A.M. v. J.M.
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
Date FiledJuly 2, 2026
Docket114462; 114488
JudgeStevenson
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
[Cite as A.M. v. J.M., 2026-Ohio-2532.]
COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA
A.M., :
Plaintiff-Appellant/ :
Cross-Appellee,
Nos. 114462 and 114488
v. :
J.M., :
Defendant-Appellee/ :
Cross-Appellant.
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED
RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: July 2, 2026
Civil Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Domestic Relations Division
Case No. DR-20-382494
Appearances:
McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman, Co., LPA, Robert T.
Glickman, and Jenna C. Sholk, for appellant/cross-
appellee.
Stafford Law Co., L.P.A., and Nicole A. Cruz, for
appellee/cross-appellant.
SCOT STEVENSON, J.:
Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, A.M. (“Husband”), and
Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, J.M. (“Wife”) appeal from the judgment of
the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division. For the
reasons set forth below, this Court affirms.
I.
Husband and Wife were married on August 8, 2015, and two children
were born as issue of the marriage. Husband filed a complaint for divorce in
September 2020. In his complaint, he requested that the court determine the
enforceability of the parties’ antenuptial agreement (“Agreement”). Husband
alleged that the terms of the Agreement were vague and nonsensical and as a result
there may not have been a meeting of the minds necessary to form a contract.
Husband reversed course and subsequently amended his complaint to request a
determination that the Agreement is actually valid and enforceable.
Wife answered and counterclaimed for divorce. She asserted in her
counterclaim that the Agreement was valid but requested that it be reformed to
correct a scrivener’s error to reflect the original intent of the parties at the time of
execution regarding the division of property. She also alleged that the provision in
the Agreement regarding the parties’ waiver of spousal support was unconscionable
and invalid as to her and requested an award of spousal support.
Temporary support orders were issued by agreed entry in January
2021 wherein Husband was ordered to pay the expenses for the residence, certain
of Wife’s personal and health care expenses, and the children’s expenses for school,
day care, health care, and activities. In addition, Husband agreed to pay Wife
directly $5,755 per month for her living expenses. The parties also agreed to the
appointment of Mr. Edward Blaugrund as the joint financial expert.
The matter proceeded to trial over the course of 18 days beginning in
January 2024 and concluding in late April 2024. The parties presented numerous
witnesses and exhibits and submitted their closing arguments and requests of the
court in writing. The court issued its final judgment entry on October 9, 2024, that
granted the parties a divorce and made findings and conclusions regarding
Husband’s temporary support arrearages, the Agreement, the division of property,
spousal support, child support, the children’s health care, Wife’s contempt motions,
and Wife’s request for attorney fees.
Husband timely appealed and asserts eight assignments of error for
our review. Wife cross-appealed and asserts two assignments of error for our
review. This Court consolidated the appeals for purposes of briefing, hearing, and
disposition. Husband’s assignments of error will be addressed out of order for ease
of analysis.
II.
Husband’s Appeal
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FOUND THAT THERE
WAS A TEMPORARY SUPPORT ARREARAGE.
The trial court found that Husband failed to pay $3,918.58 that was
owed to Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center for the parties’ daughter’s treatment
for a traumatic brain injury, and $9,989 in dental bills for the family for a total
expenses arrearage under the temporary orders of $13,808.58. As for Husband’s
monthly support obligation of $5,755, the court found that it was paid by Husband’s
father, R.M., and that R.M. testified that Husband directed him to withhold funds
when there was a visitation dispute between Husband and Wife. Based on R.M.’s
testimony, the court found that a total of $15,000 was withheld from Wife’s monthly
support, and therefore, Husband was in arrears under the temporary orders in the
total amount of $28,808.58 ($13,808.58 in expenses + $15,000 in monthly support)
as of April 24, 2024.
Husband argues that there is no temporary support arrearage
because the monthly cash support was eventually reimbursed to Wife and the
medical and dental bills were never presented to Husband in advance of trial.
Husband also argues that the court abused its discretion by ordering him to pay the
entire arrearage within 30 days of the judgment entry of divorce because it did not
take into consideration his monthly income of $13,500, other personal expenses, the
lack of evidence of a savings account, and his need to rely on loans from R.M. to
maintain his obligations to Wife. Husband further argues that the trial court erred
by failing to hear his motion to modify the temporary support, and that if it had done
so and modified the support order, the modification would have related back to
March 23, 2023, thereby reducing his arrearage.
This Court reviews a trial court’s decision concerning a finding of civil
contempt for an abuse of discretion. Perkins v. Gorski, 2013-Ohio-265, ¶ 9 (8th
Dist.). “The term ‘abuse of discretion’ connotes more than an error of law or
judgment; it implies that the court’s attitude is unreasonable, arbitrary or
unconscionable.” Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219 (1983). When
applying an abuse of discretion standard, a reviewing court is precluded from
substituting its judgment for that of the trial court. Pons v. Ohio State Med. Bd., 66
Ohio St.3d 619, 621 (1993). Although Blakemore is often cited as the general
standard for reviewing discretionary decisions, the Ohio Supreme Court has
provided additional guidance about the nature of an abuse of discretion:
Stated differently, an abuse of discretion involves more than a
difference in opinion: “‘the term discretion itself involves the idea of
choice, of an exercise of the will, of a determination made between
competing considerations.’” State v. Jenkins, 15 Ohio St.3d 164, 222 []
(1984), quoting Spalding v. Spalding, 355 Mich. 382, 384 [] (1959). For
a court of appeals to reach an abuse-of-discretion determination, the
trial court's judgment must be so profoundly and wholly violative of
fact and reason that “‘it evidences not the exercise of will but perversity
of will, not the exercise of judgment but defiance thereof, not the
exercise of reason but rather of passion or bias.’” Id., quoting Spalding
at 384-385 [].
State v. Weaver, 2022-Ohio-4371, ¶ 24.
Our review of the record reveals that Husband did not raise any of the
arguments he makes under this assignment of error in the trial court. Even though
Wife’s multiple motions for contempt regarding Husband’s temporary support
arrearages were before the court for determination at trial and Wife presented
evidence on the issue, Husband’s closing trial brief does not contain any argument
or request regarding his alleged temporary support arrearages. He did not challenge
the fact of his temporary support arrearages, nor the amount Wife alleged that he
was in arrears. Therefore, it is being raised by Husband for the first time on appeal.
Accordingly, due to Husband’s failure to raise these arguments in the trial court and
failure to argue plain error, we need not consider them. State v. Tate, 2022-Ohio-
4745, ¶ 19-20 (8th Dist.).
Even if we could reach the merits of Husband’s arguments, the record
does not support his arguments. In his appellate brief, Husband states regarding
the monthly support payments that they “were made by [Husband] or [Husband’s
father R.M.] and are evidenced by [Husband’s] testimony, [R.M.’s] testimony, and
the bank records in evidence. Plaintiff’s Exhibit 56.” Plaintiff’s Exhibit 56 is a
lengthy document containing R.M.’s bank statements from June 2021 through July
2023. Husband does not direct this Court to any specific place within Plaintiff’s
Exhibit 56 or in his or R.M.’s testimony that reflects the alleged payments, nor can
this Court locate one. As this Court has previously stated, “[i]t is not the duty of this
court to sort through the record to root out arguments and evidence in support of an
appellant's assignment of error.” Hausser & Taylor, LLP v. Accelerated Sys.
Integration, Inc., 2005-Ohio-1017, ¶ 10 (8th Dist).
Furthermore, the record reflects that the issue of the dental bill was
addressed by the magistrate in January 2024. Therefore, Husband had notice of it
prior to trial. As for the Cleveland Speech and Hearing bill, the transcript reference
provided by Husband to support his allegation that the bill was not presented until
trial refers to the information about the child’s specific diagnosis, not the amount of
the bill.
Based on the foregoing, Husband has failed to meet his burden on
appeal regarding the issue of his temporary support arrearage. His first assignment
of error is overruled.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT REFORMED THE
ANTENUPTIAL AGREEMENT.
At issue under this assignment of error is the language in Section
13(b) of the Agreement which reads as follows in relevant part:
Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the
parties agree that upon the termination event, [Wife] shall receive from
[Husband] Assets at [Husband’s] death, the applicable sum as
follows:
...
(2) If married at least five (5) years but less than ten (10) years: THREE
MILLION DOLLARS ($3,000,000.00), plus ten percent (10%) of the
value of [Husband’s] Premarital Net Assets, plus twenty percent (20%)
of the value of [Husband’s] Post Marital Net Assets, but such total
amount shall be not be (sic) less than FIVE MILLION DOLLARS
($5,000,000.00)[.]
(Emphasis added.) The “termination event” was defined in Section 13(a) of the
Agreement as “divorce, dissolution or legal separation[.]”
At trial, Husband’s position was that the terms “at [Husband’s] death”
were intentional and unambiguous, and that the parties agreed that any settlement
to Wife would not be paid until Husband’s death rather than at the termination
event, which in this case is the parties’ divorce. Wife’s position was that this
language was a clear drafting/scrivener’s error resulting in the absurd outcome that
her property settlement in the divorce would not be paid until after Husband’s
death, meaning that she would be expected to wait potentially decades to be paid as
Husband is in his thirties.
The court found that in entering into the Agreement, both parties
were represented by counsel who exchanged multiple emails over the course of a
week when negotiating, drafting, and approving the Agreement, and that Husband’s
attorney was the drafter. In its final judgment entry, the court outlined both
counsel’s testimony at length and the details of their email exchanges. The court
found that the Agreement was as set forth in an email to Wife’s counsel from
Husband’s counsel on July 31, 2015, which expressly stated that the terms were for
the payments to be made upon termination of the marriage, not upon Husband’s
death, noting Wife’s counsel’s testimony that he had never drafted a prenuptial
agreement with the payment from a divorce to be paid after death.
The trial court further found that in a subsequent draft of the
Agreement that Husband’s counsel sent back to Wife’s counsel later that same day,
Husband’s counsel included the death language and gave no response during his
testimony when asked if he did so on purpose. The court found that Husband’s
counsel testified he could not recall ever discussing that change with Wife’s counsel
and that he did agree the emails between him and Wife’s counsel referenced payout
amounts upon divorce rather than waiting for the death of either party to collect.
The court also found that Husband’s counsel, like Wife’s counsel, admitted that he
had never prepared a prenuptial agreement with this future payment language and
could not explain why it would be necessary when Husband already had a trust that
made provisions for Wife upon his death.
The court ultimately concluded as follows:
Despite [Husband’s counsel’s] sophistry, the Court cannot find that the
parties intended that any payment to [Wife] . . . and from Husband . . .
was meant to be paid after the death of [Husband]. [Husband] cannot
have this argument every way: that the agreement is to be paid on
death, that the amount paid is capped at the time of the divorce but not
paid until death, that it is ambiguous, that it might be unenforceable,
and that [Wife] has waived all payments.
Citing in support the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Gross v.
Gross, 11 Ohio St.3d 99 (1984), which established the test for whether antenuptial
agreements are valid and enforceable, the court further concluded that:
The Court cannot identify a more overreaching event than having the
party without assets wait decades for a fair division of property.
...
. . . [T]he Court finds that [Wife] should not be deprived of the
agreement she entered into which was a payment upon the
“termination event” of divorce when the scribe hired by the other party
put in a term that was not discussed by the attorneys in negotiating this
document.
Considering its conclusions above, the court then reformed Section
13(b) of the Agreement to remove the “upon [Husband’s] death” language so that
Wife would receive Husband’s assets “upon the termination event.” On appeal,
Husband argues that the trial court erred in finding that the Agreement should be
reformed. Husband also argues that the court’s finding that Husband’s counsel was
not credible was erroneous. We disagree.
In Ohio,
[antenuptial agreements] are valid and enforceable (1) if they have been
entered into freely without fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching; (2)
if there was full disclosure, full knowledge and understanding of the
nature, value and extent of the prospective spouse’s property; and (3)
if the terms do not promote or encourage divorce or profiteering by
divorce.
Gross, at paragraph two of the syllabus. “[T]he term ‘overreaching’ is used in the
sense of one party by artifice or cunning, or by significant disparity to understand
the nature of the transaction, to outwit or cheat the other.” Id. at 105.
Reformation is an inherent, equitable remedy that allows a court to
change the language in a contract where the parties’ true intentions have not been
properly represented due to a mutual mistake or fraud. Wong v. CCH Dev. Corp.,
2021-Ohio-1099, ¶ 14-15 (8th Dist.). Generally, a trial court may reform a written
instrument only for mutual mistake and not in the case of a unilateral mistake. Id.
at ¶ 16.
However, when a unilateral mistake occurred ‘due to a drafting error
by one party and the other party knew of the error and took advantage
of it, the trial court may reform the contract. [. . .] Reformation is
appropriate if one party believes a contract correctly integrates the
agreement and the other party is aware that it does not, even though
the mistake was not mutual.’
Id. at ¶ 17, quoting 425 Beecher, L.L.C., v. Unizan Bank, Natl. Assn., 2010-Ohio-412,
¶ 44 (10th Dist.), quoting Galehouse Constr. Co., Inc. v. Winkler, 128 Ohio App.3d
300, 303 (9th Dist. 1998). It is not necessary as a prerequisite to the reformation of
a contract that the contract be ambiguous. Cuthbert v. Trucklease Corp, 2004-
Ohio-4417, ¶ 34 (10th Dist.); Gooslin v. B-Affordable Tree Serv., 2011-Ohio-4048,
¶ 19 (6th Dist.). See also Williams Trucking, Inc. v. Gable, 2000 WL 739541 (8th
Dist. June 8, 2000).
Where, as here, reformation of a contract is sought on the basis of
mistake, the party seeking such reformation must establish the existence of the
mistake by clear and convincing evidence. Wagner v. Natl. Fire Ins. Co., 132 Ohio
St. 405 413 (1937); Pepper Pike Properties Ltd. Partnership v. Wilson, 2002 WL
199902, *3 (8th Dist. Jan. 31, 2002). Clear and convincing evidence is the degree of
evidence necessary to “produce[] in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or
conviction as to the facts sought to be established.” In re M.S., 2015-Ohio-1028, ¶ 8
(8th Dist.). Whether the trial court’s findings are supported by clear and convincing
evidence will only be reversed on appeal if they are against the manifest weight of
the evidence. In the Matter of: Dorazio, 1985 WL 7461, *2 (8th Dist. Jan. 24, 1985).
In weighing the evidence, “the court of appeals must always be mindful of the
presumption in favor of the finder of fact.” Eastley v. Volkman, 2012-Ohio-2179, ¶
21.
A review of the record establishes that the trial court’s findings were
supported by clear and convincing evidence. Wife’s counsel testified that the “upon
Husband’s death” language was “[a]bsolutely a mistake” and an oversight,
emphasizing that there is a separate provision for payment to Wife upon Husband’s
death in Section 13(a) of the Agreement; therefore, it would not make any sense to
have two such provisions in the same agreement. The email exchanges between
counsel, which were admitted into evidence, reflect that their negotiations and
communication were that the parties intended for Wife to receive payment at the
time of the parties’ divorce rather than at the time of Husband’s death. However,
after initially submitting those terms to Wife’s counsel and representing that they
were approved by Husband as the Agreement, Husband’s counsel changed the
Agreement to include the “upon Husband’s death” language and did not inform
Wife’s counsel that he had done so.
On cross-examination, Husband’s counsel testified as follows on this
subject:
Q. (Wife’s counsel): And then on the terminating event . . . how much
would [Wife] get at five - - after five years [of marriage]?
A: (Husband’s counsel) (As read) “If married at least five years but less
than 10 years, 20 percent of [Husband’s] net asset value with a $5
million floor.”
Q. Okay, But that’s not what you put in the agreement, is it?
A. Correct.
Q. Did you tell [Wife’s counsel] that you went back on your statements?
A. I don’t recall having conversations with [Wife’s counsel] - -
...
Q. For the record the second time, did you tell [Wife’s counsel] in words
or in an e-mail that you were changing what you sent to him on July
31st, 2015?
A. No.
...
Q. You sent an agreement, but you didn’t tell him - - you didn’t tell him
that you changed the terms from your prior e-mail, did you?
A. I did not have discussions with [Wife’s counsel].
...
Q. Well, you didn’t tell him in an email.
A. Correct.
...
Q. Okay, So your claim is, in the negotiations, you went back to [Wife’s
counsel] and said to him, “No. [Wife] only gets the money at death.”
You told him that, wrote it to him, or explained it to him.
A. I sent him an agreement with that in the agreement.
Q. So you never told anyone? . . .
A. I - -
Q. Right?
A. No.
Based on the testimony and evidence regarding counsel’s
communication, there was clear and convincing evidence that the Agreement
contained a unilateral mistake which did not comport with the parties’ intentions at
the time of the Agreement and that reformation was appropriate to properly
represent the parties’ true intentions. Husband’s counsel knew of the error and took
advantage of it by not bringing it to the attention of Wife’s counsel, and instead,
simply presented the Agreement with the additional language. Husband’s counsel
was aware that the Agreement did not correctly integrate the parties’ intentions
while Wife’s counsel believed that it did. While Wife’s counsel mistakenly
overlooked the change when he reviewed the Agreement after it was returned to him
by Husband’s counsel, he did so in reliance upon Husband’s counsel’s silence as to
any changes that had been made. Keeping in mind the presumption in favor of the
finder of fact, we cannot say that the trial court lost its way when it found that
Husband’s counsel was not credible. Eastley, 2012-Ohio-2179, at ¶ 21. His lack of
forthrightness with Wife’s counsel was evident from his testimony.
Based on the foregoing, the trial court did not err in reforming the
Agreement to align with the parties’ intentions at the time of the marriage.
Husband’s second assignment of error is overruled.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 3:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ITS VALUATION OF THE
PROPERTY DIVISION AMOUNT OWED TO [WIFE].
In its final judgment entry, the court listed the R.C. 3105.171(F)
factors that it was required to take into consideration when dividing property and
made findings as to each one with specific facts in support. Thereafter, using the
formula set forth in Paragraph 13(b)(2) of the Agreement, the trial court found that:
As to the property amount that [Wife] is entitled to under the
Agreement, [Wife] is entitled to $3,000,000 plus 10% of [Husband’s]
“Premarital Net” which is $5,335,993.70, plus 20% of [Husband’s]
“Post Marital Ne[t] Assets” or $1,712,379. The total [Husband] owes
[Wife] is $10,048,372.
The court ordered Husband to pay Wife the total owed by December 31, 2024.
In determining Husband’s Premarital Net of $5,335,993.70, the court
relied on the 2015 list of Husband’s assets attached to the Agreement as Exhibit
A/A1 and determined that Husband had premarital assets totaling $53,359,937
which was comprised of $18,000 in PNC Bank, $130,000 in First Merit Bank, 50%
of AJAPPJR, LLC with a net worth $53,164,937 as of March 12, 2015, a 2011 BMW
worth $27,000, and a violin worth $20,000. The trial court noted that Husband’s
own spreadsheet (Exhibit A/A1) showed that he had total net assets valued at
$53,164,937. Ten percent of $53,359,937, the total of all these assets, is the
Premarital Net found by the court of $5,335,993.70.
The court then arrived at the $1,712.379 figure for Husband’s Post
Marital Net Assets by first determining that the net value of the property acquired
after the Agreement was $17,653,397. In making that determination, the court
compared the 2015 list of the parties’ premarital assets that was attached to the
Agreement (Exhibit A/A1) with the 2022 Cash Flow Spreadsheet submitted by
Husband (Exhibit 88) to determine what new properties were acquired during the
marriage. The court found that there were six properties listed on Exhibit 88 that
were not listed on Exhibit A/A1: Woolworth Annex, HOB Retail, Woolworth Garage,
WT Grant Retail, 629 Euclid Hotel, and Citizen’s Pie. The court also found that there
was testimony as to an additional three properties that were also not included in the
list of premarital assets: Voss Industries, the marital residence, and 50% of 3409
Superior Ave. The court then concluded that “[t]he total of these ‘Post Marital’
assets is $17,653,397 [and] [o]ne half of that is the [Husband’s], or $8,826,699.”
The court’s findings included columns for the properties’ fair market value,
mortgage balances, and net value. Husband does not dispute these values.
The court then acknowledged that the Agreement provided that
Husband’s Post Marital assets were to be “‘reduced by any taxes and expenses
(including, but not limited to, capital gains tax, income tax, real property tax,
conveyance fees, brokerage fees and financing fees) that otherwise would be
incurred if such assets were sold at fair market value as of the termination event.’”
On that issue, the court found that “[t]he parties stipulated that [a] broker’s fee of
3% was reasonable.” The court further found that there was no evidence of any taxes
being paid on any entity, and therefore, the three percent brokerage fee should be
used. In making that finding regarding the taxes, the court noted that Husband
called Mr. Brendan Fitzgerald as a witness to testify to the tax calculations for the
hypothetical sales of property. Mr. Fitzgerald had been retained by Mr. Blaugrund,
the agreed financial expert, to provide the tax calculations that would in turn be used
in Mr. Blaugrund’s business valuation. However, the court struck Mr. Fitzgerald’s
testimony because it found that he was not on the witness list and Mr. Blaugrund
never testified at trial nor was his business valuation report ever submitted to the
court. Therefore, the court found that it was “not appropriate to take testimony
related to an expert witness who did not testify concerning a report that was neither
offered nor admitted.”
After deducting the three percent broker’s fee from Husband’s one
half of the Post Marital assets, the court arrived at a Post Marital Net asset figure for
Husband of $8,561,898 ($8,826,699 - 264,800 (the three percent fee)), which was
the figure it then used to calculate Wife’s 20% share under the Agreement of
$1,712.379 (.20 x $8,561,898). The court added up the $3,000,000 lump sum,
Husband’s $5,335,993.703 Premarital Net Assets, and the $1,712,379 (20% of
Husband’s Post Marital Net Assets) to arrive at the total of $10,048,372 as
Husband’s payment to Wife for her division of property under the Agreement.
Husband argues under this assignment of error that the trial court
erred as follows: 1) it abused its discretion by finding under R.C. 3105.171(F)(4) that
the assets of the marital estate are not liquid while at the same time requiring that
the $10,048,372 payment to Wife be made by December 31, 2024; 2) it erred by
omitting taxes and conveyance fees when calculating the net value of the company;
and 3) it abused its discretion in finding Husband had no credibility because of
violations of the mutual restraining orders.
“A trial court has broad discretion in dividing marital property.”
Hampton v. Hampton, 2001 WL 777013, * 4 (8th Dist. July 5, 2001), citing Bisker
v. Bisker, 69 Ohio St.3d 608 (1994). R.C. 3105.171(F) lists nine specific factors for
the trial court to consider when dividing the parties’ marital property. It also
provides that the court can consider “[a]ny other factor that [it] expressly finds to be
relevant and equitable.” R.C. 3105.171(F)(10). We review the trial court’s division of
property for an abuse of discretion. La Spisa v. La Spisa, 2023-Ohio-3467, ¶ 28 (8th
Dist.). We incorporate the abuse of discretion standard outlined above.
As for the trial court’s findings regarding the valuation of marital
property, “we must affirm a trial court’s determination if it is supported by
competent credible evidence[.]” Chattree v. Chattree, 2014-Ohio-489, ¶ 43 (8th
Dist.). “[W]hen there is some competent, credible evidence in the record to support
a trial court’s decision, there is no abuse of discretion.” Victor v. Kaplan, 2020-
Ohio-3116, ¶ 25 (8th Dist.)
Turning to Husband’s first argument, he points to the testimony of
Mr. Rico Pietro, a real estate broker with CRESCO Real Estate, who testified that he
was hired in 2021 to market several of Husband and J.M.’s properties for lease
and/or sale. Husband states that Mr. Pietro testified that the Uptown properties
could be sold for $50,000,000 and the Tudor Arms properties could gross between
$13,000,000 and $14,000,000 respectively, but Husband argues that those sales
would only cover the debt on the properties, leaving no cash to pay Wife. In support,
Husband relies on the 2021 Global Real Estate Cash Flow report (Husband’s Exhibit
101).
The record reflects that Mr. Pietro’s testimony regarding the Uptown
and Tudor Arms properties was in response to Wife’s counsel’s question on cross-
examination regarding which properties could be quickly liquidated into cash. Mr.
Pietro identified the two Uptown properties as one of three sets of properties that
could be quickly sold. While Husband relies on the debt position of the Uptown
properties as reflected in the 2021 Global Real Estate Cash Flow Report to support
his argument that there is no net equity in those properties, that report is not the
only evidence in the record and was not considered by the court. The court utilized
the more recent 2022 AJAPPJR Global Real Estate Cash Flow Report (Husband’s
Exhibit 88) in calculating the payment to Wife under the Agreement. Husband does
not allege that the 2022 Report was not properly utilized by the court in its
calculations. In the 2022 Report, the two Uptown properties were worth over
$50,000,000 and carried debt in the amount of $24,205,616 and $14,962,480
respectively, leaving net equity in the amount of $13,297,004 ($4,425,170 and
$8,871,834), which is well above the $10,048,372 necessary to pay Wife.
Furthermore, when asked whether “all of [Husband’s families’] property, all of their
holdings can be liquidated,” Mr. Pietro answered “[a]bsolutely.” (Emphasis added.)
Thus, according to expert testimony, Husband’s liquidity extended beyond the
Uptown properties. Therefore, Husband’s argument on this issue is overruled.
Next, Husband argues that the trial court erred in finding that
$53,000,000 is the net equity of AJAPPJR at the time of the marriage because that
figure does not include liquidation costs as required by the Agreement; that the court
erred when it chose to disregard the testimony of Mr. Fitzgerald regarding the
capital gains effect of the hypothetical sale of the properties because the Agreement
requires the court to include a reduction for taxes; and that the court erred by
omitting the conveyance fees that the County would impose at the time of sale as
anticipated in the Agreement.
First, Husband did not raise any of these arguments in the trial court.
In his trial brief, under his argument regarding the Agreement, Husband noted
parenthetically that his net premarital interest in AJAPPJR, LLC was obtained from
his own Exhibit A/A1 of the Agreement as well as Wife’s Exhibit DDDDDD which
reflected “[his] net worth at over $53,000,000” in the company as of January 1,
2015. He did not challenge this number nor did he propose any other calculations.
The trial court used Husband’s own spreadsheet (Exhibit A1 of the Agreement) to
determine that his net equity after debt and expenses was $53,164,937. Husband
made no argument to the trial court that the list of expenses on the spreadsheet did
not include the liquidation costs under the Agreement or were somehow incorrect.
Regarding Mr. Fitzgerald, the trial court’s reference to its exclusion of
his testimony pertained to its calculation of Husband’s Post Marital Net Assets.
Husband made no reference in his trial brief to Mr. Fitzgerald’s testimony, as he
does here on appeal, regarding $29,044,296 in capital gains, a net investment
income tax of 3.8%, or an Ohio tax of $1,393,255 in calculating his Post Marital Net
Assets. Husband said nothing in his trial brief about the amount of conveyance fees.
Other than requesting a three percent broker’s commission, which the court
included in its calculations, Husband made no argument in the trial court about Mr.
Fitzgerald’s testimony as to the taxes, expenses, financing fees, conveyance fees etc.,
that the court should have utilized as a reduction in its calculation of his Post Marital
Assets under the Agreement.
Therefore, as Husband did not raise these issues in the trial court, he
is raising them for the first time on appeal which we have repeatedly said means we
cannot consider them absent plain error. Tate, 2022-Ohio-4745, at ¶ 19, 20 (8th
Dist.). Husband does not argue plain error. Even if Husband had properly
preserved his challenge regarding Mr. Fitzgerald’s testimony, his argument would
fail. Mr. Fitgerald’s report was identified as Exhibit 133 but it was never admitted
into evidence. Mr. Fitzgerald prepared the report so that Mr. Blaugrund could use
it to complete his business valuation, but as the trial court noted, Mr. Blaugrund did
not testify nor did either party submit his business valuation report for
consideration by the court. It is not an abuse of discretion to decline to consider
testimony based on reports that were not admitted into evidence.
As for Husband’s third argument, he maintains that the trial court’s
finding that he lacked credibility because of his violations of the mutual restraining
orders was contrary to the evidence. In support, he states that “[t]he Company was
not restrained from its ordinary course of business until on or about April 18, 2024,
when it was made a party to the divorce action and restraining orders were
implemented.” Yet, on April 14, 2022, two years prior, Husband’s counsel moved
for partial release of temporary mutual restraining order so that 629 Euclid could be
sold. Thus, Husband’s argument fails as his own motion contends that a mutual
restraining order was in effect well before April 18, 2024. Also, the court’s final
judgment entry recites several incidents where Husband testified that he felt
justified in violating the mutual restraining orders because of the delays in the
litigation and Husband does not dispute those findings.
Nonetheless, even if Husband was correct that the court erred in
finding that he was not credible based on his potential violations of the mutual
restraining orders, the court found that Husband lacked credibility for many other
reasons. In its final judgment entry, the court listed numerous examples of
Husband’s lack of credibility: the lack of candor by Husband and his family that
prevented the court from having a full picture of the properties owned by them; the
multiple substitutions of counsel; the lack of prepared expert witnesses; Husband’s
lack of responsiveness to discovery; the various appeals that contributed to delays;
the wedding between Husband and Dr. Basak Can while Husband was still married
to Wife which Husband characterized as a Jewish religious celebration but that the
court found was a “collaborative effort . . . to deny the plain truth . . . and goes to the
credibility of [Husband] and his witnesses[;]”and three pages dedicated to the
subject of “What is MRN?” that described the inconsistencies and confusion
between various witnesses as to the ownership and holdings of MRN, particularly as
it related to AJAPPJR, a company owned by both Husband and J.M. Therefore,
considering the many other reasons why the court found that Husband lacked
credibility, even if it erred in finding that he violated the mutual restraining orders,
its overall determination that Husband lacked credibility would have been
unaffected. Husband’s argument on this point is overruled.
All the trial court’s findings under the R.C. 3105.171(F) factors are
supported by record evidence as recited in its findings and conclusions, including
but not limited to the 2022 Cash Flow Report (Exhibit 88), the 2015 list of
premarital assets attached to the Agreement, and the testimony of the parties. Thus,
the trial court’s calculation of Husband’s payment to Wife for her share of the
division of property was supported by competent, credible evidence.
Accordingly, based on the foregoing, Husband’s third assignment of
error is overruled.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 4:
THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN ITS
FINDING THAT DENIAL OF SPOUSAL SUPPORT UNDER
THESE CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD BE UNCONSCIONABLE.
The trial court concluded that despite the parties’ waiver of spousal
support in the Agreement, “it would be unconscionable for the Court to deny spousal
support to [Wife] who was unemployed at the time of the separation and without
means while [Husband] has had almost unlimited funds at his disposal.”
Thereafter, upon considering all the R.C. 3105.18(C)(1) factors and making express
findings under each one, the court then found that:
it is appropriate and reasonable for [Husband] to pay spousal support
to [Wife] in the form of the direct payments for the monthly mortgage,
real estate taxes, homeowner’s insurance, gas, electric, water, sewer,
internet and maintenance including the exterminator for the marital
residence . . . until such time as [Wife] receives her property division
payment in FULL, subject, however, with a grace period for [Wife] to
find alternate housing.
When reviewing the spousal support provisions of a prenuptial
agreement, the court must apply a “further standard of review [beyond the three
elements required for enforceability] . . . one of conscionability of the provisions at
the time of the divorce[.]” Gross, 11 Ohio St.3d at 109 (1984). “Because the
provisions related to spousal support have the ability to become invalid based on a
change in circumstances of one of the parties to the marriage, a court must review
the circumstances of the parties as they exist at the time of the divorce to determine
if they remain conscionable.” Saari v. Saari, 2009-Ohio-4940, ¶ 10 (9th Dist.),
citing Gross at 109.
The analysis of whether spousal support provisions are
unconscionable at the time of the divorce is guided by the factors applicable to the
initial determination of spousal support pursuant to R.C. 3105.18(C)(1). Gross at
109-110. “In determining whether to grant spousal support and in determining the
amount and duration of the payments, the trial court must consider the factors listed
in R.C. 3105.18(C)(1)(a)-(n).” Hloska v. Hloska, 2015-Ohio-2153 ¶ 10 (8th Dist.).
The goal of spousal support is to reach an equitable result and there is no set
mathematical formula to reach this goal. Id. at ¶ 11. In determining spousal support,
the trial court must weigh all the factors listed in R.C. 3105.18(C) and not base its
determination on any single factor in isolation. Kaechele v. Kaechele, 35 Ohio St.3d
93, 9