2019 Ohio 1394
Ohio Ct. App.2019Background
- Carmen and Jeffrey Schoch married in 1998 and divorced in 2018 after ~20 years; they lived together but managed finances largely separately.
- Major marital assets: the marital residence (some equity claimed as premarital/separate), the marital portion of Jeffrey’s OPERS pension and deferred compensation, and each spouse’s collections (notably Jeffrey’s Briggs & Stratton engines).
- Trial court valued the house at $124,000, treated $25,000 of equity (pole barn) as Jeffrey’s separate property, awarded Jeffrey his full OPERS pension (without assigning a value), and awarded each spouse their respective collections while assigning those collections zero monetary value.
- Trial court awarded attorney’s fees to Jeffrey, finding Carmen engaged in litigation-related misconduct (hiding/destroying property, failing to cooperate with settlement attempts, leaving a scheduled meeting).
- Carmen appealed five assignments of error; this court affirmed the rulings on valuation testimony, attorney’s fees, and pole-barn tracing, but reversed in part because the trial court failed to value two significant marital assets (Jeffrey’s pension and the collections), remanding for further proceedings.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Carmen) | Defendant's Argument (Jeffrey) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether trial court relied on excluded appraisal to value the marital home | Court improperly relied on an appraisal excluded from evidence | Lay testimony about the appraised value and each party’s own opinion was admissible | Affirmed — lay owner testimony was permissible; no abuse of discretion |
| Whether attorney’s fees award was supported by record | No evidence of misconduct to justify fees | Carmen engaged in misconduct that increased litigation costs (hid/destroyed property, impeded settlement) | Affirmed — trial court reasonably found misconduct and equitably awarded fees |
| Whether pole barn construction funds were separate property traceable to pre-marital car sale | Pole barn partly funded by Carmen’s separate funds; not fully traceable to Jeffrey’s pre-marital sale | Jeffrey sold the Barracuda for $25,000 and used all proceeds to build the pole barn | Affirmed — trial court credited Jeffrey’s testimony; $25,000 traced as his separate property |
| Whether trial court erred by awarding entire pension and collections to Jeffrey without valuing them | Trial court erred by assigning 100% of pension and engines without assigning values, preventing review of equity of division | Trial court intended equitable division; awarded pension and collections to Jeffrey (no valuation) | Reversed in part — trial court must determine values of major assets (pension and collections) and re-evaluate equitable division; remanded |
Key Cases Cited
- Tokles & Sons, Inc. v. Midwestern Indem. Co., 65 Ohio St.3d 621 (owners may testify to property value without expert qualification)
- Zoppo v. Homestead Ins. Co., 71 Ohio St.3d 552 (overruling on other grounds cited for context)
- Eastley v. Volkman, 132 Ohio St.3d 328 (standard for manifest-weight review in civil cases)
- Seasons Coal Co. v. Cleveland, 10 Ohio St.3d 77 (trial court as factfinder is best positioned to judge witness credibility)
- Neville v. Neville, 99 Ohio St.3d 275 (requirement of equal division of marital property absent equitable reasons)
- Bisker v. Bisker, 69 Ohio St.3d 608 (vested pension accumulated during marriage is marital asset requiring consideration)
- Holcomb v. Holcomb, 44 Ohio St.3d 128 (pension as marital asset authority)
- Willis v. Willis, 19 Ohio App.3d 45 (trial court must assign values to marital assets; omission undermines appellate review)