Haven v. Haven, 2012 Ohio 5347

Husb. Stephen Haven and Wife Therese Haven married July 3, 2004; divorce filed July 30, 2010.
Magistrate held hearing May 26, 2011 on division of marital home, distributive award, property, and spousal support.
No children from the marriage; Husband has two prior children; Wife has four; children were in high school/college.
Husband earned $66,000 base plus $10,000 summer income; Wife earned $57,600; both in education/administration roles.
Pre-marital separate properties included Smith Road Home (Husband) and Michaels Road Home (Wife); Michaels sale netted $100,000 used as down payment on Williamsburg Court Home.
Michaels Road Home sale proceeds were Wife’s separate property; $100,000 HELOC on Williamsburg funded various debts and expenses; trial court awarded Wife a distributive award of $23,956.31 and spousal support of $500/month for 12 months.
Magistrate’s October 26, 2011 decision and February 2, 2012 trial court judgment adopted it; final decree entered March 28, 2012; Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Distributive award: was the award to Wife supported by the evidence	Haven argues the assets/debts were misclassified and not traceable	Haven contends award properly effectuates equitable distribution	No abuse of discretion; award supported by competent evidence
Spousal support: was $500/month for 12 months appropriate	Haven challenges the amount/duration	Wife’s need and marriage duration justify support	No abuse of discretion; factors properly considered and supported award

Cherry v. Cherry, 66 Ohio St.2d 348 (1981) (broad discretion in property division; equitable standard)
Seasons Coal Co. v. Cleveland, 10 Ohio St.3d 77 (1984) (valuation and weight of evidence in property division)
Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (1983) (abuse of discretion standard in appellate review)
Kunkle v. Kunkle, 51 Ohio St.3d 64 (1990) (abuse of discretion; factors in spousal support context)