Calhoun v. Calhoun, 2014 Ohio 703

Rita Calhoun (Mother) and Tyrone Calhoun (Father) divorced in 1999; Mother awarded primary custody of their disabled son Aaron (now an adult) and Father ordered to pay child support.
Over years the parties litigated visitation and support; Father filed a motion to terminate child support on March 26, 2012, asserting Aaron could support himself.
Mother filed a motion to modify child support on September 11, 2012, but later voluntarily withdrew that motion at the November 8, 2012 full hearing.
Probate court had previously adjudicated Aaron incompetent and appointed Mother guardian; a Guardian’s Report and expert evaluation described Aaron as severely disabled and requiring constant supervision.
The magistrate denied Father’s motion to terminate child support, dismissed Mother’s withdrawn modification motion, and denied Mother’s motion to strike the November 8 hearing; the trial court adopted the magistrate’s decision on May 31, 2013.
Mother appealed raising procedural and substantive challenges to the hearings and to termination of support; the appellate court found Mother’s claims moot because she prevailed on the central issue and warned against frivolous filings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court improperly joined Mother’s motion to modify with Father’s earlier motion to terminate and denied a continuance	Mother argued the motions were improperly joined and she was deprived of pretrial protections	Father maintained the proceedings were proper and the modification motion was voluntarily withdrawn	Moot: Mother withdrew the modification motion; no relief possible
Whether the court provided inadequate notice of the November 8, 2012 full hearing	Mother claimed notice was mailed to wrong address and gave <14 days to prepare	Father asserted notice and scheduling were proper	Moot: modification withdrawn and hearing proceeded; no effectual relief to grant Mother
Whether the court erred by moving to full trial without completed financial affidavits (Local Rule 19 / R.C. 3119.05(A))	Mother contended required income/expense statements were not completed before trial	Father contested the necessity or impact given the circumstances	Moot as to Mother’s withdrawn modification; no relief warranted
Whether the court illegally sought to terminate support for a mentally disabled child and entered orders without proper financial data	Mother argued proceedings aimed to illegally terminate support and ignored Father’s income	Father sought termination based on Aaron’s capability to support himself	Court denied Father’s termination motion; Mother was prevailing party, so claims rendered moot

Thomas v. Cleveland, 140 Ohio App.3d 136 (8th Dist. 2000) (mootness and advisory opinion principles)
State ex rel. Eliza Jennings, Inc. v. Noble, 49 Ohio St.3d 71 (1990) (mootness: appellate relief must be effectual)