The Volokh Conspiracy
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Penalty Based Partly on Divorcing Wife's Destroying $1800 Bottle of Scotch
From last week's Ohio Court of Appeals decision in Edelstein v. Edelstein:
Father claimed that Mother denied him the opportunity to retrieve his personal items from the marital home. Father testified he had left behind familial memorabilia, religious heirlooms, and other personal items when he had moved out. Father explained that while he was given a brief opportunity to collect a few of his personal items from the home, Mother never gave him a sufficient opportunity to meaningfully collect his belongings. Mother told Father that she put the items he had left behind in storage and that he would be able to retrieve them the next time she was in Ohio.
Despite communicating to Father that his possessions were in storage and that he would be able to retrieve them, Mother testified that after she had determined that storage was too much of an inconvenience, she called a trash service and had Father's personal property destroyed. Mother admitted that she did not notify Father prior to having his belongings destroyed….
Mother takes issue with the court's $5,000 contempt penalty for having Father's items destroyed. This penalty, however, constitutes an equitable offset, given that Mother denied Father the opportunity to collect his equitable distribution of household goods and furnishings. This offset included all "remaining household goods, keepsakes, and furnishings," which would include the bottle of 1976 Glenrothes Single Malt Scotch. Thus, Mother's claim that the court failed to include the value of the bottle of scotch in the marital assets is without merit….
If you want to celebrate this decision, you can buy such a bottle yourself.
