Schwarck v. Schwarck , 2012 Ohio 3902 ( 2012 )

[Cite as Schwarck v. Schwarck, 2012-Ohio-3902.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT
AUGLAIZE COUNTY
WENDY LYNN SCHWARK,
PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE/
CROSS-APPELLANT, CASE NO. 2-11-24
v.
JOHN CHRISTIAN SCHWARK,
OPINION
DEFENDANT-APPELLANT/
CROSS-APPELLEE.
Appeal from Auglaize County Common Pleas Court
Domestic Relations Division
Trial Court No. 2010-DR-146
Judgment Affirmed
Date of Decision: August 27, 2012
APPEARANCES:
William E. Huber for Appellant/Cross-Appellee
John A. Poppe for Appellee/Cross-Appellant
Case No. 2-11-24
WILLAMOWSKI, J.
{¶1} Defendant-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, John Christian Schwarck
(“Chris”), appeals judgment of the Auglaize County Court of Common Pleas,
Domestic Relations Division, granting a divorce from Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-
Appellant, Wendy Lynn Schwarck (“Wendy”). On appeal, Chris contends that the
trial court abused its discretion in the division of debt and in the allocation of
corporate property as marital property, and that the trial court failed to properly
apply R.C. 3105.171(F) in making a distributive award. In her cross-appeal,
Wendy claims that the trial court erred in failing to consider the gross deposits into
Chris’ business as income for purposes of determining spousal support. For the
reasons set forth below, the judgment is affirmed.
{¶2} The parties were married on May 23, 1992, and have two minor
children who were ages 16 and 13 at the time of the hearing. The parties separated
in November 2008, but a complaint for divorce was not filed until July 9, 2010. A
hearing on the divorce was held before the trial court on August 1 and August 18,
2011. The trial court heard testimony from both of the parties, primarily
concerning financial matters and issues concerning the children. Several relatives
testified as to the parties’ parenting abilities. There was also testimony from a
C.P.A., who handled the parties’ personal and Subchapter S corporate income tax
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returns, and from a certified property appraiser, who testified about the reports he
had prepared concerning the values of the parties’ personal and real property.
{¶3} The parties owned no residential real estate and each resided, rent free,
in property owned by family members. (Oct. 3, 2011 J.E., ¶ 6) They were joint
owners of land, valued at $35,750, upon which Chris operated his cabinetry
business. (Id. at ¶ 7; Tr., p. 349). There was personal property to be divided that
was valued by the property appraiser and broken down into categories stating
which party was entitled to receive the property. (Id. at ¶ 8; Exhibit U). Wendy
had a deferred compensation plan through her current employer, Edward Jones,
valued at $1,200, and the parties had three cash value life insurance policies
valued at approximately $15,185.
{¶4} During the marriage, most of the parties’ income was derived from
several businesses that were set up as Subchapter S corporations, on the advice of
Chris’ tax accountant, for the purpose of tax savings and liability issues. (Tr., p.
350) Chris formed and dissolved several of these corporations, which were
primarily involved in Commercial Driver’s License (“CDL”) testing services,
Chris’ cabinet making businesses, and some farming. At the time of the marriage,
Chris was self-employed as a cabinet maker, operating a sole proprietorship
known as Schwarck Cabinets. (Tr. p. 322) He later incorporated that business
into Tri-Max Building Supplies, Inc. Subsequently, he formed another
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corporation known as Tri-Max Enterprises, Inc., which was involved in the CDL
testing business. Around 2008, Tri-Max Building Supplies, Inc. was dissolved but
the cabinet-making business continued to operate, changing its name to Tri-Max
Enterprises, Inc. (Tr. p. 230-232; 336) Wendy assisted with the CDL business
venture, but that business ended several years ago. Chris owned 100% of the
stock in the companies, was president, was the sole employee, and received a
salary from the businesses. (Tr. p. 351) In his deposition, Chris testified that the
business currently was not worth anything other than the assets in the shop, which
consisted of “obsolete woodworking equipment.” (Deposition of Chris Schwarck,
pp. 21-24, admitted as Plaintiff’s Exhibits 1 and 2)
{¶5} The parties also had credit card debt that was nearly $27,000 when
they separated in 2008, although the debt had been subsequently consolidated and
paid down to less than $22,000 by Wendy. The credit card debt was allegedly
created primarily to fund the Mary Kay cosmetic sales business that Wendy
participated in from 1999 through 2007. (Tr., p. 22) Chris testified that he never
wanted Wendy to sell Mary Kay products, that he thought it was a “pyramid
scheme,” that the business lost money every year, and that he believed Wendy
should be solely responsible for that debt. (Tr., pp. 263-272)
{¶6} Wendy, however, testified that money was always tight and Chris
controlled all of the finances. (Tr. pp. 23, 37) Once she started the Mary Kay
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business, Chris stopped giving her any spending money and limited her money for
groceries to $100 a week. (Tr. p. 28) She testified that Chris told her to use the
money from Mary Kay, and that she had to utilize the Mary Kay money to help
pay for the groceries, vehicle repairs, medical bills, prescriptions, and anything
that was needed. (Id.) Therefore, Wendy would charge her Mary Kay
merchandise purchases on a credit card, but when she received payment from her
customers, she would only pay a minimum amount on the credit card balance and
would use the remainder of the money from the cosmetics sales to pay for family
expenses.1 (Tr., pp. 30-31)
{¶7} On October 3, 2011, the trial court filed its Judgment Entry granting
the divorce. The trial court denied Chris’ motion for shared parenting, finding that
the animosity and lack of communication between the parties would make a
shared parenting plan impossible. (J.E., ¶ 11) Wendy was named the residential
parent, and Chris was ordered to pay $244.76 per child for monthly child support.
(Id.)
{¶8} The trial court found that Wendy had been earning approximately
$25,000 per year working for Edward Jones, but was temporarily laid off. The
trial court utilized the tax records provided to calculate that Chris’ average salary
from 2008 through 2010 was $28,292. After considering the factors in R.C.
1
There was no evidence in the record as to whether or not there was any Mary Kay inventory left to be
considered in the property division.
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3105.18, the trial court did not find that spousal support was appropriate. (J.E., ¶¶
4-5)
{¶9} In dividing the assets, the trial court utilized the list of property and
valuations from the Appraiser’s Report (Plaintiff’s Exhibit 30; Defendant’s
Exhibit U), and the real estate comparable analysis (Plaintiff’s Exhibit 31). The
trial court awarded Wendy personal property, consisting mostly of household
goods, worth $1,154.30, and it awarded Chris personal property, consisting mostly
of vehicles and equipment/inventory related to his business, valued at $37,764.25.
Chris was also awarded the jointly owned real property upon which his business
was located, worth $37,764.25, for a total of $73,514.25 in assets. In addition to
the personal property, Wendy was awarded the retirement account and life
insurance policies, for a total of $17,541.10 in assets. In order to equalize the
division of assets, Chris was ordered to pay Wendy $27,986.57.
{¶10} The trial court also found that the credit card debt attributed to the
Mary Kay purchases was entirely a marital debt and should be divided, utilizing
the valuation as of the date of the separation. (J.E. ¶9) Wendy was ordered to be
responsible for repayment of the entire $26,919.12 debt, but Chris was ordered to
pay Wendy half of that amount, $13,459.56, to equalize the debt.
{¶11} Therefore, in order to effect an equal division of the value of the
assets and debts between the parties, Chris was ordered to pay Wendy
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$41,746.13.2 The trial court ordered the payment to be made within 90 days, with
the judgment carrying the statutory rate of interest if not paid within 90 days.
{¶12} It is from this judgment that Chris timely appeals, raising the
following three assignments of error.
First Assignment of Error
The trial court abused [its] discretion in its division of debt.
Second Assignment of Error
The trial court abused [its] discretion in allocating corporate
property as personal and marital property.
Third Assignment of Error
The trial court failed to properly apply Ohio Revised code
3105.171(F) in making a distributive award.
{¶13} In her cross-appeal from the judgment, Wendy raises the following
single assignment of error for our review.
Cross-Appellant’s Assignment of Error
The trial court erred in failing to consider the gross deposits into
[Chris’s] business as income for purposes of determining spousal
support.
Chris’ Appeal
{¶14} Chris’ assignments of error all involve the division of the parties’
property and debt. The Ohio Revised Code requires a trial court to “determine
2
This amount also included $300 in attorney fees, due to extra legal fees incurred by Wendy and attributed
to discovery violations by Chris. (J.E., ¶ 11)
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what constitutes marital property and what constitutes separate property.” R.C.
3105.171(B). The court is then required to “divide the marital and separate
property equitably between the spouses[.]” Id. The Revised Code further requires
that a trial court divide the marital property equally unless an equal division would
be inequitable, in which case “the court shall not divide the marital property
equally but instead shall divide it between the spouses in the manner the court
determines equitable.” R.C. 3105.171(C)(1).
{¶15} Trial courts have “broad discretion to determine what property
division is equitable in a divorce proceeding.” Cherry v. Cherry, 66 Ohio St.2d
348, 421 (1981), paragraph two of the syllabus. A trial court's decision allocating
marital property and debt will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion.
Jackson v. Jackson, 3rd Dist. No. 11–07–11, 2008–Ohio–1482, ¶ 15, citing
Holcomb v. Holcomb, 44 Ohio St.3d 128 (1989).
{¶16} An abuse of discretion is more than an error in judgment; it signifies
that the trial court's attitude was unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable.
Timberlake v. Timberlake, 192 Ohio App.3d 15, 2011-Ohio-38, ¶ 9 (3d Dist.),
citing Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219 (1983). A trial court will
be found to have abused its discretion when its decision is contrary to law,
unreasonable, not supported by the evidence, or grossly unsound. Bruce v. Bruce,
3d Dist. No. 9-10-57, 2012-Ohio-45, ¶ 13, citing State v. Boles, 2d Dist. No.
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23037, 2010–Ohio–278, ¶ 17–18, citing Black's Law Dictionary (8 Ed.Rev.2004)
11. When applying an abuse-of-discretion standard, an appellate court may not
substitute its judgment for that of the trial court. Blakemore; Berk v. Matthews, 53
Ohio St.3d 161, 169 (1990).
{¶17} Although appellate courts review a trial court's division of property
under an abuse of discretion standard, a trial court's classification of property as
marital or separate must be supported by the manifest weight of the evidence.
Henry v. Henry, 3d Dist. No. 8-11-04, 2012-Ohio-655, ¶ 31. When we consider
manifest weight arguments, we “review the evidence, and * * * determine
whether, when appropriate deference is given to the factual conclusion of the trial
court, the evidence persuades us by the requisite burden of proof.” Henderson v.
Henderson, 3d Dist. No. 10-01-17, 2002-Ohio-2720 ¶ 28, citing Howard v.
Howard, Montgomery App. No. 16542 (Mar. 20, 1998). Accordingly, the trial
court's judgment will not be reversed if the decision is supported by some
competent, credible evidence. Eggeman v. Eggeman, 3d Dist. No. 2-04-06, 2004-
Ohio-6050, ¶ 14, citing DeWitt v. DeWitt, 3d Dist. No. 9-02-42, 2003-Ohio-851, ¶
10.
Chris’ First Assignment of Error – Debt Division
{¶18} In his first assignment of error, Chris complains that it was not
equitable to divide the $26,919.12 credit card debt equally between the parties
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because he claims that Wendy had complete control over the credit cards and she
used them solely to finance purchases of products and to pay expenses for her
Mary Kay cosmetic business. Chris represents that their tax records show that her
business never showed a profit and that it lost money every year. He maintains
that the marriage never derived any benefit from her activities and there was no
evidence that she ever used any of her Mary Kay commissions to support the
family. Therefore, he asserts that it was inequitable to classify the debt as a
marital debt to be allocated equally between the parties.
{¶19} Marital property includes property that is currently owned by either
or both spouses and that was acquired by either or both of the spouses during the
marriage. See R.C. 3105.171(A)(3)(a). Property acquired during a marriage is
presumed to be marital property unless it can be shown to be separate. Huelskamp
v. Huelskamp, 185 Ohio App.3d 611, 2009–Ohio–6864, ¶ 15 (3d Dist.). The trial
court's characterization of property as separate or marital is a mixed question of
law and fact, which must be supported by sufficient credible evidence. Kelly v.
Kelly, 111 Ohio App.3d 641, 642 (1st Dist.1996).
{¶20} The property to be divided in a divorce proceeding includes not only
the assets owned by the parties, but also any debts incurred by the parties.
Marrero v. Marrero, 9th Dist. No. 02CA008057, 2002-Ohio-4862, ¶ 43. Although
Ohio's divorce statutes do not specifically articulate debt as an element of marital
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and separate property, the rules concerning marital assets are usually applied to
marital and separate debt as well. Vonderhaar-Ketron v. Ketron, 5th Dist. No. 10
CA 22, 2010-Ohio-6593, ¶ 34. Therefore, the same principles that govern the
analysis of the disposition of assets also direct the analysis of the disposition of the
parties' debts. Schiesswohl v. Schiesswohl, 9th Dist. No. 21629, 2004-Ohio-1615,
46.
{¶21} Marital debt has been defined as any debt incurred during the
marriage for the joint benefit of the parties or for a valid marital purpose.
Ketchum v. Ketchum, 7th Dist. No.2001 CO60, 2003–Ohio–2559, ¶ 47, citing
Turner, Equitable Distribution of Property (2 Ed.1994, Supp.2002) 455, Section
6.29. Debts incurred during the marriage are presumed to be marital unless it can
be proved that they are not. Vergitz v. Vergitz, 7th Dist. No. 05JE52, 2007–Ohio–
1395, ¶ 12, citing Knox v. Knox, 7th Dist. No. 04JE24, 2006–Ohio–1154, ¶ 25–26.
The party seeking to establish a debt as separate rather than marital bears the
burden of proving this to the trial court by a preponderance of the evidence. Id.,citing Hurte v. Hurte, 164 Ohio App.3d 446, 842 N.E.2d 1058, 2005–Ohio–5967,
¶ 21 (4th Dist.); Lucas v. Lucas, 7th Dist. No. 11 NO 382, 2011-Ohio-6411, ¶ 33;
Kranz v. Kranz, 12th Dist. No. CA2008-04-054, 2009-Ohio-2451, ¶ 24.
{¶22} Wendy’s Mary Kay business activities took place during the
marriage. As such, all income and all losses from her business venture are
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presumed to be marital. Just because the business may have suffered a loss, does
not mean that its debt is not marital. Furthermore, testimony from Wendy
indicated that the debt that was accumulated was not necessarily from losses from
operating her business but from utilizing the money she obtained through the
business to pay for household and family expenses. Chris did not present any
evidence that would satisfy his burden to prove that the debt should have been
classified as Wendy’s separate debt.
{¶23} The trial court heard the testimony of the witnesses and examined the
exhibits and depositions of the parties. The trial court stated that it “accepts the
testimony of [Wendy] as to the use of the credit cards and Mary Kay commissions
to the benefit of her family.” (J.E., ¶ 9) Although it acknowledged that Wendy
may have been a “poor business woman,” it found that she was not using the credit
cards for a devious or selfish purpose.” (Id.) It is for the trier of fact to determine
the credibility of the witnesses based on the evidence before it, and the trial court
found Wendy’s testimony to be more credible than Chris’ testimony.
{¶24} There was credible evidence in the record to support the trial court’s
determination that the credit card debt was marital, and the trial court did not
abuse its discretion when it divided that debt equally between the parties. Chris’
first assignment of error is overruled.
Chris’ Second Assignment of Error – Corporate Property Division
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{¶25} In his second assignment of error, Chris asserts that the trial court
erred by arbitrarily setting aside the corporate ownership and declaring the assets
of the corporation to be marital property. He states that the corporation was a
separate entity, and that the value of the corporation should have been determined
by a proper expert valuation utilizing an accepted method for valuing a
corporation. Chris contends that no proper valuation was given to the business
and that it was improper for the trial court to deem the assets of the corporation as
marital property subject to division.
{¶26} When dividing property in domestic cases, the trial court is vested
with broad discretion, which will be upheld absent an abuse of discretion.
Middendorf v. Middendorf, 82 Ohio St.3d 397, 401, 1998-Ohio-403. R.C.
3105.171(C)(1) mandates that a trial court divide marital property equally, or, if an
equal division is inequitable, that the court divide the marital property equitably.
To comply with that duty, a trial court must generally assign and consider the
values of marital assets in order to equitably divide those assets. Beagle v. Beagle,
10th Dist. No. 07AP–494, 2008–Ohio–764, ¶ 41; Hightower v. Hightower, 10th
Dist. No. 02AP–37, 2002–Ohio–5488, ¶ 22. Ohio courts have recognized several
different methods for valuing a business. Kuper v. Halbach, 10th Dist. No. 09AP-
1099, 2010-Ohio-3020, ¶ 13. When valuing a business, a trial court is not required
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to use a particular valuation method nor is it precluded from using any method.
Id.{¶27} The valuation of property in a divorce case is a question of fact.
Herron v. Herron, 3d Dist. No. 1-04-23, 2004-Ohio-5765, ¶ 23, citing Covert v.
Covert, 4th Dist. No. 03CA778, 2004-Ohio-3534, ¶ 6. Accordingly, a trial court's
decision pertaining to the valuation of property will be reviewed under a manifest
weight of the evidence standard and will not be reversed so long as it is supported
by some competent and credible evidence. Id.{¶28} The trial court determined that the business was marital property, and
determined the valuation of the business to the best of its ability based upon the
limited information that it had before it. The trial court found:
The Court does not accept [Chris’s] premise that some property is
owned by the corporation and should be excluded as marital
property or that the Court has no jurisdiction over those assets. * * *
He is the sole shareholder and the corporation only exists to give
him a tax break with regard to tax liability that he has on money that
is earned. The corporation, in one form or another, has existed
throughout the parties’ marriage. The court, therefore considers the
assets of the corporation as assets of the parties subject to an
equitable division just as if it were a sole proprietorship.
(Oct. 3, 2011 J.E., ¶ 8)
{¶29} It was uncontroverted that Chris formed the corporations that existed
after the date of the parties’ marriage in 1992. Although Chris did conduct a
cabinet business prior to the marriage, there was no definitive evidence that assets
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were transferred to the corporation or that the corporation’s current value was in
any way derived from the pre-marital business. Since the creation and operation
of the corporation occurred during the marriage, and there were no other outside
shareholders involved, the trial court did not err in finding that the entire value of
the corporation was marital property, subject to an equitable division between the
parties.
{¶30} Next we need to determine whether or not the trial court correctly
valued the corporation. On appeal, Chris incorrectly argues that “the court
arbitrarily determined that it was essentially setting aside the corporation
ownership and declaring any assets the corporation had to be marital property.”
(Appellate Br., p. 13) The trial court did not set aside any corporate ownership,
but merely valued the assets of the corporation as if it were a sole proprietorship
because, in essence, that is how it was actually being operated. Chris casually
moved his various business ventures back and forth between the corporate entities
he had set up, with little regard for what corporate name a business was operating
under. Confusion was caused because Chris never bothered to change the name of
the corporations on his bank accounts and Quick Book accounts, even when a
corporation ceased to exist. At the time of the divorce, Chris was essentially
operating a cabinet making business, which he himself had stated had no value
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other the value of the equipment. (Deposition of Chris Schwarck, pp. 21-24,
admitted as Plaintiff’s Exhibits 1 and 2)
[Chris] is the sole owner of the stock in the Subchapter S
corporations and neither party had an expert testify as to the value of
any business or as to the value of any stock held by [Chris]. Due to
the nature of [Chris’s] business, the Court finds the Subchapter S
corporation and the shares of stock held by [Chris] to have no value
beyond equipment and inventory. The Court can only make findings
based upon evidence given to it by the parties.
(J.E., ¶ 4)
{¶31} The trial court’s ruling allowed the business to remain intact, and
allowed Chris to maintain his business as he had been operating it, while still
giving Wendy financial credit for her marital share of this property. This is
precisely the manner that the Eleventh District Court of Appeals ordered the trial
court to employ in order to effectuate an equitable distribution while keeping the
business intact, if at all possible. See Humphrey v. Humphrey, 11th Dist. No.
2000-A-0092, 2002-Ohio-3121, ¶ 41.
{¶32} The trial court had no expert testimony to utilize for valuing the
stock and utilized the only information it had before it: the testimony of Chris and
the valuation of the business property and inventory that was done by the certified
appraiser. While this might not be the best method to utilize to value a Subchapter
S corporation, based on the facts in this case, the casual manner in which the
business was operated, the lack of viable expert testimony as to the value of the
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business, and the limited information provided by the parties, we cannot say that
the trial court abused its discretion. The second assignment of error is overruled.
Chris’ Third Assignment of Error – “Distributive Award”
{¶33} In his final assignment of error, Chris complains that the trial court
erred in ordering a lump sum “distributive award” of $41,746.13 to be paid in
ninety days. Chris complains that he does not have any liquid assets with which to
pay this award and will be forced to sell some of the assets of the corporation,
which will result in a negative tax impact. He asserts that the trial court failed to
take into consideration the factors in R.C. 3105.171(F), some of which include:
the assets and liabilities of the parties; the liquidity of the property to be
distributed; the tax consequences of the property division; and any other factor the
court finds relevant. He contends that being ordered to pay a lump sum within
ninety days is burdensome and impossible.
{¶34} Pursuant to R.C. 3105.171(A)(1), a “distributive award” means “any
payment or payments, in real or personal property, that are payable in a lump sum
or over time, in fixed amounts, that are made from separate property or income,
and that are not made from marital property and do not constitute payments of
spousal support, as defined in section 3105.18 of the Revised Code.” R.C.
3105.171(E)(2) provides that the court may make a distributive award in lieu of a
division of marital property in order to achieve equity between the spouses, if the
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court determines that a division of the marital property in kind or in money would
be impractical or burdensome. Ruttmann v. Ruttmann, 3d Dist. No. 16-95-2, 1995
WL 577822. Moreover, the court must consider the factors enumerated in R.C.
3105.171(F) in deciding whether or not to order a distributive award. Guziak v.
Guziak, 80 Ohio App.3d 805, 813 (9th Dist.1992).
{¶35} Chris is mistaken when he states that the trial court erred in ordering
a distributive award, because no such award was made. Here, the trial court
determined that all of the parties’ assets were marital assets and ordered a division
of the marital assets to equalize the division of the marital property between the
parties. The trial court did not make a “distributive award,” because there was no
award of separate property involved. See O’Rourke v. O’Rourke, 4th Dist. No.
08CA3253, 2010-Ohio-1243, ¶ 19 (the court’s award was not a distributive award
made from the husband’s separate property, but an award to equalize the division
of the marital property.)
{¶36} Furthermore, Chris is not necessarily required to sell the
corporation’s assets and suffer tax consequences. If Chris fails to pay the amount
due within 90 days, he will be required to pay interest on the outstanding amount
due. Wendy is currently paying interest on the credit card debt, so we do not see
how that ruling is inequitable to Chris. And, while it may be difficult for Chris to
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refinance the property or come up with the money he was ordered to pay, it is not
an impossibility.
{¶37} Chris was awarded the bulk of the parties’ assets in order to allow
him to keep his business intact. It was within the trial court’s discretion to award a
lump sum equalization of the marital assets, even if it might cause some hardships,
and especially when there were insufficient liquid assets to otherwise effectuate an
equitable distribution of property between the parties. The third assignment of
error is overruled.
Wendy’s Cross-Appeal – Denial of Spousal Support
{¶38} In her cross appeal, Wendy sets forth a single assignment of error
asserting that the trial court erred when it failed to award her spousal support. She
alleges that Chris’ income was considerably higher than what was determined by
the trial court, which utilized his income tax returns to calculate his average annual
income. Wendy cites to several cases where courts have found that a spouse who
is the sole shareholder of a business may sometimes engage in “creative
accounting” in order to “cloak net income.” See e.g., Strasburg v. Strasburg, 3d
Dist. No. 2-10-12, 2010-Oho-3672, ¶ 28. Wendy claims that the bank deposit
records from 2008 to 2010 (Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3) show deposits greatly in excess
of his reported income during that period, and that there was a lack of proof as to
expenses to off-set that income.
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{¶39} R.C. 3105.18 governs the trial court's award of spousal support and
requires the court to consider fourteen factors set forth in R.C. 3105.18(C)(1)
when determining whether spousal support is “appropriate and reasonable” and
when determining the nature, amount, terms of payment, and duration of the
support. Strasburg, 2010-Ohio-3672, at ¶ 26. Trial courts are granted broad
discretion concerning awards of spousal support. Tremaine v. Tremaine, 111 Ohio
App.3d 703, 706 (2d Dist.1996); Siekfer v. Siekfer, 3d Dist. No. 12-06-04, 2006-
Ohio-5154, ¶ 15. See also, Kunkle v. Kunkle, 51 Ohio St.3d 64, 67 (1990). Their
orders will not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse of that discretion. Id.{¶40} The record demonstrates that the trial court considered the
appropriate factors and found that spousal support was not warranted because the
parties had similar educations, similar earning capacities, were in reasonably good
health, and had similar living arrangements. Additionally, the trial court noted
that the parties had lived separately for almost two and one-half years before filing
for divorce, indicating that neither was relying on the other for support. (J.E., ¶ 5)
However, Wendy claims that the trial court made an erroneous decision because it
failed to consider “undeclared income.”
{¶41} The trial court did address Wendy’s arguments in its judgment entry,
stating:
[Wendy] has attempted to show that [Chris] has earned more income
than he has reported. In order to do that, [Wendy] has presented the
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bank account statements of [Chris] from his various corporations and
personal accounts. [Wendy] presented no testimony from a forensic
accountant to support her position. A simple examination of the
records is not sufficient to support [Wendy’s] position.
(J.E., ¶ 4). The record shows that the trial court carefully considered Wendy’s
arguments, but that she failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove her
allegations.
{¶42} Although the parties’ presented voluminous financial records as
exhibits, including years of bank statements, Quick Book records, and tax returns,
there was little in the way of organization or explanation as to their significance.
Furthermore, the record keeping was poor in several respects, such that Chris did
not even change the names of his bank accounts or computer records when he
changed his businesses and he operated different businesses out of one account.
Although Wendy is correct in stating that the total deposits are considerably higher
than the total income reported, there are many reasonable explanations for the
difference. Monthly bank statements often showed that checks paid out in any
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given month were nearly equal to, or even in excess of the deposits.3 The tax
returns listed the gross income, but then also subtracted the cost of goods sold,
depreciation, costs for utilities, legitimate business expenses, etc. There was no
evidence that the tax returns were inaccurate or fraudulent. While the record-
keeping may have been careless, we cannot dispute the trial court’s conclusion
that there was no definitive evidence of financial misconduct that would warrant
imputing additional income to Chris.4
{¶43} Based on the above, we do not find any error in the trial court’s
determination that spousal support was not appropriate. Wendy’s assignment of
error on cross-appeal is overruled.
{¶44} Having found no error prejudicial to the Appellant or Cross-
Appellant herein in the particulars assigned and argued, we affirm the judgment of
the trial court.
Judgment Affirmed
PRESTON and ROGERS, J.J., concur.
/jlr
3
Copies or details of the check payments were not provided. However, Plaintiff’s Exhibit 33 provided
over 40 pages of “Expenses by Vendor Detail” from 2004 through 2010 for the various entities. Again,
without expert testimony to compare the deposits to the disbursements, we cannot come to any conclusion
as to the significance of these records.
4
The trial court stated that, “[i]n listening to the parties, the court is also convinced that [Chris] does not
possess the intelligence required to under-report income to the extent as alleged by [Wendy]. If there was
an under-reporting of income, it was as a result of poor record keeping skills and mistakes or carelessness.
(J.E., ¶ 4)
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