Separate Beds, Joint Books

M.K.F. v. A.S.F., 2026-Ohio-2540 (8th Dist.), decided July 2, 2026, Case No. 115454.

The duration of the marriage is the most expensive fact in a divorce case. M.K.F. v. A.S.F., 2026-Ohio-2540 (8th Dist.) shows how the fight is won and lost.

Husband moved out of the marital home in January 2021. The parties never attempted reconciliation, litigated for more than two years, and each had a new partner. At trial he argued the marriage ended, for property purposes, on the day he left. The trial court used the first day of trial in May 2023 instead, and the Eighth District affirmed.

The statute frames the problem. R.C. 3105.171(A)(2) defines the marriage as running from the wedding to the final hearing unless the court finds that date inequitable and selects a de facto termination date. The presumption favors the hearing date, and the case law requires evidence that clearly and bilaterally shows an earlier end. Here the parties kept a joint bank account both used until June 2022, deposited their paychecks into it, paid marital expenses from it, and filed joint tax returns through 2022. They operated as an economic unit through most of the case. Physical separation, without financial separation, was not enough.

The valuation rulings follow the same discipline. Wife's appraiser put the home at $467,000; Husband answered with Zillow, Redfin, and Trulia printouts, which the court dismissed as computer-generated internet valuations. Internet comps do not cross-examine well.

Importantly, the panel also blessed hard time limits on testimony. After eight trial days over two years, the court gave Wife two hours and Husband five. Evid.R. 611(A) permits it, and without a proffer of what the lost hours would have proven, the limit is not reversible. The QDRO vendor holding survived too: engaging a firm to draft the order is execution, not delegation, where the decree itself fixes the marital portion.

Practice point: if your client wants a de facto termination date, build the record of economic separation early. Close the joint accounts, split the taxes, and document the date. The court will not backdate a marriage the parties kept funding together.

Cousins Family Law litigates valuation-date and property-division appeals throughout Ohio.