[Cite as Gerdes v. Gerdes , 2020-Ohio-3405.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

BUTLER COUNTY

MARTIN GERDES, Appellant,

- vs -

ANNE GERDES, Appellee. :

:

:

:

:

: CASE NO. CA2019-07-106

O P I N I O N

6/22/2020

APPEAL FROM BUTLER COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISION Case No. DR2017-10-0903

Cook Howard Law, Ltd., Melynda Cook Howard, 1501 First Avenue, Middletown, Ohio 45044, for appellant Anne Gerdes, 4366 Cherry Street, Oxford, Ohio 45056, pro se

S. POWELL, P.J. {¶ 1} Appellant, Martin Gerdes ("Husband"), appeals a decision issued by the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Divisio n, denying several motions Husband filed following his divorce from appellee, Anne Gerdes ("Wife"), whereinButler CA2019-07-106

- 2 - Husband requested certain modifications be made to the parties' final divorce decree. 1 For the reasons outlined below, we reverse the domestic relations c ourt's decision and remand for further proceedings. {¶ 2} Husband and Wife were married on October 16, 1999. There were three children born issue of the marriage: D.G., born on July 17, 200 0; J.G., born on May 1, 2003; and C.G., born on July 14, 2004. Husband and Wife were separat ed following a domestic violence incident that occurred on October 2, 2017. This incid ent resulted in criminal charges being brought against Mother and the issuance of a dome stic violence civil protection order. 2 {¶ 3} On October 13, 2017, Husband filed a complaint for divorce alle ging the parties were incompatible. Husband also alleged that Wife was guilty of gross neglect of duty. Upon receiving Husband's complaint, the domestic relatio ns court designated Husband as the children's temporary residential parent and orde red Wife to pay monthly child support to Husband. {¶ 4} On December 7, 2018, the domestic relations court issued a deci sion on Husband's complaint for divorce finding the parties were entitl ed to a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility and named Hus band as the residential parent and legal custodian of the

children. The domestic relations court also ordered Husband to pay Wife a lump sum property settlement in the amount of $9,734.77. {¶ 5} On December 19, 2018, the domestic relations court issued a sup plemental decision. As part of this decision, the domestic relations cou rt ordered Wife to pay $825.03

1. Wife did not file an appellee's brief. Pursuant to App.R. 1 8(C), when an appellee fails to file a brief, "in determining the appeal, the court may accept the appellant's st atement of the facts and issues as correct and reverse the judgment if appellant's brief reasonably appears to sustain such action."

2. Wife was later convicted of domestic violence in violation o f R.C. 2919.25(A), a first-degree misdemeanor. This court affirmed Wife's conviction in State v. Gerdes , 12th Dist. Butler No. CA2018-03-056, 2019-Ohio913.Butler CA2019-07-106

- 3 - per month in child support to Husband, whereas Husband was orde red to pay $1,175 per month in spousal support to Wife. {¶ 6} On January 18, 2019, the domestic relations court issued a judg ment entry and decree of divorce setting forth its earlier orders requirin g: (1) Husband to pay Wife a lump sum property settlement in the amount of $9,734.77; (2) Wi fe to pay Husband $825.03 per month in child support; and (3) Husband to pay Wife $1,175 per month in spousal support. {¶ 7} Over the next several months, Husband filed several motions wit h the

domestic relations court. These motions included a motion to m odify spousal support, a motion to modify child support, and a motion to "review propert y judgment" that requested the domestic relations court: (1) "offset" the $9,734.77 lump s um property settlement he owed to Wife against the child support arrears Wife owed to him ; (2) "offset" his monthly spousal support payment against Wife's monthly child support ob ligations since Wife was "not paying child support timely;" and (3) modify the amount of spousal support he owed to Wife due to the changing "tax implications" that totaled "appro ximately $2,500.00 annually." {¶ 8} On May 20, 2019, the domestic relations court held a hearing on Husband's various motions. During this hearing, the domestic relations c ourt heard testimony from both Husband and Wife. This included testimony from Husband cl aiming he was unable to afford his monthly spousal support obligation to Wife without W ife first paying her monthly child support obligation owed to him. Following this hearing, on June 3, 2019, both parties filed written closing arguments with the domestic relations cou rt. As part of his closing arguments, Husband claimed that "[a]n offset from spousal suppo rt and child support is in the best interest of the minor children as well as equitable to both parties." {¶ 9} On June 17, 2019, the domestic relations court issued a decisio n summarily denying each of Husband's motions. Approximately three weeks l ater, on July 12, 2019,Butler CA2019-07-106

- 4 - Husband moved the domestic relations court for findings of fact and conclusions of law. However, by the time Husband had filed this motion, Husband had already filed a notice of appeal with this court on July 8, 2019. Likely due to the fact Husband had already filed a notice of appeal, on July 17, 2019, the domestic relations cour t denied Husband's motion for findings of fact and conclusions by noting it had "consider ed all evidence and entered its decision(s)." {¶ 10} Husband now appeals the domestic relations court's decision sum marily denying his various motions, raising three assignments of error for review. Husband's three assignments of error are as follows: {¶ 11} Assignment of Error No. 1: {¶ 12} REFUSAL TO GRANT AN OFFSET OF THE APPELLANT'S OBLIGATION

OF SPOUSAL SUPPORT WITH THE APPELLEE'S OBLIGATION OF CHILD SUPP ORT

WAS AN ABUSE OF DISCRETION. {¶ 13} Assignment of Error No. 2: {¶ 14} REFUSAL TO OFFSET THE PROPERTY SETTLEMENT LUMP SUM

JUDGEMENT APPELLEE WAS TO RECEIVE FROM APPELLANT AGAINST THE CH ILD

SUPPORT ARREARAGES OWED BY APPELLEE CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGOR WAS A N

ABUSE OF DISCRETION. {¶ 15} Assignment of Error No. 3: {¶ 16} THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DIS CRETION IN DENYING TO REDUCE

SPOUSAL SUPPORT AWARD AS A RESULT OF THE TAX IMPLICATIONS RESUL TING FROM A DECREE FILED AFTER JANUARY 1, 2019. {¶ 17} In his first assignment of error, Husband argues the domestic r elations court abused its discretion by denying his motion to "offset" his mon thly spousal support obligation that he owed to Wife with the monthly child support obligation that Wife owed toButler CA2019-07-106

- 5 - him. Similarly, in his second assignment of error, Husband arg ues the domestic relations court abused its discretion by denying his motion to "offset" t he lump sum property settlement he owed to Wife with the child support arrearages Wi fe owed to him. Finally, in his third assignment of error, Husband argues the domestic rela tions court abused its discretion by denying his motion to modify his monthly spousal support obligation he owed to Wife when considering the tax implications changed after the domestic relations court

issued its decision but before the final divorce decree was fil ed. {¶ 18} Since Husband had already filed his notice of appeal by the tim e he moved the domestic relations court for findings of fact and conclusio ns of law, it was proper for the domestic relations court to summarily deny Husband's motion for findings of fact and

conclusions of law. See H.C. v. R.K. , 9th Dist. Medina No. 14CA0103-M, 2016-Ohio-1572, ¶ 24 (appellant's "notice of appeal deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to act on her request for findings of fact and conclusions of law that she filed afte r the notice of appeal"). "Absent findings of fact or conclusions of law, we must presume regular ity of the proceedings and proper application of the law by the trial court." Mandzak v. Graves , 12th Dist. No. Butler No. CA2009-06-173, 2010-Ohio-595, ¶ 10. That is to say, in the absence of findings of fact and conclusions of law, "we generally must presume that the tri al court applied the law correctly and must affirm if some evidence in the record suppor ts its judgment." McCarty v. Hayner , 4th Dist. Jackson No. 08CA8, 2009-Ohio-4540, ¶ 21, fn. 1. {¶ 19} However, even when presuming the regularity of the proceedings, "'for this court to be able to conduct any meaningful review of the trial court's exercise of its discretion, we must be able to discern some basis for its decis ion.'" In re Q.R. , 12th Dist. Clinton No. CA2017-11-020, 2018-Ohio-4785, ¶ 14, quoting In re Estate of Murray , 11th Dist. Trumbull No. 2004-T-0030, 2005-Ohio-1892, ¶ 26. But, in this case, the domestic relations court did not provide any reasoning or analysis as to why it had decided to denyButler CA2019-07-106

- 6 - Husband's various post-decree motions. In other words, the rec ord provides no indication of the domestic relations court's basis for denying Husband's r equests for the domestic relations court to: (1) "offset" the $9,734.77 lump sum propert y settlement he owed to Wife against the child support arrears Wife owed to him; (2) "offset " his monthly spousal support payment against Wife's monthly child support obligations since Wife was "not paying child support timely;" and (3) modify the amount of spousal support h e owed to Wife due to the changing "tax implications" that totaled "approximately $2,500. 00 annually." {¶ 20} This court cannot perform a meaningful appellate review of the domestic

relations court's decision absent a clear indication of the dom estic relations court's underlying reasoning and analysis. See Preece v. Stern , 12th Dist. Madison Nos. CA2008- 09-024 and 2008-09-029, 2009-Ohio-2519, ¶ 14. "[W]hen that ana lysis and clear reasoning is absent from the trial court's written opinion, it is impossi ble to review the decision without supplanting the trial court's judgment with our own." Id. ; Barrow v. New Miami , 12th Dist. Butler No. CA2014-04-092, 2014-Ohio-5743, ¶ 27 (meaningful appellate review cannot be had where this court "would be forced to supplement our judgmen t for that of the trial court, something the law does not permit"). This holds true even thou gh Wife did not file an appellee's brief. "[M]eaningful appellate review does not perm it simply accepting one party's unsupported interpretation of the testimony and evidenc e as the only valid interpretation." Dasilva v. Dasilva , 12th Dist. Butler No. CA2018-08-172, 2019-Ohio-2787, ¶ 5. {¶ 21} What prompted the domestic relations court to deny each of Fath er's various motions is unknown and requires this court to speculate as to t he domestic relations court's reasoning. We decline to engage in such speculation. See Wilhoite v. Kast , 12th Dist. Warren No. CA2001-01-001, 2001 Ohio App. LEXIS 5996, *23 (Dec. 31, 2001) ("[a] meaningful review of a trial court's decision must be based on the record before us, notButler CA2019-07-106

- 7 - mere conclusory assertions in an appellate brief"). Therefore, under these limited circumstances, this case must be reversed and remanded to the d omestic relations court for further proceedings. {¶ 22} Upon remand, the domestic relations court shall issue a decisio n that provides a clear indication of its reasoning behind its decision to deny Husband's various motions so that this court can, if necessary, perform a meaningful appella te review should the need arise. This decision shall include an explanation as to how it is in the children's best interest for Husband to pay Wife a lump sum property settlement in the a mount of $9,734.77 when the record indicates Wife has paid little, if any, child suppor t to Husband as the children's residential parent and legal custodian. Accordingly, without p roviding any opinion as to the merit of Husband's claims raised herein, Husband's three assign ments of error are

sustained to the extent outlined above. Judgment reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

RINGLAND and PIPER, JJ., concur.