Sigman v. Sigman , 2012 Ohio 5433 ( 2012 )

[Cite as Sigman v. Sigman, 2012-Ohio-5433.]
STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
)ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
COUNTY OF WAYNE )
AARON G. SIGMAN C.A. No. 11CA0012
Appellee
v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT
ENTERED IN THE
LAURIE T. SIGMAN COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
COUNTY OF WAYNE, OHIO
Appellant CASE No. 10-DR-0022
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
Dated: November 26, 2012
MOORE, Judge.
{¶1} Laurie T. Sigman appeals from the judgment of the Wayne County Court of
Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division. This Court affirms.
I.
{¶2} Aaron and Laurie Sigman (“Husband” and “Wife”) were married for 10 years. In
2010, Husband filed a complaint for divorce, and Wife filed a counterclaim for divorce. On
October 26, 2010, the trial court held a final hearing before a magistrate. The magistrate issued a
decision, in part recommending that Husband pay $200 per month to Wife for spousal support,
that Husband assume the entirety of the parties’ unsecured marital debt, and that he pay $5506 to
Wife as part of the division of the marital property. Husband objected to the magistrate’s
decision. The trial court sustained Husband’s objections with respect to the award of spousal
support and with respect to the allocation to Husband of the entirety of the parties’ unsecured
marital debt. The trial court determined that spousal support was not appropriate in this case,
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and that, because the trial court allocated Husband the entirety of the unsecured debt, it would be
inequitable to further impose upon him an obligation to pay Wife $5506. The court then issued a
decree, which was silent on the issue of spousal support and which eliminated the $5506
payment from the property division provisions. Wife filed a notice of appeal from the decree,
and this Court remanded the matter to the trial court for compliance with Civ.R. 75. Thereafter,
the trial court entered a divorce decree setting forth that no spousal support was to be awarded,
which brought the decree into compliance with Civ.R. 75.
{¶3} Wife now presents two assignments of error for our review.
II.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AS A MATTER OF LAW BY SUSTAINING
[HUSBAND]’S OBJECTION AND ORDERING AN UNFAIR AND
INEQUITABLE DIVISION OF THE MARITAL PROPERTY, WHICH
ALLOCATED $5,506[ ]MORE TO [HUSBAND] THAN [WIFE] AS A
DIVISION OF MARITAL PROPERTY.
{¶4} In her first assignment of error, Wife argues that the trial court erred in sustaining
Husband’s objections pertaining to the $5,506 payment and in failing to adopt that portion of the
magistrate’s decision in the divorce decree. We disagree.
{¶5} A decision to modify, adopt or reverse a magistrate’s decision “lies within the
discretion of the trial court and should not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion”.
Kalail v. Dave Walter, Inc., 9th Dist. No. 22817, 2006-Ohio-157, ¶ 5, citing Blakemore v.
Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219 (1983). Moreover, the trial court “has broad discretion to
determine what property division is equitable in a divorce proceeding.” Cherry v. Cherry, 66
Ohio St.2d 348 (1981), paragraph two of the syllabus. Therefore, we will not reverse a trial
court’s decision regarding the division of property, absent an abuse of discretion. Briganti v.
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Briganti, 9 Ohio St.3d 220, 222 (1984). The term “abuse of discretion” connotes “that the trial
court's attitude [was] unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable.” Blakemore at 219.
{¶6} R.C. 3105.171(C)(1) provides in part,
[T]he division of marital property shall be equal. If an equal division of property
would be inequitable, the court shall not divide the marital property equally but
instead shall divide it between the spouses in the manner the court determines
equitable.
{¶7} In determining what is equitable, “the court shall consider all relevant factors,
including those set forth in [R.C. 3105.171(F)].” Id. Those factors include the following:
(2) The assets and liabilities of the spouses;
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(10) Any other factor that the court expressly finds to be relevant and equitable.
R.C. 3105.171(F). “Upon review, this Court must consider the distribution in its entirety under
the totality of the circumstances.” Barlow v. Barlow, 9th Dist. No. 08CA0055, 2009-Ohio-3788,
¶ 13, citing Jelen v. Jelen, 86 Ohio App.3d 199, 203 (1st Dist.1993).
{¶8} Here, the magistrate recommended that Husband receive approximately $41,913
worth of marital assets and be apportioned the entirety of the unsecured marital debt in the
amount of $26,790. The magistrate then recommended that Wife receive approximately $4,111
worth of marital assets, that she not be liable for any portion of the unsecured debt, and that
Husband pay to her $5,506 “[t]o equalize the property division[.]” Husband objected to the
magistrate’s decision regarding allocation of the entirety of the unsecured marital debt to him,
and the trial court sustained his objection.
{¶9} Wife argues that the trial court lacked a basis for unequally dividing the parties’
property. However, the trial court determined that “the allocation of all marital debts to
[Husband was] not equitable,” and that the “remedy [wa]s the elimination of the $5,506[
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]property division payment.” Therefore, the trial court determined that an equal division of
property would have been inequitable in this case, and that removal of the equalizing payment
resulted in an equitable division. See R.C. 3105.171(C)(1). We cannot say that the trial court’s
ruling on this issue was unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable. See Blakemore at 219.
Therefore, Wife’s first assignment of error is overruled.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR II
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY FINDING THAT IT WAS NOT
REASONABLE OR APPROPRIATE FOR [WIFE] TO RECEIVE A SPOUSAL
SUPPORT OBLIGATION PAYABLE BY [HUSBAND] IN THE AMOUNT OF
$200[ ]PER MONTH FOR A PERIOD OF TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS.
{¶10} In her second assignment of error, Wife argues that the trial court erred in
declining to adopt the magistrate’s recommendation that Husband pay her spousal support in the
amount of $200 per month for a 24-month term. We disagree.
{¶11} A trial court may award reasonable spousal support in a divorce action after a
property division is effectuated. R.C. 3105.18(B). Here, the trial court declined to adopt an
award of spousal support as recommended by the magistrate. As set forth in our discussion of
Wife’s first assignment of error, a decision to modify, adopt, or reverse a magistrate’s decision
lies within the discretion of the trial court and should not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse
of discretion. Kalail, 2006-Ohio-157, at ¶ 5, citing Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d at 219. Moreover,
“[a] trial court has wide latitude in awarding spousal support. As such, absent an abuse of
discretion, an appellate court will not reverse a trial court’s decision regarding spousal support.”
Abram v. Abram, 9th Dist. No. 3233-M, 2002 WL 22894, *1 (Jan. 9, 2002), citing Vanderpool v.
Vanderpool, 118 Ohio App.3d 876, 878-79 (9th Dist.1997). However, a trial court’s broad
discretion in regard to spousal support must be guided by the factors set forth in R.C.
3105.18(C)(1). R.C. 3105.18(C)(1) provides:
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In determining whether spousal support is appropriate and reasonable, and in
determining the nature, amount, and terms of payment, and duration of spousal
support, * * * the court shall consider all of the following factors:
(a) The income of the parties, from all sources, including, but not limited to,
income derived from property divided, disbursed, or distributed under section
3105.171 of the Revised Code;
(b) The relative earning abilities of the parties;
(c) The ages and the physical, mental, and emotional conditions of the parties;
(d) The retirement benefits of the parties;
(e) The duration of the marriage;
(f) The extent to which it would be inappropriate for a party, because that party
will be custodian of a minor child of the marriage, to seek employment outside
the home;
(g) The standard of living of the parties established during the marriage;
(h) The relative extent of education of the parties;
(i) The relative assets and liabilities of the parties, including but not limited to any
court-ordered payments by the parties;
(j) The contribution of each party to the education, training, or earning ability of
the other party, including, but not limited to, any party's contribution to the
acquisition of a professional degree of the other party;
(k) 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;
(l) The tax consequences, for each party, of an award of spousal support;
(m) The lost income production capacity of either party that resulted from that
party's marital responsibilities;
(n) Any other factor that the court expressly finds to be relevant and equitable.
{¶12} Need is not a basis for an award of spousal support; rather, the court must
consider the factors set forth in R.C. 3105.18(C)(1) and determine within its sound discretion
whether spousal support is appropriate. There is no requirement that the court enumerate each
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factor, but the court must provide a sufficient basis to support its decision. West v. West, 9th
Dist. No. 01CA0045, 2002 WL 388845, *9 (Mar. 13, 2002).
{¶13} Here, Wife argues that the magistrate properly analyzed her request for spousal
support utilizing the factors set forth in R.C. 3105.18(C)(1). In the magistrate’s decision, the
magistrate concluded that, due to the likelihood of Husband continuing a side business of
grinding tree stumps, it was reasonable and appropriate for spousal support to be awarded to
Wife in the amount of $200 per month for 24 months.
{¶14} Husband objected to the magistrate’s decision on this point, and, in sustaining
Husband’s objection, the trial court noted, “The Magistrate did not cite the R.C. 3105.18 factors
which support this award. These parties have struggled financially during their relatively short
term marriage. The [Husband]’s income is barely above minimum wage. [Wife] works part-
time at Kohl’s and receives child support. During the marriage, she became certified as a
radiology technician. She has not found employment in that field as of yet. Given these facts,
the Court believes that this is not a case for spousal support and sustains [Husband]’s objection.”
{¶15} Thus, the trial court supported its determination that spousal support was not
warranted in this case by specific reference to the parties’ earning capabilities, the duration of the
parties’ marriage, and the parties’ education. See R.C. 3105.18. We cannot say that the trial
court’s determination that spousal support was not appropriate in this situation was an abuse of
discretion. See Blakemore at 219. Accordingly, Wife’s second assignment of error is overruled.
III.
{¶16} Wife’s assignments of error are overruled. The judgment of the trial court is
affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
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There were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common
Pleas, County of Wayne, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy
of this journal entry shall constitute the mandate, pursuant to App.R. 27.
Immediately upon the filing hereof, this document shall constitute the journal entry of
judgment, and it shall be file stamped by the Clerk of the Court of Appeals at which time the
period for review shall begin to run. App.R. 22(C). The Clerk of the Court of Appeals is
instructed to mail a notice of entry of this judgment to the parties and to make a notation of the
mailing in the docket, pursuant to App.R. 30.
Costs taxed to Appellant.
CARLA MOORE
FOR THE COURT
WHITMORE, P. J.
CONCURS.
DICKINSON, J.
CONCURS IN JUDGMENT ONLY.
APPEARANCES:
ROSANNA K. SHRINER, Attorney at Law, for Appellant.
RENEE J. JACKWOOD, Attorney at Law, for Appellee.