Lelak v. Lelak

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 3458

Syllabus

In a post-divorce dispute, the trial court did not err in awarding simple interest rather than compound interest after finding husband in contempt. Husband was not a fiduciary, and no statutory basis existed on which to award compound interest. The trial court also did not abuse its discretion in imposing only a three-day jail term for the contempt. However, the court did abuse its discretion in awarding wife only $2,000 in attorney fees and in refusing to consider expert fees and costs. The court's decision incorrectly narrowed the issue on which contempt was based, and its decision on attorney fees was not based on sound reasoning. As a global resolution of these issues, the trial court is instructed on remand to award wife $53,123 in attorney fees, expert fees, and court costs. The trial court also erred in imposing a set rate of interest on the amount husband was required to pay for division of retirement benefits. The court used an 11% interest rate that the Ohio Department of Taxation certified in 1989 and carried that rate forward until the judgment was satisfied it should have used the statutory interest rate which R.C. 1343.03 dictated at that time, which was 10%. The court should have applied that rate only until R.C. 1343.03 was amended to provide for a variable interest. From the latter date forward, the court should have imposed interest at variable rates as provided in R.C. 1343.03 and R.C. 5703.47. The trial court is also instructed on remand to enter interest as indicated. Judgment affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.