Patrick v. Patrick

Excerpt

Divorce; marital property division; valuation dates; financial accounts; retirement accounts; posttrial evidence; spousal support; temporary spousal support; temporary support; economic misconduct; distributive award; attorney's fees; R.C. 3105.171(A)(2); R.C. 3105.171(E)(4); R.C. 3105.18(C)(1); R.C. 3105.73(A); App.R. 16(A)(7). Judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. The trial court, which determined that the marriage terminated on the first day of trial (August 4, 2020), abused its discretion by dividing the parties' marital financial accounts using February 2023 balances while dividing marital retirement accounts as of August 4, 2020, without an adequate explanation, logically related to the facts of the case, for the inconsistent valuation dates. On remand, the court must divide the financial accounts as of August 4, 2020, based on testimony and admitted exhibits, without reopening trial or rebalancing equities elsewhere. The court also erred to the extent it relied on posttrial, nonadmitted materials to assign a $148,025 value to appellant's Thrift Savings Account. The decree must be corrected to the only value supported by the evidence, $77,219, though no broader recalculation of the defined-contribution retirement division is required because the decree divides those accounts as of August 4, 2020, plus earnings/gains/losses. The trial court's spousal support determinations are affirmed. The award of $4,000 per month for 44 months from appellant to appellee commencing August 1, 2023, was within the court's discretion under R.C. 3105.18(C)(1), and appellant was not entitled to a credit that would shorten the permanent-support duration based on temporary support previously paid. The trial court also acted within its discretion in finding that appellee was not entitled to her request of $12,000 per month indefinitely with the trial court to retain jurisdiction. Appellee's economic misconduct claim, through which she sought a distributive award,