Cummin v. Cummin, 2017 Ohio 7877

Kimberly and David Cummin divorced in 2011; they have four minor children. The divorce decree ordered shared parenting, child support, and spousal support.
Trial court found David voluntarily underemployed, imputed income, and calculated combined annual income above the $150,000 cap; it set child support and reduced spousal support.
On direct appeal this Court affirmed the underemployment finding and the overall income calculation but could not determine how much income the trial court had specifically imputed; the case was reversed in part and remanded for that limited purpose.
At the remand hearing the parties agreed to present additional issues (insurance, 529 plans) and David orally moved to modify child support based on changed circumstances.
The trial court on remand recharacterized the previously-determined $258,427 as all actual income (finding no imputed amount) and then issued two entries (July 28 and August 18, 2016). David appealed; the appeals were consolidated.
The appellate court held the trial court exceeded the scope of the limited remand by re-litigating income and failing to specify the imputed portion; it reversed in part, remanded to determine the imputed amount of the $258,427, and dismissed as non-final the appeal of the August 18 entry because some post-remand issues remained unresolved.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Cummin)	Defendant's Argument (David)	Held
Whether the trial court complied with the appellate remand and correctly calculated how much of David's $258,427 income was imputed	The trial court failed to follow the limited remand and improperly recharacterized imputed income as actual income	Trial court abused discretion by not specifying imputed amount and by recalculating income beyond the remand scope	Court: Trial court abused its discretion and violated law-of-the-case; reversed and remanded to determine the imputed portion of the $258,427
Whether the trial court's August 18, 2016 order on post-remand child-support issues is a final, appealable order	Trial court improperly computed gross income and made evidentiary and allocation errors in the modification proceeding	Trial court's order is not final because other agreed/remaining issues (insurance, 529 plans) were unresolved when entry issued	Court: August 18 entry is not a final appealable order; that portion of the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction

Cummin v. Cummin, 55 N.E.3d 467 (Ohio App. 2015) (appellate opinion affirming underemployment finding but remanding to specify imputed income)
Nolan v. Nolan, 462 N.E.2d 410 (Ohio 1984) (law-of-the-case doctrine limits trial-court action on remand)
Booth v. Booth, 541 N.E.2d 1028 (Ohio 1989) (abuse-of-discretion standard for child-support matters)
Rock v. Cabral, 616 N.E.2d 218 (Ohio 1993) (child-support statutes are mandatory; worksheet calculations presumed correct)
Marker v. Grimm, 601 N.E.2d 496 (Ohio 1992) (trial courts must follow statutory provisions literally in child-support calculations)
Seasons Coal Co. v. Cleveland, 461 N.E.2d 1273 (Ohio 1984) (trial-court factual findings entitled to deference)