Schroeder v. Niese

[Cite as Schroeder v. Niese, 2016-Ohio-8397.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT
PUTNAM COUNTY
LISA M. SCHROEDER,
CASE NO. 12-16-05
PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
DENNIS V. NIESE, OPINION
DEFENDANT-APPELLEE.
Appeal from Putnam County Common Pleas Court
Juvenile Division
Trial Court No. 20154060
Judgment Affirmed
Date of Decision: December 27, 2016
APPEARANCES:
Howard A. Elliott and Jeffrey Whitman for Appellant
Keith H. Schierloh for Appellee
Case No. 12-16-05
WILLAMOWSKI, J.
{¶1} The plaintiff-appellant, Lisa M. Schroeder (“Schroeder”), appeals a
decision from the Juvenile Division of the Putnam County Court of Common Pleas.
Schroeder alleges that the trial court erred by declining to make child support
effective from the date her child was born instead of from the date she filed her
complaint. For the reasons set forth below, the judgment of the lower court is
affirmed.
{¶2} Schroeder is the mother and natural guardian of CN. Doc. 1. CN was
born in December of 2012. Id. On October 8, 2015, Schroeder filed a complaint to
determine parentage with the Juvenile Division of the Putnam County Court of
Common Pleas that named Dennis V. Niese (“Niese”) as the defendant. Id. After
the genetic testing results were returned, Niese filed an answer that admitted he was
the father of CN. Doc. 11, 15. On January 26, 2016, Schroeder and Niese came to
the court with an agreement on several child support matters, but the issues of “past
due medical expenses and the effective date of the child support to be paid”
remained unresolved. Doc. 18. Tr. 9.
{¶3} At this hearing, Schroeder requested the court to award retroactive child
support from the date of CN’s birth in December of 2012. Tr. 10. Niese, however,
was only willing to pay child support retroactive to the date that the complaint was
filed. Tr. 11. The court heard arguments from both parties on this matter. Id.
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Schroeder testified as to the nature of her past relationship with Niese. In her
testimony, she explained that she told Niese about their child early in her pregnancy,
notified him of CN’s birth on the date of delivery, and, at the time she became
pregnant, expected Niese to be involved in CN’s upbringing. Tr. 14, 19. Schroeder
testified that she and Niese signed a lease for an apartment in anticipation of living
together. Tr. 17-18. However, she admitted that she had Niese sign as an occupant
not as a lessee because she “was trying to protect [herself]…if he was a lessee there
was no way [she] could remove him from the property.” Tr. 19. Ex. A, B. In the
end, neither party moved into the apartment. Tr. 19. She also admitted that Niese
had periodically given her sums of money with the amounts ranging from $40 to
$400. Tr. 24.
{¶4} The defense argued that the pleadings did not request retroactive
support from the date of birth and, therefore, the effective date of the child support
should be the date Schroeder filed the complaint. Tr. 11. Niese took the stand and
testified that he did tell Schroeder during her pregnancy that he was going to take
care of her and CN. Tr. 32. Niese also asserted that he regularly paid Schroeder
$500 per month after CN was born and would occasionally give her a $1,000
payment for months with holidays. Tr. 27. However, he made these payments only
in cash and did not keep a record or take a receipt from Schroeder for these
payments. Tr. 29.
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{¶5} On July 12, 2016, the court issued a final judgment in which it ordered
Niese to reimburse Schroeder for CN’s past medical expenses and set October 8,
2015, as the effective date for retroactive child support. Doc. 18. On appeal,
Schroeder raises one assignment of error.
The trial court abused its discretion by failing to order child
support to the mother of the child retroactive to the date of birth
of the child in the paternity action where the father failed to
affirmatively establish the circumstances that would relieve him
of his obligation to pay support from the period of time prior to
the commencement of the paternity action.
{¶6} The sole assignment of error argues that the trial court erred by
declining Schroeder’s request for retroactive child support to the date of birth. R.C.
3111.13(F)(2) places the issue of retroactive child support within the discretion of
the trial court:
When a court determines whether to require a parent to pay an
amount for that parent's failure to support a child prior to the
date the court issues an order requiring that parent to pay an
amount for the current support of that child, it shall consider all
relevant factors, including, but not limited to, any monetary
contribution either parent of the child made to the support of the
child prior to the court issuing the order requiring the parent to
pay an amount for the current support of the child.
R.C. 3111.13(F)(2). “[T]his statute does not institute a per se rule that requires or
disallows awards of retroactive child support.” Evans v. Richardson, 10th Dist.
Franklin No. 01AP-1328, 2002-Ohio-3555, ¶12.
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{¶7} “We review child support matters under an abuse of discretion
standard.” Hay v. Shafer, 3d Dist. Mercer No. 10-10-10, 2010-Ohio-4811, ¶ 25,
citing Booth v. Booth, 44 Ohio St. 3d 142, 541 N.E.2d 1028 (1989). “An abuse of
discretion is more than an error of judgment; rather, it implies that the trial court's
decision was unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious.” Heilman v. Heilman, 3d Dist.
Hardin No. 6-12-08, 2012-Ohio-5133, ¶ 14. “When applying the abuse of discretion
standard of review, this court is not free merely to substitute its judgment for that of
the trial court.” Kreitzer v. Anderson, 157 Ohio App. 3d 434, 2004-Ohio-3024, 811
N.E.2d 607, ¶ 16 (3d Dist.).
{¶8} In her appeal, Schroeder claims that the trial court inappropriately
departed from the “general rule, in a paternity action, [that] child support should be
awarded from the birthdate of the child.” Appellant’s Brief, 7. Schroeder is under
the impression that Myers v. Moschella, 112 Ohio App. 3d 75, 677 N.E.2d 1243 (1st
Dist.1996) supports this general rule. Although Myers states “the [father’s] support
obligation commences at birth,” it did not require that formal child support be
ordered retroactively to the date of birth. Id. at 78, quoting Baugh v. Carver, 3 Ohio
App.3d 139, 140, 444 N.E.2d 58, (1st Dist.1981).1 In fact, the appeals court in
1
Both the Myers and the Baugh decisions were handed down under a prior version of R.C. 3111.17 that has
since been revised. Courts have nonetheless used the Baugh decision to evaluate child support determinations
made under R.C. 3111.13. See Evans v. Richardson, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 01AP-1328, 2002-Ohio-3555,
¶12.
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Myers affirmed the trial court’s decision to decline an award of retroactive child
support from the date of the child’s birth and to refuse to order the father to
reimburse the plaintiff for any of the child’s past medical expenses. Myers at 78.
{¶9} The judgment entry shows that the trial court, in coming to its decision,
“consider[ed] all relevant factors” presented by the parties as was required by law.
R.C. 3111.13(F)(2). First, the court found that Niese did make payments of support
prior to the initiation of this action. Doc. 18. While the amounts and regularity of
the payments were in dispute, the court presumed the support was generally
satisfactory as Schroeder did not file an action against Niese for almost three years.
Id. Second, the court found that Schroeder and Niese had agreed to live together
in an apartment. Id. However, Schroeder signed this lease without Niese. Id. The
court reasoned that these facts demonstrated that Schroeder had reservations about
fully trusting Niese’s promises of full support. The fact that neither of them moved
into the apartment shows that Schroeder was aware, prior to the birth of CN, that
Niese was likely to fall short of his previous representations. Id. Finally, the trial
court found that Schroeder did not show that she had relied upon Niese’s statements.
Id. All of these findings were supported by competent, credible evidence in the
record. Cummins v. Minster, 3d Dist. Auglaize No. 2-14-15, 2015-Ohio-4129, 43
N.E.3d 902, ¶ 16, quoting Middendorf v. Middendorf, 82 Ohio St. 3d 397, 401, 696
N.E.2d 575 (1998).
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{¶10} Based on these findings, the trial court ordered Niese to reimburse
Schroeder for all the medical and birth expenses incurred from CN’s birth to the
present and to pay retroactive child support from the date of filing. Doc. 18. This
award amounts to $8,380.33 in medical expenses prior to the addition of any birth
expenses. Id. It also amounts to $500.00 per month in arrearage payments for
retroactive child support from the date this action was filed. Id. Contrary to
Schroeder’s assertions, the judgment entry that the trial court issued acknowledged
the duty of Niese to support CN in some form from the time of CN’s birth. The
judgment entry also shows the trial court explained the findings and reasoning that
guided the judge, establishing his decision was neither arbitrary nor unreasonable.
{¶11} Schroeder also asserts that it is an abuse of discretion to decline to
award retroactive child support from the child’s date of birth “absent an affirmative
demonstration by the obligor of circumstances which would relief [sic] him of that
obligation.” To support this argument, Schroeder cites Baugh v. Carver, supra.
However, Baugh does not advance her argument when quoted in full.
Where damages for support payments for the period from the
date of the child's birth to the date of adjudication are prayed for
and proved, as here, it is an abuse of discretion for the court to
make no award of child support for that period in the absence of
an affirmative demonstration of some circumstance which ought
reasonably to relieve the father of this obligation and the child of
this entitlement.
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Baugh at 140-141. For Niese to be required to make an affirmative demonstration,
Schroeder would first need to prove damages. See Shockey v. Blackburn, 12th Dist.
Warren No. CA98-07-085, 1999 WL 326174 (May 17, 1999). The record does not
show that she carried this burden.
{¶12} Further, under the Baugh analysis, courts have held that
“[d]emonstrating that a father voluntarily provided support prior to a child support
order, and that the child’s financial needs were met during that pre-order period, can
be sufficient evidence to relieve a father of retroactive child support.” Evans, supra
at ¶ 16. Both parties agree that Niese voluntarily made payments of child support.
Doc. 18. While the parties dispute whether this support was adequate, the trial court
found the fact that Schroeder did not initiate an action for a child support order until
CN was nearly three to be evidence that the support was generally adequate. Id.
Thus, even when taking the Myers and Baugh decisions into consideration, the trial
court’s determination was not an abuse of discretion.
While “[u]nder some circumstances, a trial court may abuse its discretion by
not ordering child support payments from the birth of the child,” we do not find that
to be the case here. Hammon By and Through Hammon v. Hammon, 3d Dist. Van
Wert No. 15-90-14, 1991 WL 53747 (April 12, 1991), citing Baugh v. Carver, 3
Ohio App. 3d 139, 444 N.E.2d 58 (1st Dist.1981). Ohio law expressly gives the trial
court the discretion to determine whether the circumstances of a particular case
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warrant child support to be made retroactive to the date of birth. In its discretion,
the trial court determined this situation did not warrant such an award. For these
reasons, we overrule Schroeder’s sole assignment of error.
{¶13} Having found no error prejudicial to the appellant in the particulars
assigned and argued, the judgment of the Juvenile Division of the Putnam County
Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
Judgment Affirmed
SHAW, P.J. and PRESTON, J., concur.
/hls
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