Middendorf v. Middendorf,
696 N.E. 2d. 575 (Oh. 1998).


Procedure:The Court of Appeals for Shelby County (Ohio) affirmed the trial court's determination that an increase in the value of appellant husband's separate property during the course of the marriage was marital property and appellee wife was entitled to half of the increase as part of the property settlement in a domestic relations case under Ohio Code. The husband sought review.

Facts: Max (D) claimed that during his marriage to Pat (P) the appreciation of his separate property, a stockyard, was not marital property because both spouses must contribute to the increase or that the increase was passive appreciation, classified as separate property. The trial court held the appreciation was marital property. The court of appeals affirmed. D appeals.

Issue: For a court to determine an appreciation made in separate property during marriage as marital property, must it find that both spouses have expended significant marital funds or labor directly contributing to the increase or that the nonownmg spouse contributed substantial work to improvement and maintenance of the separate property?

Rule:Trial court has broad discretion in making divisions of property in domestic cases, and its decision will be upheld absent an abuse of discretion

Holding: No. Judgment affirmed.
The Supreme Court, Lundberg Stratton, J., held that: (1) increase in value of separate property during marriage is marital property if efforts of either spouse contributed to that appreciation; and (2) evidence supported determination that husband's active management of stockyards contributed to increase in value of his separate property interest in stockyards during marriage.

Analysis: The plain meaning of the amended divorce statute defines as marital property all appreciation on separate property, due to the labor, monetary, or in- kind contribution of either or both spouses that occurred during the marriage. This statute supersedes a previous court decision holding that both parties must make the contribution.