Drucker v. Drucker, Unpublished Decision (6-8-2000)
Drucker v. Drucker, Unpublished Decision (6-8-2000)
Opinion of the Court
I. MAGISTRATE PORZIO AND THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED THEIR DISCRETION WHEN THEY FOUND THAT APPELLANT IS UNDEREMPLOYED AND IMPUTED $50,000.00 PER YEAR INCOME TO THE APPELLANT FOR THE PURPOSES OF COMPUTING CHILD SUPPORT PURSUANT TO O.R.C. 3113.21.5(A)(5) IN THAT DECISION [SIC] IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE.
II. MAGISTRATE PORZIO AND THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS [SIC] DISCRETION WHEN THEY ORDERED THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OF APPELLANT'S INTEREST IN THE PROCEEDS OF THE MARITAL HOME BE HELD IN TRUST FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE MINOR CHILDREN BY APPELLEE IN THAT SAID DECISION IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE.
III. MAGISTRATE PORZIO AND THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED THEIR DISCRETION WHEN THEY ORDERED THAT A CHILD SUPPORT ARREARAGE IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,835.00 IS DUE FROM THE APPELLANT TO THE APPELLEE IN THAT SAID DECISION IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE DECISION [SIC].
For the following reasons, we affirm.
The judgment divided the marital assets and provided for the sale of the marital home and the allocation of the proceeds. It left for future determination the amount and duration of any spousal support.
The court referred the matter to a magistrate for further proceedings. The magistrate held a hearing regarding child support on April 8, 1998. Appellee was the sole witness at the hearing; appellant did not appear. The magistrate issued findings and conclusions regarding child support on July 8, 1998. Appellant requested and was given several extensions of time to file objections to the magistrate's decision. Although his final request (filed November 23, 1998) was denied, appellant filed objections on December 7, 1998, which the court considered and rejected in its judgment entry of February 12, 1999, adopting the magistrate's decision.
The court ordered appellant to pay $389.06 per month per child plus a 2% fee, for a total of $793.56 per month, commencing August 22, 1997, the date the divorce action was filed. This amount was based on imputed income to appellant of $50,000 per year and imputed income to appellee of $31,200 per year. Appellee was ordered to provide health insurance coverage for the children, and the court ordered the parties to share the uninsured and unreimbursed expenses pursuant to a formula.
Support arrearages of $5835 through April 8, 1998, were ordered to be paid from appellant's portion of the proceeds from the sale of the marital home. The balance of his share of the sale proceeds was to be paid into an interest-bearing account from which appellant's future support obligations would be paid.
Appellant has timely appealed the court's ruling.
To determine parents' child support obligations under R.C.
"[T]he question whether a parent is voluntarily (i.e., intentionally) unemployed * * * is a question of fact for the trial court. Absent an abuse of discretion, that factual determination will not be disturbed on appeal". Rock v. Cabral (1993),
Apparently, appellant urges that he was not voluntarily unemployed because he was not licensed to practice law in Florida, where he resided, and had no other employment history or skills.2 However, the record does not reflect any reason appellant could not have become licensed to practice law in Florida. Appellant's voluntary failure to obtain a license to practice law would not support a finding that his unemployment was involuntary.3
Appellant also points out that he has a longstanding depression problem, he suffers from manic depressive illness and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and he is a recovering drug addict. The magistrate took these matters into account in determining that appellant was voluntarily unemployed. Appellant did not appear to testify about his medical condition; the magistrate's findings of fact noted that appellant's illness was treatable, and there was no medical evidence he could not return to his former position as an attorney. The trial court's determination that appellant was voluntarily unemployed was not unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable, so the court did not abuse its discretion by finding appellant was voluntarily unemployed.
R.C.
This was the only evidence presented to the court on this matter, and the court did not abuse its discretion by relying upon it. Although the court did not receive or consider evidence of appellant's job opportunities or the salary levels in Florida, where appellant resided, the court need not collect evidence relevant to every statutory factor; evidence of one or more of the factors is all that is required. Cf. Dixon v. Dixon (Mar. 9, 1995), Cuyahoga App. No. 66997, unreported, at 9. Accordingly, we overrule the first assignment of error.
The third assignment of error claims the amount of the support arrearages assessed by the court were based on an incorrect assessment of appellant's imputed income. We have found no error in the court's assessment of imputed income, so the third assignment of error is also overruled.
Appellant's second assignment of error contends the court abused its discretion by ordering his interest in the proceeds of the sale of the marital home to be held in trust for the support of the minor children. Appellant agreed to this procedure in the agreed judgment entry of divorce. The judgment entry provides that the net proceeds of the sale (after payment of certain expenses) were to be divided in half, one half to be distributed to appellee and the other half
* * * shall be held in escrow pending further Order of Court. The parties agree that this share of the proceeds of sale shall be at least partially used for payment of Defendant's child support obligation, and that the sum shall be placed in trust to be used for payment of child support on a monthly basis, as the same is determined by the Court.
Therefore, we find no abuse of discretion in the court's placement of the sales proceeds in trust.
It is ordered that appellee recover of appellant her costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the common pleas court to carry this judgment into execution.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
TIMOTHY E. McMONAGLE, P.J. and LEO M. SPELLACY, J. CONCUR.
_______________________ KENNETH A. ROCCO, JUDGE
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.