The Purge: Logan County

Whitman v. Whitman, 2026-Ohio-406 (3d Dist., Logan County), decided February 9, 2026, Case No. 8-24-47

The Third District's decision in Whitman v. Whitman, 2026-Ohio-406 (3d Dist.), reverses a Logan County post-decree judgment in three places, and each holding matters to Ohio practitioners.

First, the purge condition. Civil contempt is remedial: the purge condition has to hand the contemnor the key. A purge condition that simply commands compliance with court orders going forward hands the contemnor no key at all — it converts a suspended sentence into a standing threat, with punishment for any future violation imposed without new notice and hearing. The Third District held the purge condition void and sustained the assignment of error.

Second, attorney fees. The trial court awarded contempt fees above the local rule's presumptive amount without support in the record. The court of appeals reversed the award to the extent it exceeded $400. Local-rule fee presumptions are enforceable ceilings unless the movant builds a record justifying more — a point that should concern anyone watching the broader fight over local fee caps and R.C. 3105.73.

Third, the tax exemption. The trial court designated Father the residential parent of one child, then allocated the dependency exemption for that child to Mother. Nothing in the record showed the court considered the R.C. 3119.82 factors or explained how the allocation served the child's best interest. Reversed.

The deeper story is the emerging split on purge conditions. Whitman voids a forward-looking purge; the Ninth District's Jiang v. Sun, 2026-Ohio-1136 (9th Dist.), upholds a purge the contemnor could actually complete within thirty days. The two opinions can be reconciled — completable purges live, perpetual-obedience purges die — but the boundary will keep generating appeals.

Practice point: write purge conditions as a to-do list with a deadline, not a code of conduct.

Cousins Family Law handles contempt and post-decree appeals statewide.