Mozden v. Mozden
Mozden v. Mozden
Opinion of the Court
It is undisputed that, if the award of $10 per week is alimony and the result of an agreement—written or parol—between -the parties, the trial court is without jurisdiction to modify it, as held by
In the Law case the syllabus reads as follows:
“A divorce being decreed for the aggression of the husband, and alimony being adjudged to the wife in' accordance with an agreement of the parties, the terms of the decree as to alimony are not, if unaffected by fraud or mistake, subject to modification, upon a petition filed by the former husband after the term at which the original decree was made.”
The syllabus in the Newman case is:
“An alimony decree based on an agreement between the parties is not subject to modification by a court after term in the absence of mistake, misrepresentation or fraud and in the absence of a reservation of jurisdiction with reference thereto. (Law v. Law, 64 Ohio St., 369, approved and followed.) ”
In the instant case is the award an order for the support of the child or is it alimony for the wife?
A study of the record leaves no doubt about the nature of the award. In the first place the prayer of the plaintiff’s petition contains no request for support for the child but the plaintiff does ask for alimony. This certainly constituted ample notice to the defendant that the plaintiff’s request was for alimony for herself and not for support for the child. Secondly and of controlling importance, in the trial court’s journal entry the subject of alimony is mentioned twice and there is no hint of support for the child. Nor is there a reservation of jurisdiction as to the item of alimony. The court’s journal imports verity, and if it contains an inaccuracy, that court is the place to have the correction made.
Was the alimony award made as a result of an agreement between the parties?
Again the answer is found in the journal of the trial court. In the original decree appears the recital, “And
Under these circumstances a reviewing court is not at liberty to disregard the unambiguous statements of the trial court that it awarded the plaintiff the requested alimony and that the award was based on an agreement between the parties.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals must be reversed and that of the Court - of Common Pleas affirmed.
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.