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(A) When Journalized.
The judgment entry required by the Ohio Rule of Civil Procedure 58 shall be journalized within 30 days from the date the decision is announced. Such judgment entry shall reflect the Court's ruling on all issues raised at trial and not expressly reserved for further proceedings. Such judgment entry shall be prepared and presented for journalization by the Court unless the Court otherwise directs.
(B) Contested cases and motions.
(1) The Court may order or direct either party or counsel to prepare and present for journalization the judgment entry required by subsection (A) of this Rule. When so ordered or directed by the Court, that party or his counsel shall within 10 days prepare a judgment entry and submit it to the opposing party or his counsel. The opposing party or his counsel shall have 3 days to approve or reject the judgment entry. If rejected, the opposing party or his counsel immediately shall file with the Court, a written statement of the objections to the judgment entry. This subsection shall not apply to uncontested matters or dissolutions of marriage.
(2) Failure of the opposing party or his counsel to approve or reject a submitted judgment entry as provided above shall allow the preparer of the entry to unilaterally present the entry for journalization. The entry shall contain a certification, stating that the entry has been submitted to the opposing party or his counsel in compliance with this rule, and the date when the entry was submitted.
(3) Agreed judgment entries. Agreed judgment entries shall be submitted to the Court on the day of the hearing. Deviation from this requirement shall be permitted only with the approval of the assigned Judge. When the entry is to be prepared by counsel, it shall be submitted within 14 days of the hearing.
(4) A judgment entry prepared pursuant to this subsection and any other ancillary judgment entries and forms required by statute or rule (i.e. child support computation worksheet, order to post bond) shall be presented to the Court’s Information Center prior to submission to the Court. The Information Center will review the entries to determine that all necessary information and mandatory language has been provided and shall approve the judgment entries as to form.
(5) Failure of a party or their counsel to prepare a judgment entry when ordered or directed to do so may subject that party or attorney to the vacating of an award of attorney fees and/or contempt powers of the Court. It may further result in the dismissal of the action.
(C) Dissolutions of Marriage and Uncontested Cases.
In all dissolution of marriage cases and uncontested cases of divorce or legal separation where the parties have entered into a separation agreement, judgment entries must be presented for approval to the Court’s Information Center two (2) weeks before the hearing date.
In all uncontested cases where there is no separation agreement, a proposed judgment entry must be presented to the Court’s Information Center two (2) weeks before the hearing date.
Two (2) weeks before the hearing date, a party or his/her counsel shall obtain the file from the assigned Judge's staff and take it to the Court’s Information Center with the judgment entry. The Information Center will review the file to determine that all judgment entries and forms have been prepared and all necessary information and mandatory language has been provided
On the day of the hearing, a party or his/her counsel may proceed directly to the assigned Judge’s Courtroom to check in with the Judge’s staff for hearing.
If a party or counsel does not have the proper judgment entries prepared by the hearing date, then a new hearing date will be assigned. In no case shall a matter proceed to a hearing without proper judgment entries.
Any party or counsel shall be prepared to explain and show justification for any provision in a judgment entry or separation agreement submitted to the Court.
(D) All judgment entries shall include an allocation of responsibility for Court costs.
(E) Support Orders.
Any entry which includes child support provisions shall include language required by statute, complying with RC 3119.30, 3119.302 and 3119.32, and the child support calculation mandated by RC 3119.022 or 3119.023 as applicable. All child support orders shall be accompanied by the information concerning health insurance required by RC 3119.31. In addition, any judgment or journal entry establishing or modifying a support order shall specify a date certain on which such support provisions commence. (F) Qualified Domestic Relations Court Order and Division Of Property Order.
(1) Preparation.
(a) Parties to a dissolution of marriage shall prepare any QDRO or DOPO where applicable, prior to the filing of the dissolution, so that the order may be presented to the Court at the final hearing on the dissolution.
(b) Where the division of a retirement asset is included in a written separation agreement, unless the agreement provides otherwise, counsel for the participant of a divided pension or retirement related asset shall prepare the QDRO or DOPO for submission to the Court as soon as possible, but in no event later than 60 days from the final entry of divorce or legal separation.
(c) Where the division of a retirement asset is the result of a trial to the Court, the Court may assign the responsibility of preparation of the QDRO or DOPO to either party at the Court’s discretion. In the event the decree is the result of a proceeding in which the participant is in default of answer or other pleading, counsel for the alternate Payee shall prepare the QDRO or DOPO for submission to the Court as soon as possible, but in no event later than 120 days from the final entry of divorce or legal separation.
(d) CSEA, or its representative, shall prepare any QDRO or DOPO when the issuance of the order is the result of a request by such Agency.
(2) Mandatory language in all cases in which a Qualified Domestic Relations Order or a Division Of Property Order is to be issued, the final judgment entry shall contain the following language:
(a) “The Court retains jurisdiction with respect to the Qualified Domestic Relations Order or Division Of Property Order to the extent required to maintain its qualified status and the original intent of the parties. The Court also retains jurisdiction to enter further orders as are necessary to enforce the assignment of benefits to the non-participant, as set forth herein, including the recharacterization thereof as a division of benefits under another plan, as applicable, or, to make an award of spousal support, if applicable, in the event that the participant fails to comply with the provisions of this order.”
(b) “The participants shall not take actions, affirmative or otherwise, that can circumvent the terms and provisions of the Qualified Domestic Relations Order or Division Of Property Order, or, that may diminish or extinguish the rights and entitlements of the non-participant.”
(3) Division of Property Order for State Retirement Plan: All of Section (A) shall apply, utilizing the statutorily mandated forms
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