that she is unlikely to obtain gainful

full time employment without at least further training in certain databases;" and (6) the trial

court conducted a FinPlan analysis "which considers the income and monthly expenses of

the parties, but does not consider the tax consequences of an exchange of spousal support,

pursuant to the current Tax Code." The trial court further found, "The Court anticipates that

[Wife] will utilize the additional spousal support over the next three years to obtain further

training and/or education in order to find higher paying employment."

-4- Butler CA2019-12-206

Failure to Impute Additional Income to Wife

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Bluebook (online)
2020 Ohio 5052, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spillane-v-spillane-ohioctapp-2020.