Some divorced couples in Ohio are able to come to an amicable settlement and move on with their lives with no future problems. The paths of others are not so smoothly resolved, and child or spousal support issues rear their ugly heads after a period of time. A former couple’s dispute in a restructured spousal support agreement has gone to an appellate court for further deliberation.
The original divorce agreement in 2014 stated the wife would pay her ex $850 each month — with an extra 10 percent of the amount earned over her base salary, which was then $180,000 per year — and 10 percent of any bonuses she received. The payments would decrease to $551 per month over time to continue until 2020. In just two years, she was making nearly $80,000 per year more, and the amount of her bonuses were nearly half that. She complains her ex-husband would become very wealthy according to the conditions set by the original divorce agreement. She petitioned the court to modify the original agreement as a change in circumstances to reflect her new salary, which it did by placing a cap on the bonus but leaving the other amounts as was laid out earlier.
The husband claims the judge was in error in establishing a change of circumstances because they had anticipated the increases in salary and bonus payouts when hammering out the details of the original agreement. He also believed the issue of a cap was deliberately omitted at the time because of that expectation. The appellate judge did agree with the superior court judge that circumstances had changed enough to warrant a review of the financial situation, but he agreed with the husband that they should have taken into consideration the wife’s salary increase over the next years based on past trends. He then stated the trial court should make a new agreement and consider the changes in circumstance while retaining reasonable financial expectations on the part of the husband.
When spousal support issues get complicated, it can be overwhelming. Finding someone who can take over the burden on a professional level can be such a relief. An Ohio attorney can be that person who can take control of the stressful situation, leaving a client to focus on other matters.
