Court Opinion

ID: 9954143
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-25 18:11:06.048114+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:11:51.395236
License: Public Domain

[Cite as S.E. v. Edelstein, 2024-Ohio-1090.]

                                    IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

                           TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

                                           WARREN COUNTY

 S.E., a minor, et al.,                          :

        Appellants,                              :     CASE NO. CA2023-08-064

                                                 :            OPINION
     - vs -                                                    3/25/2024
                                                 :

 MAX EDELSTEIN,                                  :

        Appellant.                               :

        CIVIL APPEAL FROM WARREN COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
                            Case No. 23CV96112

Kimberly A. Edelstein, pro se, and for appellant, S.E., a minor.

Max Edelstein, pro se.

        S. POWELL, P.J.

        {¶ 1} Appellants, S.E., a minor, and S.E.'s mother, Kimberly Edelstein, both

individually and in her representative capacity as the mother of S.E., appeal the decision

of the Warren County Court of Common Pleas granting the pro se motion to dismiss filed

by appellee, Max Edelstein, S.E.'s grandfather and the father of Kimberly's ex-husband,

defendant, Eliott Edelstein. For the reasons outlined below, we affirm the trial court's
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decision.

                                   Facts and Procedural History

        {¶ 2} Kimberly and her ex-husband Eliott are the biological parents of the minor,

S.E., a boy. The record indicates that at the time of their marriage, both Kimberly and

Eliott were practicing Orthodox Jews. So too was Max. The record indicates that

Kimberly and S.E. are still Sabbath-observant, Orthodox Jews who, according to

Kimberly, adhere to all Jewish laws. The record indicates that Max is still Jewish, as well.

The record is silent as it relates to Eliott.

        {¶ 3} On August 2, 2022, Eliott filed for divorce from Kimberly in Hamilton County,

Ohio. This was three days after Eliott filed for and received a domestic violence civil

protection order against Kimberly from the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas,

Domestic Relations Division, on July 29, 2022. The First District Court of Appeals later

upheld the issuance of that domestic violence civil protection order to Eliott on appeal in

Edelstein v. Edelstein, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-220626, 2023-Ohio-2503.1

        {¶ 4} On June 8, 2023, Kimberly, an attorney in good standing licensed to

practice law in Ohio, filed a complaint, on behalf of both her and her minor son, S.E.,

naming Max, Eliott, and a third party, Angela Wafford, as defendants. 2 The complaint

referred to Angela as a "friend and co-worker" of Eliott, who the complaint alleged "overtly

flirted and made sexual advances towards" Eliott, while at the same time Angela

1. The First District affirmed the issuance of that domestic violence civil protection order to Eliott upon
finding Kimberly had engaged in a pattern of behavior targeting Eliott that met the statutory elements of
menacing by stalking in violation of R.C. 2903.211. Edelstein v. Edelstein, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-220626,
2023-Ohio-2503, ¶ 23. As noted by the First District, this included Kimberly "surveilling Eliott in the private
break room at his work, surveilling his car at work, following him to his rabbi's house, sending unwanted
text messages to Eliott, threatening to harm Eliott and have him killed, possessing a gun, and placing a
tracking device on Eliott's car that was disguised as being from an insurance company." Id.

2. Due to privacy concerns, this court has renamed the third defendant to "Amanda Wafford" for purposes
of issuing this opinion.

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"systematically maligned" Kimberly to Eliott.

        {¶ 5} The complaint contained a total of 18 causes of action against the three

above-named defendants.3 Of those 18 causes of action, however, there were only five

causes of action that were brought against Max. Those five causes of action were set

forth in Counts 14 through 18 of the complaint. The five causes of action against Max

alleged: (1) intentional interference with a contractual relationship (Count 14); (2) loss of

consortium (Count 15); (3) loss of parental consortium (Count 16); (4) intentional infliction

of emotional distress (Count 17); and (5) malice (Count 18).

        {¶ 6} As set forth in the complaint, the five causes of action brought against Max

were based on Max's alleged "disproval of the contractual relationship" between Kimberly

and Max's son, Eliott, which resulted in Max purportedly lying about, slandering, and

maligning Kimberly to Eliott and others, "in an attempt to destroy the contractual

relationship."     The purported contractual relationship that Max was alleged to have

interfered with was entered into by Kimberly and Eliott on May 19, 2002 through their joint

execution of a ketubah.4

        {¶ 7} A ketubah is a traditional Jewish marriage contract. The ketubah at issue

in this case⎯as translated from its original Hebrew⎯initially states:

                 On the first day of the week, the eighth day of the month of
                 Sivan, in the 5762nd year of the world's creation, following the
                 reckoning by which we count here in Albany, New York, in
                 North America, we saw how the groom, [Eliott] son of [Max]

3. This filing was, in fact, an amended complaint, Kimberly having filed her original complaint with the trial
court on May 10, 2023.

4. The complaint referred to this document as a "ketubbah" rather than "ketubah." However, based on this
court's review of cases from across the country, there is only one case that uses the spelling "ketubbah,"
whereas the others use the spelling "ketubah." Compare Burns v. Burns, 223 N.J. Super. 219, 222 (1987)
("[s]ince [both the plaintiff and the defendant] were of the Jewish religion they felt compelled to secure
'gets' from their prior spouses in order to properly enter into a Jewish contract of marriage known as a
'ketubbah'"); with S.F. v. J.S., 80 Misc.3d 1218(A) (2023) ("The parties' Ketubah [a traditional Jewish
marriage contract] was signed by Rabbi X and then two [2] witnesses, M.H. and E.P., both close friends of
Defendant").
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                said to [Kimberly]: "Be my wife according to the legal custom
                of Moses and Israel, and I will cherish you, honor you, and
                provide you food and livelihood as is the law for Jewish men
                who cherish, honor, and provide food and livelihood to their
                wives in good faith. I am giving to you 100 silver zuzim as is
                due you as well as food, clothing, and necessities and will live
                with you as husband and wife as is the way of all the world."5

        {¶ 8} The ketubah continues by stating:

                And [Kimberly] agreed and became his wife. Her dowry which
                she brought from her own, whether silver, gold, jewelry,
                clothing, furniture, or bed-clothes⎯all of it, our groom [Eliott]
                has accepted for 50 silver pieces and our groom [Eliott] has
                consented on his own to add on another 50 silver pieces for a
                total of 100 silver pieces. And thus said our groom [Eliott]:
                "The responsibility of this marriage contract and this addition
                I have accepted upon myself and my heirs after my life from
                this day and forever, that it may be paid from the best part of
                my property and possessions that are under the whole of
                heaven, both that which I now possess and that which I may
                acquire in the future, both real property and chattels. All these
                shall be mortgaged so that this wedding contract, dowry, and
                addition may be collected from them, even from the cloak I
                wear on my shoulders, in my life and after it, from this day
                forth and forever."

        {¶ 9} Concluding, the ketubah states:

                Our groom [Eliott] has taken upon himself the responsibilities
                and the strict requirements of this marriage contract, dowry
                arrangement, and addition as is customary and practiced with
                Jewish women as enacted in the ordinances of our Sages of
                blessed memory, and it is not an uncompensated forfeiture or
                a mere boilerplate document. All that has been clearly set out
                above has been finalized by a legal act of formal delivery and
                acquisition from our groom [Eliott] son of [Max] to this
                righteous convert [Kimberly] daughter of our Father Abraham
                using a garment legally fit for that purpose and all is valid and
                confirmed.

        {¶ 10} Given its terms, the ketubah at issue in this case required Eliott and,

5. A "zuzim" is the plural form of "zuz," referring to an ancient Jewish currency. A single "zuz" is the
equivalent to approximately 3.5 grams of pure silver. This necessarily means the "100 silver zuzim" referred
to in the ketubah would be equivalent to .77 pounds of pure silver, which, at the time this opinion was
written, had a value of approximately $260.
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following Eliott's passing, his heirs, to "cherish" and "honor" Kimberly. The ketubah also

required Eliott to provide Kimberly with "food," "clothing," "necessities," and a "livelihood,"

and to "live" with Kimberly as husband and wife, so long as Kimberly agreed to and

thereafter did marry Eliott, "as is the way of all the world." The ketubah's terms indicate

that Eliott was required to provide Kimberly with these things⎯most notably "food,"

"clothing," "necessities," and a "livelihood"⎯unconditionally for the rest of her life

regardless of whether Eliott and Kimberly later divorced or if Kimberly succeeded Eliott in

death.

         {¶ 11} In the complaint, it was alleged that Max had intentionally interfered with the

ketubah, the supposed "contract" at issue in this case, by engaging in a continuous

"campaign to undermine" Kimberly and Eliott's contractual relationship (i.e., their

marriage) for nearly 20 years. The complaint alleged that this included Max being

"emotionally abusive" towards Kimberly, as well as Max making "negative and derogatory

statements" about Kimberly. This, according to the complaint, included Max criticizing

Kimberly's "status as a convert to Judaism" and by frequently stating that Kimberly's and

Eliott's children "were not Jewish." The complaint also alleged that Max, "with the intent

to destroy the contractual relationship between" Kimberly and Eliott, routinely disparaged

Kimberly to "persuade" Eliott to "terminate his contractual relationship with [her]."

         {¶ 12} The complaint further alleged that after Eliott breached the supposed

"contract" on April 21, 2022, presumably by initiating his and Kimberly's separation, Max

"discouraged" Eliott from "correcting" his breach and instead "encouraged" Eliott to

"abandon" his family.6 The complaint alleged that Max's actions ultimately resulted in

6. The complaint does not state with any particularity how Eliott supposedly breached the purported
"contract" with Kimberly on April 21, 2022. The complaint merely states that Eliott's breach of that "contract"
caused "significant and long-term damage and severe emotional distress" to both Kimberly and S.E.
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Kimberly losing out on the life she was to have with Eliott, as well as in their minor son,

S.E., not having his father there to provide him with "daily attention and affection," all of

which, according to the complaint, resulted in Kimberly and S.E. incurring actual,

compensatory, and punitive damages in an amount totaling nearly $1,000,000. This

includes $930,000 in damages to Kimberly to compensate her for "the average cost of

living" for the next 31 years, the total number of years the complaint alleges Kimberly

would be expected to live based upon the "Actuarial Life Table" developed by United

States Social Security Administration."7

       {¶ 13} On July 7, 2023, Max filed a pro se motion to dismiss. To support his

motion, Max alleged that the complaint's five causes of action brought against him should

be dismissed due the trial court's lack of jurisdiction over his person, as well as the trial

court's lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the case. Although not explicitly citing

to the rule, Max also alleged that those five causes of action should be dismissed because

they "fail[ed] to state a cause of action against [him] upon which relief may be granted"

pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6). Three days later, on July 10, 2023, Kimberly filed her and

her minor son S.E.'s response in opposition to Max's motion to dismiss.

       {¶ 14} On July 26, 2023, the trial court issued a decision granting Max's motion to

dismiss.    In so doing, the trial court determined that, although the court did have

jurisdiction over Max's person, and while the court did have jurisdiction over the subject

matter of the case, each of the complaint's five causes of action brought against Max

failed to state a claim upon which either Kimberly or S.E. were entitled to relief, thereby

necessitating those five causes action being dismissed.

       {¶ 15} More specifically, as it relates to the complaint's intentional interference with

7. The Actuarial Life Table developed by the United States Social Security Administration can be found
online at https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html (last accessed Mar. 4, 2024).
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                                                                    Warren CA2023-08-064

a contractual relationship claim brought against Max in Count 14, the trial court stated:

               The contract at issue between [Eliott] and [Kimberly] is not an
               ante-nuptial or a property separation agreement. This is a
               marital agreement as it relates to the parties' conduct during
               the marriage. * * * [Kimberly] avers that Max has intentionally
               interfered with this contract. Pursuant to R.C. 2305.29,
               [neither] Max, nor any other person, can be held liable in civil
               damages for any breach of promise to marry or alienation of
               affection and [Kimberly's and S.E.'s] attempts to categorize
               this amatory tort as an interference with a contract fails.

       {¶ 16} Next, as it relates to the complaint's loss of spousal and parental consortium

claims brought against Max in Counts 15 and 16, the trial court determined that the

complaint "did not allege any bodily injury, or physical harm to either [Kimberly] or S.E.,

and therefore a loss of consortium claim cannot stand." Furthermore, as it relates to the

complaint's intentional infliction of emotional distress claim brought against Max in Count

17, the trial court stated:

               Here, [Kimberly] avers that Max's intentional interference with
               a contractual relationship resulted in the traumatic
               abandonment by [Eliott] of his son, S.E. * * * [Kimberly] avers
               that Max's conduct was extreme and outrageous as he
               actively attempted to break up the marriage between
               [Kimberly] and [Eliott]. Stated another way, Max did not
               approve of who his son was marrying and voiced his opinion
               of said disapproval. Taking all the allegations as true, and
               construing any inference in favor of [Kimberly and S.E.], the
               Court finds that [Kimberly and S.E.] have failed to state a claim
               upon which relief can be granted.

The trial court instead determined that, "the tort of alienation of affection," which was

abolished by the General Assembly through the enactment of R.C. 2305.29, was "not

revived by the recognition of the independent tort of intentional infliction of emotional

distress."

       {¶ 17} Finally, as it relates to the complaint's malice claim brought against Max in

Count 18, the trial court determined that "[t]his cause of action is identical to a punitive

damage cause of action." The trial court therefore concluded by stating that, "[s]ince the

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remaining causes of action have been dismissed against [Max], the claim for malice

cannot stand on its own. Therefore, it is also dismissed."

        {¶ 18} On August 7, 2023, Kimberly and S.E. moved the court to reconsider its

decision to grant Max's motion to dismiss. However, the very next day, on August 8,

2023, the trial court issued an entry and order denying Kimberly and S.E.'s motion for

reconsideration. In so doing, the trial court found Kimberly and S.E.'s motion was nothing

more than "an attempt to get a second bite of the proverbial apple." The trial court further

noted that, in addition to Kimberly and S.E. not arguing that there was an obvious error

anywhere within the trial court's decision, Kimberly and S.E. also did not "raise any issue

for the Court's consideration that was either not at all or was not fully considered."

              S.E. and Kimberly's Appeal and Three Assignments of Error

        {¶ 19} On August 21, 2023, Kimberly and S.E. filed a notice of appeal from the trial

court's decision granting Max's motion to dismiss. The appeal now properly before this

court for decision, Kimberly and S.E. have raised three assignments of error for review. 8

In each of those three assignments of error, Kimberly and S.E. argue the trial court erred

by granting Max's motion to dismiss. We disagree.

                    Civ.R. 12(B)(6) Motion to Dismiss Standard of Review

        {¶ 20} The trial court granted Max's motion to dismiss pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6).

"Civ.R. 12(B)(6) authorizes the dismissal of a complaint if it fails to state a claim upon

which relief can be granted." Rossi v. Atrium Med. Ctr., 12th Dist. Warren No. CA2022-

05-027, 2023-Ohio-984, ¶ 8, citing Marchetti v. Blankenburg, 12th Dist. Butler No.

8. We note that Max did not file an appellee brief in this case. However, in response to this court's show
cause order, Max noted that he rejected each of the complaint's five causes of action brought against him
"as being without any factual or legal merit, and in response thereto," he would be relying "upon the trial
court's factual findings and legal conclusions" as referenced in the trial court's July 26, 2023 decision
granting his pro se motion to dismiss pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6) and the trial court's August 8, 2023 entry
and order denying Kimberly's and S.E.'s motion for reconsideration.
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CA2010-09-232, 2011-Ohio-2212, ¶ 9. "A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim

upon which relief can be granted tests the sufficiency of the complaint." Volbers-Klarich

v. Middletown Mgt., Inc., 125 Ohio St.3d 494, 2010-Ohio-2057, ¶ 11. To that end, "[a]

Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion for failure to state a claim asks a court to determine if the

allegations in a complaint set forth an actionable claim." Total Quality Logistics, L.L.C. v.

Tucker, Albin & Assocs., 12th Dist. CA2021-06-031, 2022-Ohio-1802, ¶ 36, citing Pyle v.

Ledex, Inc., 49 Ohio App.3d 139, 143 (12th Dist.1988).

       {¶ 21} "In ruling on a complaint under Civ.R. 12(B)(6), the trial court must presume

that all factual allegations in the complaint are true and draw all reasonable inferences in

favor of the nonmoving party." Fontain v. H&R Cincy Properties, L.L.C., 12th Dist. Warren

No. CA2021-02-015, 2022-Ohio-1000, ¶ 55, citing Mitchell v. Lawson Milk Co., 40 Ohio

St.3d 190, 192 (1988). This necessarily means that, "as long as there is a set of facts,

consistent with the plaintiff's complaint, which would allow the plaintiff to recover, the [trial]

court may not grant a defendant's motion to dismiss." Conaway v. Mt. Orab, 12th Dist.

Brown No. CA2021-04-005, 2021-Ohio-4041, ¶ 13, citing York v. Ohio State Highway

Patrol, 60 Ohio St.3d 143, 145 (1991).

       {¶ 22} "A trial court's order granting a motion to dismiss pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6)

is subject to de novo review on appeal." BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P. v. Kolenich,

194 Ohio App.3d 777, 2011-Ohio-3345, ¶ 35 (12th Dist.). "This court therefore must

independently review the complaint to determine the appropriateness of the trial court's

dismissal." Dudley v. Siler Excavation Servs., LLC, 12th Dist. Clermont No. CA2022-06-

030, 2023-Ohio-666, ¶ 10.

                                   Arguments and Analysis

       {¶ 23} To support their three assignments of error, Kimberly and S.E. raise a

variety of interesting arguments for this court's consideration. This includes an argument

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wherein Kimberly and S.E. allege the trial court failed to apply the appropriate Civ.R.

12(B)(6) standard when reviewing Max's pro se motion. This also includes Kimberly and

S.E.'s argument that the ketubah at issue was in actuality not, as the trial court had

determined within its decision, a "promise to marry." Rather, just as they argued below

to the trial court, Kimberly and S.E. instead argue the ketubah was a standard, binding

"legal contract" that could easily be enforced by the trial court just like any other prenuptial

or antenuptial agreement without concern for the First Amendment's free exercise and

establishment clauses under the "neutral contract principles" articulated by the United

States Supreme Court in Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595, 99 S.Ct. 3020 (1979).9 This is in

addition to Kimberly and S.E.'s argument that the trial court "misapplied" the law when

determining that enforcing the ketubah's terms in this case would be against public policy

in Ohio.

        {¶ 24} However, after a thorough review of the record, and upon extensive legal

research from sources all throughout the country regarding the enforceability of a

ketubah, we find no error in the trial court's decision to grant Max's pro se Civ.R. 12(B)(6)

motion to dismiss. We instead agree with the trial court's finding that, pursuant to R.C.

2305.29, neither Max, nor any other person, could be held liable in civil damages to either

Kimberly or S.E. for any breach of a promise to marry or alienation of affection as was

alleged in Counts 14 through 18 of the complaint. See Benkovits v. Bandi, 8th Dist.

Cuyahoga No. 109533, 2021-Ohio-1877, ¶ 22 (noting that a claim alleging tortious

interference with a marital contract is an amatory action that has been abolished in Ohio

9. "The neutral principle of law approach prevents mahr agreements, and other private, religious marriage
agreements, from being denied simply because they came about in a religious context allowing them to be
enforced based solely on their ability to comply with the 'objective, well-established,' secular laws." Khan
v. Hasan, 73 Misc.3d 422, 428, 153 N.Y.S.3d (2021). A "mahr is money paid to the bride by the groom or
his family for the financial protection of the bride in the case of divorce." Mir v. Birjandi, 2d Dist. Greene
Nos. 2006 CA 63, 2006 CA 71, and 2006 CA 72, 2007-Ohio-6266, ¶ 40.
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pursuant to R.C. 2305.09).

       {¶ 25} In so holding, we note our agreement with the trial court's finding Kimberly

and S.E.'s attempts to disguise their amatory claims alleging a breach of a promise to

marry and alienation of affections against Max in terms of an intentional interference with

a contractual relationship (Count 14), loss of spousal consortium (Count 15), loss of

parental consortium (Count 16), intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count 17), and

malice (Count 18) must fail as a matter of law. To hold otherwise would be directly

contrary to the plain language set forth in R.C. 2305.29 abolishing such claims.

       {¶ 26} In reaching this decision, we note that nowhere within Kimberly and S.E.'s

appellate brief do they argue the trial court erred by dismissing the complaint's claims

against Max alleging a loss of spousal consortium (Count 15) and loss of parental

consortium (Count 16) due to the complaint's failure to "allege any bodily injury, or

physical harm" having occurred in this case. This includes no allegations of bodily injury

or physical harm as it related to Kimberly or Eliott, as well as to their minor son, S.E. This

is likely because any such argument would have failed for it is well established that, as it

relates to a loss of spousal consortium, the claim "is derivative in that the claim is

dependent upon the defendant's having committed a legally cognizable tort upon the

spouse who suffers bodily injury." Bowen v. Kil-Kare, Inc., 63 Ohio St.3d 84, 93 (1992).

       {¶ 27} Thus, "a claim for loss of [spousal] consortium is dependent upon bodily

injury to the spouse." Morgan v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, 11th Dist. Trumbull No. 98-T-

0103, 2000 Ohio App. LEXIS 1431, *15 (Mar. 31, 2000). The term "bodily injury," in so

far as it is used in this context, does not include non-physical harms such as emotional

distress. Blatnik v. Avery Dennison Corp., 148 Ohio App.3d 494, 2002-Ohio-1682, ¶ 95

(11th Dist.). To establish a loss of spousal consortium claim, however, it is not only the

spouse who must be injured. Rather, because a loss of spousal consortium claim is

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legally separate and independent from the claim of the injured spouse, "the spouse

claiming loss of consortium must [also] provide evidence of his or her own injury beyond

[that of] his or her spouse's injury." Long v. Harding, 12th Dist. Butler No. CA2020-11-

120, 2021-Ohio-4240, ¶ 49, citing Richard v. Wal-Mart Discount Stores, 2d Dist. Miami

No. 98 CA 48, 1999 Ohio App. LEXIS 4781, *20 (Oct. 8, 1999). The complaint simply did

not do that in this case. See Weaver v. Deevers, 11th Dist. Portage No. 2020-P-0087,

2021-Ohio-3791 ¶ 20 ("because appellants did not allege bodily injury, or physical harm,

to either [of the two plaintiff/appellant wives], defendants were entitled to summary

judgment in their favor on the loss of [spousal] consortium claims").

       {¶ 28} The same would hold true as it relates to a child's loss of parental

consortium claim, regardless of whether that child was a minor child or an emancipated

adult child. See generally Brady v. Miller, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 19723, 2003-Ohio-

4582, ¶ 14 (noting that "[i]n recent years, Ohio law has evolved significantly as it pertains

to loss-of consortium claims brought by parents and their children" to include "a minor

child's cause of action for loss of parental consortium, and a parent's cause of action for

loss of filial consortium involving injury to a minor child," as well as "emancipated adult

children * * * for loss of parental consortium"). That is to say, in addition to the bodily

injury suffered by the child's parent, the child claiming a loss of parental consortium must

also provide evidence of his or her own injury, thereby allowing the child to be

"compensated for a harm done or for losses suffered as a result of injury to the parent

and to the parent-child relationship." Rolf v. Tri State Motor Transit Co., 91 Ohio St.3d

380, 382 (2001). Again, the complaint simply did not do that in this case.

       {¶ 29} We also note our disagreement with Kimberly and S.E.'s claim set forth

within their appellate brief wherein they allege that states with larger Jewish populations,

such as New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut, have all determined that ketubahs like

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the one at issue in this case are, without exception, "valid prenuptial agreements." In so

doing, we find it necessary to discuss the recent decision issued by the Supreme Court

of Connecticut in Tilsen v. Benson, 347 Conn. 758 (2023). In that case, the Connecticut

Supreme Court affirmed a trial court's decision denying a husband's motion to enforce

certain terms of the ketubah that he and his ex-wife executed prior to their marriage as a

valid prenuptial agreement. Specifically, the portion of the ketubah that stated, "the

parties 'agreed to divorce [or, separate from] one another according to custom all the days

of their life [i.e., as a continuing obligation] according to Torah law as is the manner of

Jewish people.'" Id. at 767.

       {¶ 30} Like Kimberly and S.E. in the case at bar, the husband in Tilsen argued that:

(1) the enforcement of the ketubah would not violate the First Amendment's establishment

clause; and (2) failing to enforce the ketubah would violate his rights under the First

Amendment's free exercise clause. However, upon review, the Connecticut Supreme

Court disagreed with both of husband's claims and affirmed the lower court's decision

overruling husband's motion. In so holding, the Supreme Court of Connecticut initially

concluded as it relates to husband's claims under the First Amendment's establishment

clause:

              [T]he plaintiff's desired relief violates the establishment clause
              under the neutral principles of law doctrine. Most significant,
              the parties' ketubah is facially silent as to each spouse's
              support obligations in the event of dissolution of the marriage,
              thus leaving the court to determine those obligations from
              external sources as to Jewish law, namely, the parties' expert
              witnesses, whose proffered opinions differed in this case,
              instantly alerting the court as to the establishment clause
              dilemma. This renders the present case distinct from [Avitzur
              v. Avitzur, 58 N.Y.2d 108 (1983)], in which—under the
              majority's view of the record—the contested portion of the
              ketubah was more akin to a typical arbitration clause, insofar
              as it facially required only the submission of the case to the
              specific Beth Din and did not require the court to discern and
              enforce what Jewish law requires with respect to property

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              division and financial support upon dissolution. * * * Making
              that determination, especially in the presence of conflicting
              rabbinical opinions, would render this case a textbook
              entanglement into religious matters, right to the threshold
              question of whether those obligations are indeed "religious" in
              the first instance. * * * We conclude, therefore, that the
              establishment clause of the first amendment precludes the
              relief sought by the plaintiff.

Tilsen, 347 Conn. at 785-786.

       {¶ 31} Next, regarding husband's claim that the trial court's decision not to enforce

the ketubah violated his rights under the First Amendment's free exercise clause because

it "prevented him from divorcing according to Jewish law, as the parties had agreed," the

Connecticut Supreme Court in Tilsen concluded that the husband "failed to prove that the

trial court's decision not to enforce the ketubah penalized his free exercise rights." Id. at

789. In reaching this decision, the Supreme Court of Connecticut first determined that

having it make the "determination as to the applicable Jewish law—untenable in any event

under the neutral principles of law doctrine—would have risked a violation of the

defendant's free exercise rights in the name of protecting those of the plaintiff," particularly

"in view of the parties' lack of agreement as to what Jewish law requires in the present

case given the breadth of the ketubah's language * * *." Id. at 789-790. The Connecticut

Supreme Court also determined that:

              Second, the trial court did not deny the plaintiff access to the
              court or otherwise exact some kind of penalty in connection
              with his religious beliefs or practices; its decision simply meant
              that this dissolution action would be governed by generally
              applicable principles of Connecticut law as expressed in our
              alimony and equitable distribution statutes. Parties who
              desire specific tenets of their religious beliefs to govern the
              resolution of marital dissolution actions remain free to contract
              for that relief via a properly executed antenuptial, postnuptial,
              or separation agreement that is specifically worded to express
              those beliefs in a way that avoids establishment clause
              concerns under the neutral principles of law doctrine.

Id. at 790-791.

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       {¶ 32} The same would certainly apply to Kimberly and Eliott here in Ohio. In other

words, rather than through the execution of a vaguely worded ketubah, Kimberly and

Eliott could have instead entered a properly executed, and specifically worded, prenuptial,

postnuptial, antenuptial, or separation agreement of their choosing based on the well-

established, secular laws governing such agreements in Ohio. There is no indication that

Kimberly and Eliott ever entered into such an agreement based on the record properly

before this court.

       {¶ 33} We further note the decision issued by the Supreme Court of New York,

Tompkins County, in Cohen v. Cohen, 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1686 (Feb. 7, 2019). In

that case, the plaintiff moved to enforce the ketubah she and defendant, her husband,

had entered at the time of their marriage. This included the portion of the ketubah that,

very similar to the ketubah at issue in this case, stated:

              begins with "[b]e my wife according to the laws of Moses and
              Israel, and I shall willingly honor, cherish, sustain and support
              you in the way of the children of Israel, that honor, cherish,
              sustain and support their wives as fit." It further notes "[a]nd I
              will give your bride price a hundred Zequqim pure silver and
              he added one hundred Zequqim pure silver and he added one
              hundred Zequqim pure silver...". Additionally, added were
              "one hundred and eighty thousand new Israeli shekels,
              besides all her clothes, jewelry and belongings which belong
              to her body". The foregoing is noted as "undertook like all
              subject contracts and additions that are custom of Jewish
              girls..."

Id. at *7-*8.
        {¶ 34} The Supreme Court of New York determined, however, that it cannot

interpret and give force to what is essentially a religious document imposing religious

duties upon the parties." Id. at *8. In reaching this decision the New York Supreme Court

stated:

              If the matter were to go forward, the Court would be forced to
              determine whether the Plaintiff faithfully upheld her

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                obligations as a wife under Jewish law. The Plaintiff's expert
                asserts in conclusory fashion that such factors are not
                present. However, in doing so, he recognizes that the Court
                would be required to reach a conclusion on the issue.
                Moreover, the Defendant specifically raised as an affirmative
                defense that Plaintiff failed to uphold her marital obligations,
                thereby further reinforcing the fact that the Court would be
                asked to decide these doctrinally related issues. This [is] a
                question of religious doctrine which the Court is prohibited
                from evaluating. The Court is unable to assess the claim
                utilizing purely secular contract principles. The Law of Moses
                and Halakhah are beyond the Constitutional scope of this
                Court's jurisdiction.

Id., 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1686 at *8-*9. This was in addition to the Supreme Court of

New York finding:

                even if the Court was not constitutionally prohibited from
                determining this matter, the ketubah lacks any of the
                hallmarks of a contractual agreement. * * * There is no
                promise to pay, or conditions under which payment will be
                made. Nowhere in the subject ketubah is there reference to
                divorce as a triggering event for payment of the main
                ketubah.10

Id. at *9. We find the same to be true here.

        {¶ 35} We additionally note the recent decision issued by the Appellate Court of

Illinois, Second District, in In re Marriage of Katsap, 2022 IL App. (2d) 210706 (2022). In

that case, the petitioner appealed arguing the trial court erred by finding the "property

division" portion of the ketubah she and the respondent, her husband, executed prior to

their marriage was unenforceable. Specifically, the portion of the ketubah that, in the

petitioner's view, required the respondent and his heirs to "pay her $1 million out of any

property that [he] now owns or will acquire in the future." Id. at 145. The petitioner, just

like Kimberly and S.E. in this case, argued that she was entitled to recover under the

10. The "main ketubah," as the New York Supreme Court explained, is the amount pledged within the
ketubah that is to provide for the future support of the wife in the instance of divorce or the death of the
husband. Cohen v. Cohen, 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1686, *1-*2 (Feb. 7, 2019).
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terms of the ketubah because the respondent had "signed the ketubah and agreed, as

part of the marriage ceremony, to be bound by it." Id. The Illinois Second District

Appellate Court disagreed with the petitioner and instead found:

              Here, [petitioner] does not seek to enforce any reasonable
              terms established, according to expert testimony, as
              pertaining to Jewish law. Instead, she seeks to enforce a
              purported promise of [respondent], on behalf of himself and
              his heirs, to pay her $1 million from all of the property that he
              may ever own. The court found, and [petitioner] does not
              dispute, that the entire marital estate is so negligible that it
              does not have any monetary value. [Respondent's] income
              from the small business loan proceeds is $4800 per month.
              [Respondent] testified to his debt, including to his brother, who
              is paying a portion of [respondent's] child support obligation to
              [respondent's] ex-wife in Israel. A contract term can be
              invalidated on grounds of procedural unconscionability,
              substantive unconscionability, or both. * * * Substantive
              unconscionability arises where contract terms are inordinately
              one-sided in one party's favor. * * * [In this case], when the
              court asked [petitioner's] counsel how the ketubah could be
              specifically enforced, counsel had no answer. In sum, we
              agree with [respondent] that the purported agreement for $1
              million is unconscionable. Accordingly, we affirm the court's
              determination that the ketubah is unenforceable.

Id. at 149.

       {¶ 36} In so ruling, the Illinois Second District Appellate Court noted that its

decision was distinguishable from an earlier decision issued by the Appellate Court of

Illinois, First District, Fourth Division, in In re Marriage of Goldman, 196 Ill.App.3d 785

(1990), wherein a trial court's grant of specific performance of a ketubah's requirement

that a husband obtain a "get" for his ex-wife was affirmed. Explaining the differences

between the two cases, the Illinois Second District Appellate Court stated that in

Goldman, unlike in Katsap:

              the wife presented expert testimony from two Orthodox
              Jewish rabbis that the parties' ketubah provided that the
              husband would obtain a "get," which is a Jewish divorce
              allowing the wife to remarry and the children born to a second
              marriage to be recognized as legitimate. * * * The appellate

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                                                                   Warren CA2023-08-064

              court held that the evidence supported that the husband had
              agreed to obtain a get and that uncontroverted expert
              testimony established that Orthodox Jewish law requires the
              husband to obtain and deliver to the wife an Orthodox get
              upon dissolution of marriage.

Id.

       {¶ 37} The Goldman decision, however, has received some criticism including that

by the Connecticut Supreme Court in its Tilsen decision discussed above. See id., 347

Conn. at 781-782 (finding more persuasive the dissent in Goldman "that it would violate

the first amendment to order the husband to provide the wife a get because construction

of the vague ketubah language 'required the court to partake in evaluation, investigation

and interpretation of religious dogma,' and compelled the husband's 'involvement in an

act of religious worship'"); see also P. Finkelman, A Bad Marriage: Jewish Divorce and

the First Amendment, 2 Cardozo Women's L.J. 131, 149-50 (1995) (criticizing Goldman

because "a secular court [was] trying to determine what is religious law * * * what is the

'law[s] of Moses and Israel,'" which "lead[s] precisely to the kind of entanglement with

religion that American courts have historically rejected").

       {¶ 38} This appeal, however, does not concern whether the complaint states an

actionable claim of specific performance against Max entitling either Kimberly or S.E. to

relief. In so far as it relates to Max, it clearly does not. Rather, as noted above, the

complaint raises amatory claims of a breach of a promise to marry and alienation of

affections against Max couched in terms of an intentional interference with a contractual

relationship (Count 14), loss of consortium (Count 15), loss of parental consortium (Count

16), intentional infliction of emotional distress (Count 17), and malice (Count 18). As

stated previously, pursuant to R.C. 2305.29, neither Max, nor any other person, could be

held liable in civil damages to either Kimberly or S.E. for any breach of a promise to marry

or alienation of affection. This holds true despite those claims being pled within the

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complaint in other, generally more suitable terms, like intentional interference with a

contractual relationship and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

       {¶ 39} Just as a rose is a rose by any other name, a non-actionable claim does not

become actionable simply by masquerading as one that is. Therefore, finding no error in

the trial court's decision to grant Max's pro se Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss each of

the five causes of action brought against him within the complaint, and finding no merit to

any of the arguments raised by Kimberly and S.E. in their appellate brief, including those

arguments not specifically addressed herein, Kimberly and S.E.'s three assignments of

error all lack merit and are overruled.

                                          Conclusion

       {¶ 40} For the reasons outlined above, and having now overruled the three

assignments of error presented for review, Kimberly and S.E.'s appeal challenging the

trial court's decision to grant Max's pro se Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss is denied.

       {¶ 41} Judgment affirmed.

       M. POWELL and BYRNE, JJ., concur.

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