McClain v. McClain, 2011 Ohio 6101

McClain v. McClain involves a divorce in which the trial court did not classify or divide Mrs. McClain’s 2009 tax refund as marital or separate property.
The parties had a temporary order mandating equal division of the 2009 refund and allocation of tax exemptions for 2009.
The magistrate’s decision did not address the 2009 tax refund.
The decree failed to mention the tax refund or how it was to be divided.
The issue on appeal is whether the court erred by not classifying and dividing the 2009 tax refund as required by law.
Appellant challenges the absence of a disposition of the refund in the final decree, arguing it leads to an inequitable distribution.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the 2009 tax refund was classified and divided	McClain argues the magistrate failed to classify/divide the refund	McClain contends the court did not address the refund despite the order	Plain error; must classify and apportion the refund on remand

Colom v. Colom, 58 Ohio St.2d 245 (1979) (interlocutory orders merge into final decree; not enforceable unless reduced to judgment or referenced in decree)
Goldfuss v. Davidson, 79 Ohio St.3d 116 (1997) (plain error concept limits in civil cases to rare, manifest miscarriages)
Lowe v. Lowe, 2011-Ohio-3340 (2011) (court must classify and divide property; mandatory duty under R.C. 3105.171)
Burriss v. Burriss, 2010-Ohio-6116 (2010) (forfeiture of non-specific objections; plain error considerations)