Nearly 20-Year Divorce Fight Lands Ohio Couple In Hot Water

A recent story in the Cincinnati Enquirer discussed the now infamous Ohio divorce case of Christo and Sharlene Lassiter. The two were married back in 1986 and had 10 relatively happy years together. Since then, the couple has spent 17 years bogged down in a never-ending divorce battle, a process that has lasted nearly twice as long as the marriage itself.

How can this be you might be asking? It turns out the two are both law professors and know enough about court procedure and Ohio family law to drag a case out. Experts that were interviewed about the case say that Cincinnati family law attorneys know the case by heart. Some judges have come out against the couple, lambasting them for making a mockery of the legal profession and arguing that the two ought to be ashamed of their behavior.

Ohio family law experts who were interviewed for the story almost all agreed that a typical divorce where there were no children could be wrapped up in several months. A contentious case with child custody and visitation issues might take up to a year. The Lassiters took more than five years to sign their divorce papers and have since spent another 12 years arguing over various components of their divorce, filing at least 28 separate actions against one another during that time.

According to the Enquirer article, the divorce file between the parties contains nearly 1,400 separate entries, more than 1,000 more than a typical divorce file would have. Almost everything that could go wrong in the divorce has gone wrong. The Lassiters have called the police on one another multiple times and both parties have had and then lost custody of their two children. Each believes the other is out for revenge and the two have used the court system as a tool to exact this revenge for nearly two decades.

Judges in the area have shown that they are over the fight, appearing to show little sympathy for either party. Judges have said, “both parties have behaved in an appalling manner.” In a Court of Appeals case, one judge said that Mrs. Lassiter showed “unrelenting hostility” towards her former husband and “flatly refused to obey court orders.” Another judge wrote that because both parties are law professors they ought to know better than to behave in a way that is not only harmful to their case, but also incredibly damaging to their children. A judge from Cincinnati wrote that the State Bar should admonish the pair and noted that it was frightening to imagine law students learning from their horrible example.

Though a case as contentious and long lasting as the Lassiter’s is thankfully rare, it serves as a good example of the problems Ohio couples should strive to avoid. Try and keep hurt feelings and vendettas out of your divorce. Making the matter about retribution only costs everyone in the long run, especially your children, and does little to help your case.

Source: “Court calls law profs' 17-year divorce fight 'appalling',” by Kimball Perry, Cincinnati.com.

See Our Related Blog Posts:

Do People Actually Fight Over Reward Program Points During Divorce? You Better Believe It

Morality Clause In Texas Divorce Case Stops Lesbian Couple From Cohabitating

Do People Actually Fight Over Reward Program Points During Divorce? You Better Believe It

Anyone who goes through an Ohio divorce will run across the term “equitable division.” This refers to the process of divvying up all the joint assets accumulated by a couple over the course of their marriage. The goal is to ensure that by the end, each party walks away with an equitable share of the assets. This can be a tense time for many couples and, occasionally, people latch onto somewhat trivial items and decide to square off with their spouse over seemingly unimportant things. A recent article in Forbes magazine discussed one such instance: people fighting tooth and nail over frequent flyer miles.

It’s hard to image, but there are plenty of couples who have gotten worked up enough about award program points to spark a legal battle. Though plenty of these cases are the result of overly emotional people engaging in petty fights, the author of the Forbes piece points out that in some cases there might actually be something to the dispute. For instance, cases where one or both parties travel frequently or are big spenders and rack up hundreds of thousands of air miles or credit card rewards points there can be real value there. Given the value of the goods that these rewards points can be redeemed for, some individuals are understandably reluctant to just hand over such a valuable prize to their partner.

If you happen to be one of the people with a serious collection of awards points or sky miles and are dead set on getting your fair share, what should you do? First, you need to brace yourself for some dry reading. Go through the terms and conditions of whatever reward program you are part of and see what the company says about dividing points. If the program allows a simple splitting of points into two separate accounts, perfect! That’s the easiest, and unfortunately, least likely option. For instance, Marriott clearly states that it refuses to divide points, even in the event of a divorce.

If your reward system will not allow you to divide the points, you can then look to see if there’s a cash value. If so, simply multiple the cash value by your total points and offset this amount with a lump sum payment to the other party. Usually this cash value won’t be so easy to determine and you may have to do some figuring of your own. For air miles, you can do this by determining how many points are needed to buy an international plane ticket. Do some rudimentary guessing about the value of such a ticket and then multiple that by the total points you have. This helps create a very rough (and debatable) estimate of the value of your reward points that you can then list as an asset and offset with other assets during the equitable division process.

Though it might seem silly to imagine wasting time arguing over airline miles, the fact is many couples going through a divorce choose insignificant items to latch onto and then bicker over. Whether it’s photographs, family mementos, collectibles or frequent flyer miles, the tension surrounding the equitable division process is clear. The best way to avoid a contentious Ohio equitable division fight is to try and take emotion out of the process. Resist the urge to fight for the sake of fighting and remember that it makes no sense to spend $1,000 in attorneys’ fees fighting over a $100 sofa.

If you find yourself facing the prospect of complicated divorce and have questions about your rights and options, contact an experienced Ohio family law attorney who can help guide you through the difficult process. Count on the expertise of Twinsburg family law attorney Carol Lee Stephan.

Source: “Divorce: Who Gets The Air Miles?,” published at Forbes.com.

See Our Related Blog Posts:

What To Do If You’re Considering Buying A Home After An Ohio Divorce

Keeping Control Of Ohio Divorce Expenses