Suppan v. Suppan

2020 Ohio 6883
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 28, 2020
Docket20AP0005
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2020 Ohio 6883 (Suppan v. Suppan) 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
Suppan v. Suppan, 2020 Ohio 6883 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

[Cite as Suppan v. Suppan, 2020-Ohio-6883.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF WAYNE )

SARAH L. SUPPAN C.A. No. 20AP0005

Appellant

v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE JASON N. SUPPAN COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COUNTY OF WAYNE, OHIO Appellee CASE No. 2014 DR-A 000382

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY

Dated: December 28, 2020

CARR, Presiding Judge.

{¶1} Appellant Sarah Suppan appeals from the judgment of the Wayne County Court of

Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division. This Court affirms in part, reverses in part, and

remands the matter for proceedings consistent with this decision.

I.

{¶2} Unfortunately, this matter has a long, litigious history. Ms. Suppan and Dr. Jason

Suppan married in July 1997. Two children were born of the marriage, a daughter in October

1998, and a son in July 2000. Thus, both children are now adults.

{¶3} On October 30, 2014, Ms. Suppan filed a complaint for divorce. In her complaint,

she sought temporary and permanent child and spousal support. The parties agreed that Dr. Suppan

would pay Ms. Suppan $2,200.00 per month in temporary support and that the payment would be

treated as alimony for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code. 2

{¶4} The matter proceeded to a hearing before a magistrate, who issued a decision on

October 11, 2016. The trial court issued a judgment entry the same day. Effective October 15,

2016, child support was set at $400.00 per month, which represented a deviation from the guideline

amount, and spousal support was ordered to be $1,600.00 per month for 70 months. Commercial

property owned by the parties, which was adjacent to the building where Dr. Suppan had his

podiatry practice, was ordered to be sold. The entry provided:

The parties own a commercial property located [in Orrville, Ohio]. Currently, the property is leased through November 2016. The parties agreed that the property should be sold. At the time of the final hearing, the parties received rent in the amount of $2,400 which covered the mortgage and costs related to the property. All checks received from the lessee should be deposited in the joint account and the minimum monthly mortgage payment should be paid from this account as well as any additional costs related to the property. If the property sells and any funds remain in the joint account, the parties should equally divide those funds and then close the account. If at any time the property is vacant, the parties shall each be responsible for one half of the costs associated with the property. Each party shall deposit their one half share into the joint account and all payments for the mortgage and related costs shall be made from the joint account.

The property should immediately be listed for sale within 14 days of the final judgment entry. Based on the appraisals provided by the parties, the fair market value should be $262,500.00. The property should be listed at this price unless it is determined by an agreed upon real estate agent that the price should be adjusted in order to acquire a sale in the fastest and most cost effective way possible. At the time of the final hearing there was a balance of $211,397 due and owing to First National Bank. The parties should accept any offer at or above the amount which would cover the First National Bank debt and any costs associated with the sale, unless the parties are otherwise able to agree. The parties shall divide any net proceeds or deficiencies after expenses of the sale have been paid.

If the parties are unable to sell the property within six months of putting the building on the market, the parties should sell the building through an absolute auction. The absolute auction should be held within 30 days of removing the property from the real estate market. The parties shall divide any net proceeds or deficiencies after the expenses of the sale have been paid.

The court shall retain jurisdiction over this issue.

{¶5} Both Ms. Suppan and Dr. Suppan filed objections to the magistrate’s decision. The

trial court sustained one of Dr. Suppan’s objections but overruled the remainder of the objections. 3

Ms. Suppan appealed the trial court’s judgment. Thereafter, the trial court entered a nunc pro tunc

entry to include a previously omitted appendix. See Suppan v. Suppan, 9th Dist. Wayne No.

17AP0015, 2018-Ohio-2569, ¶ 2.

{¶6} This Court sustained a portion of Ms. Suppan’s first assignment of error concluding

that the Court was “unable to determine what consideration, if any, the trial court gave to the

distributions Dr. Suppan received from Suppan Foot & Ankle Clinic when it determined his gross

income for the purpose of determining the appropriate level of child support. Ms. Suppan raised

this issue as an objection to the magistrate’s decision, which was overruled by the trial court

without further explanation or analysis.” Id. at ¶ 9. We noted that, “[a]lthough the decision

whether to average Dr. Suppan’s income over a period of years was within the sound discretion of

the trial court, it is not within a trial court’s discretion to arbitrarily disregard a source of income.”

Id. Because this Court was “unable to determine if the trial court abused its discretion because no

analysis [was] set forth for our review[,]” the Court sustained Ms. Suppan’s assignment of error in

part and remanded the matter for further consideration. Id.

{¶7} Given that determination, several other arguments were not considered by the Court

including: whether the trial court erred in failing to calculate child support on a case-by-case basis

and in failing to consider the needs and standard of living for the children as required when parental

income exceeds $150,000.00 per year; whether the trial court erred in failing to make child support

retroactive; whether the trial court erred in applying deviations from the basic child support

guidelines; whether the trial court erred in decreasing child support from $2,200.00 per month to

$1,600.00 per month; and whether the trial court erred in requiring her to pay her own attorney

fees. See id. at ¶ 10-12, 47. In addition, this Court overruled several of Ms. Suppan’s assignments

of error, including one related to the parties’ commercial building. See id. at ¶ 19, 30, 33, 39, 46. 4

{¶8} While the matter was pending in this Court, the child support enforcement agency

issued findings and recommendations to terminate the administrative child support order as it

pertained to the parties’ daughter, thereby recommending to decrease the child support award to

$200.00. Ms. Suppan requested an administrative termination hearing and asserted that the amount

of child support was wrong. She argued that the deviation in the decree should be excluded. The

administrative hearing decision noted that the termination was pursuant to R.C. 3119.89(B), which

specifies that a review shall not be conducted pursuant to R.C. 3119.60 to 3119.76. Therefore, it

concluded that the findings and recommendations did not contain a mistake. Ms. Suppan then

requested a judicial hearing. In her request, she asserted that the amount of child support calculated

was incorrect, the deviation was incorrect, and the incomes used were incorrect.

{¶9} In addition, on August 11, 2017, a consent entry was filed in the trial court. It was

signed by the magistrate, the parties, and their attorneys. Inter alia, the agreement provided that

[t]he parties further agree that because [Ms.

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Related

Suppan v. Suppan
2023 Ohio 249 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023)

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2020 Ohio 6883, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/suppan-v-suppan-ohioctapp-2020.