Jones v. Jones

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 3074

Syllabus

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining an equitable apportionment of the civil settlement proceeds obtained during the parties' marriage. Specifically, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it divided the amount remaining at the time of the final divorce hearing, or $403,000, instead of the original settlement amount of $750,000. The trial court acted within its discretion in utilizing the date of the final divorce hearing for valuation of the settlement proceeds. However, appellant was entitled to investment earnings accrued over the statutory interest rate, if any, on his portion of the settlement proceeds. The trial court must conduct a hearing to determine whether investment earnings or statutory interest shall be applied. The trial court did not err when it found that appellant was not entitled to an award of attorney fees from appellee's portion of the settlement proceeds. Judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.