G.P. v. L.M.
| Decision Date | 17 November 2016 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 16CA0005 |
| Citation | 2016 Ohio 7955 |
| Parties | G.P. Plaintiff-Appellant v. L.M. Defendant-Appellee |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
OPINION
For Plaintiff-Appellant:
D. JASON HALSEY
97 South Liberty Street
Powell, OH 43065
For Defendant-Appellee:
ANDREW S. WICK
23 East High Street
P.O. Box 15
Mount Gilead, OH 43338
{¶1} Plaintiff-Appellant G.P. appeals the May 11, 2016 judgment entry of the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division.
{¶2} Plaintiff-Appellant G.P. ("Father") and Defendant-Appellee L.M. ("Mother") are the parents of four minor children. Mother and Father are not legally married, but in 2004, they entered into a ceremonial marriage.
{¶3} At the time of their ceremonial marriage, Mother and Father resided in Tennessee, close to Father's family. Mother is from Ohio and her parents reside in Morrow County, Ohio. Mother and Father's four children were born in Tennessee. Mother and Father would visit Mother's family in Ohio every six to eight weeks.
{¶4} On August 23, 2013, Mother and Father moved their family to Hawai'i so Father could start a metal-roof manufacturing business. It is unknown whether the move to Hawai'i was intended to be permanent. While in Hawai'i, Mother did not have employment outside of the home and she homeschooled the children.
{¶5} On December 29, 2013, Mother asked Father to leave their home in Hawai'i. On January 31, 2014, Mother took the children and left Hawai'i after an alleged incident of physical abuse by Father. Mother and the children went to Morrow County, Ohio to be with Mother's parents. On February 5, 2014, Mother filed a petition for an ex parte domestic violence civil stalking protection order against Father in the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas. The trial court granted the ex parte order of protection.
{¶6} Father filed an "Ex Parte Motion for Immediate Return of Minor Children to the Jurisdiction of the Family Court" with the Family Court of the Fifth Circuit of Hawai'i on February 12, 2014. The Family Court of the Fifth Circuit of Hawai'i granted the motion and set the matter for a hearing on February 25, 2014. Mother filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
{¶7} On February 21, 2014, Father filed a motion for relief from judgment from the ex parte order of protection issued by the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas. Father argued Ohio had no jurisdiction because Hawai'i was the home state of the children.
{¶8} Father filed a Complaint to Establish Father/Child Relationship and for Allocation of Parental Rights and Responsibilities with the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, on May 6, 2014. Mother answered Father's complaint on May 12, 2014. The trial court appointed a Guardian ad Litem for the children.
{¶9} In the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas, the trial court held a full hearing on Mother's Ex Parte Order on May 20, 2014. Father was present at the hearing. On May 21, 2014, the trial court granted the order of protection against Father until September 1, 2014. The trial court further ordered that Mother would remain in custody of the children and Father would have supervised visitation with the children pursuant to a visitation schedule.
{¶10} On June 20, 2014, Mother and Father filed a Joint Notice of Withdrawal/Dismissal of Father's complaint.
{¶11} The Family Court of the Fifth Circuit of Hawai'i held a hearing on July 15, 2014 on Father's motion for immediate return of the children and Mother's motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. On July 18, 2014, the court denied Mother's motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution. The court granted Father's motion for immediate return of the children to Hawai'i.
{¶12} Mother filed a counter-complaint to establish paternity and parental rights and responsibilities with the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division on July 31, 2014. The trial court designated Mother's filing as an original complaint.
{¶13} On October 17, 2014, Mother filed an amended motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction with the Family Court of the Fifth Circuit of Hawai'i.
{¶14} On February 10, 2015, the trial court judge of the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division contacted the Family Court of the Fifth Circuit of Hawai'i pursuant to R.C. 3127.09 to discuss proper jurisdiction to determine custody, support, and visitation issues for the children under the terms of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act ("UCCJEA"). The State of Hawai'i has also adopted the UCCJEA in the Hawai'i Revised Statutes Chapter 583A, et seq. The discussion between the judges was memorialized in the record on February 12, 2015. The judges agreed that neither Ohio nor Hawai'i was the home state under the UCCJEA, but Ohio was the most appropriate state for the matter to be heard based on the circumstances.
{¶15} The Family Court of the Fifth Circuit of Hawai'i held a hearing on Mother's amended motion to dismiss on March 12, 2015. On March 20, 2015, the court issued a judgment entry determining that pursuant to the factors under H.R.S. §583A-207, Hawai'i was an inconvenient forum and declined to exercise jurisdiction over Father's complaint for custody, support and visitation. The Hawai'i Intermediate Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment entry in GP v. LP, 138 Hawai'i 134, 377 P.3d 1052, 2016 WL 1601059 (Haw.App.2016), filed on March 31, 2016.
{¶16} Mother's complaint before the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas came on for a trial over several days in March and April 2015. The magistrate held an in camera hearing with two of the children on April 1, 2015. The parties also underwent psychological evaluations, which the magistrate considered. The GAL report recommended that custody of the children be granted to Mother.
{¶17} On June 12, 2015, the magistrate issued her decision. Relevant to the assigned errors raised by Father, the magistrate found the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, had subject matter jurisdiction over Mother's complaint under the UCCJEA. The magistrate next recommended that based on the child support computation worksheet, Father should pay child support in the amount of $198.58 per child per month.
{¶18} Father filed objections to the magistrate's decision. On May 11, 2016, the trial court issued its judgment entry overruling the objections to the magistrate's decision. The trial court adopted the magistrate decision (with minor modifications not relevant to this appeal). It is from this decision Father now appeals.
{¶19} Father raises two Assignments of Error:
{¶20} "I. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN FINDING IT HAS SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OVER THE CASE.
{¶21}
{¶22} Father argues in his first Assignment of Error that the trial court abused its discretion when it elected to exercise jurisdiction over the child custody dispute. We disagree.
{¶23} The UCCJEA was drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws to resolve interstate custody disputes and to avoid jurisdictional competition with courts of other jurisdictions. Rosen v. Celebrezze, 117 Ohio St.3d 241, 2008-Ohio-853, 833 N.E.2d 420, ¶ 20-21. Ohio adopted the UCCJEA and codified the law in R.C. Chapter 3127. Hawai'i also adopted the UCCJEA and codified the law in H.R.S. §§583A-101 et seq.
{¶24} In this case, the Morrow County Court of Common Pleas determined it had jurisdiction of the parties' custody dispute. In making the determination whether to retain jurisdiction, R.C. 3127.15(A) provides the trial court with the following jurisdictional grounds:
The UCCJEA therefore provides four types of initial child custody jurisdiction: home-state jurisdiction, significant-connection jurisdiction, jurisdiction because of declination of jurisdiction, and default jurisdiction. R.C....
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