Vacheresse v. Paulchel

Citations

• 2023 Ohio 3226

Syllabus

DIVORCE – R.C. 3105.171 – PROPERTY VALUATION – EQUALIZATION PAYMENT: Although neither party called appraiser as a witness at trial and both parties disagreed with his valuation of marital property, the trial court did not plainly err in admitting the appraiser's report as evidence where wife's counsel hired the appraiser, husband paid the appraiser, counsel for both parties received the report prior to trial, husband's counsel tendered the appraisal report as an exhibit at the conclusion of trial, wife's attorney did not object to its admission, and nothing in the record suggests any substantive issues with the report or the appraiser's qualifications. Furthermore, since neither party presented expert evidence supporting any other value for the home and because its valuation did not factor into trial court's equitable division analysis, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in relying on admitted appraiser's report to determine the value of that property. Although the trial court's division of the net marital assets resulted in wife receiving 45.10 percent and husband receiving 54.90 percent, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it found that an equalization payment would be inequitable in this case. Judgment affirmed