[Cite as Borden v. Borden, 2020-Ohio-3773.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO
RONALD E. BORDEN, : MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff-Appellee, :
CASE NO. 2020-A-0025
- vs - :
CHRISTINA A. BORDEN, :
Defendant, :
ASHTABULA COUNTY CHILD SUPPORT :
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY,
DEPARTMENT OF JOB AND FAMILY :
SERVICES,
:
Appellant.
:
Appeal from the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 2006 DR 017.
Judgment: Appeal dismissed.
Gary L. Pasqualone, Curry and Pasqualone, 302 South Broadway, Geneva, OH
44041 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).
Debra S. McMillan, ACCSEA, 2924 Donahoe Drive, Ashtabula, OH 44004 (For
Appellant).
CYNTHIA WESTCOTT RICE, J.
{¶1} Appellant, Ashtabula County Child Support Enforcement Agency,
Department of Job and Family Services (“ACCSEA”), appeals from the judgment of the
Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas terminating certain delinquent spousal
support processing fees purportedly owed by appellee, Ronald E. Borden. For the
reasons discussed in this opinion, we dismiss this matter for lack of standing to appeal.
{¶2} Appellee and his former wife, Christina A. Borden, were divorced in
October 2008. Prior to entering the decree, on March 4, 2008, appellee moved to
modify the existing temporary separation agreement. The trial court ordered appellee to
pay his spousal support order through the Ohio Child Support Payment Central with a
two percent processing fee monthly commencing May 1, 2008. The order was served
upon ACCSEA who then commenced processing the spousal support payments.
{¶3} On April 8, 2020, appellee filed a motion for nunc pro tunc decree of
divorce requesting the court to modify the spousal support commencement date in order
to correct and eliminate allegedly improper past-due processing fees totaling $1,200.01.
The parties do not dispute that this motion was not served upon ACCSEA. On April 13,
2020, the trial court entered judgment terminating the allegedly delinquent processing
fees. ACCSEA now appeals and assigns the following as error:
{¶4} “The trial court erred to the prejudice of ACCSEA, by issuing a nunc pro
tunc order 12 years later to eradicate administrative fees owed without notice or the
opportunity to be heard.”
{¶5} ACCSEA asserts the trial court erred in proceeding to judgment without
requiring appellee to serve his motion on ACCSEA and affording it an opportunity to
object and argue in opposition to the termination of fees. Alternatively, appellee argues
ACCSEA, who is not a party to the divorce, argues it neither filed a motion to intervene
in the trial court nor filed a motion to vacate the order. Accordingly, appellee maintains
ACCSEA lacks standing to appeal the nunc pro tunc judgment.
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{¶6} Generally, one who was not a party to a case in a trial court has no right to
directly appeal a judgment. See Januzzi v. Hickman, 61 Ohio St.3d 40, 45 (1991). To
have appellate standing, a party must be aggrieved by the final order upon which the
appeal is premised. State ex. rel. Merrill v. Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, 130 Ohio
St.3d 30, 2011-Ohio-4612, ¶28. An exception to this rule pertains to a person who has
attempted to intervene as a party in the proceedings below. State ex rel. Lipson v.
Hunter, 2 Ohio St.2d 225 (1965); see also Ohio Sav. Bank v. Ambrose, 11th Dist.
Geauga No. 1470, 1989 WL 50092, *2 (May 12, 1989); Fed. Ins. Co. v. Fredricks, 2d
Dist. Montgomery No. 26230, 2015-Ohio-694, ¶81; Lopez v. Veiran, 1st Dist. Hamilton
No. C-11-511, 2012-Ohio-1216, ¶10.
{¶7} ACCSEA may indeed be aggrieved by the trial court’s judgment
terminating the alleged delinquent fees. See Ohio Contract Carriers Assn., Inc. v. Pub.
Util. Comm., 140 Ohio St. 160, 161 (1942) (an “aggrieved” party is one whose interest in
the subject matter of the litigation is “‘immediate and pecuniary, and not a remote
consequence of the judgment.’”) It did not, however, attempt to intervene in the matter
after it received notice of the trial court’s nunc pro tunc order. We therefore conclude
ACCSEA lacks standing to appeal the trial court’s judgment terminating the alleged
delinquent processing fees. ACCSEA’s due process argument is accordingly not
currently ripe for review.
{¶8} Because ACCSEA lacks standing, we must dismiss this appeal.
TIMOTHY P. CANNON, P.J.,
MATT LYNCH, J.,
concur.
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