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Rambo v. Rambo11/22/2002
. In this case, Shirley Rambo Moore appeals from a trial court decision dismissing her motion to set aside a final decree of divorce. Moore's former husband, Ernest Rambo, also cross-appeals from the trial court's subsequent refusal to award attorney fees under R.C. 2323.51, which governs frivolous conduct.
. In support of her appeal, Moore raises the following assignments of error:
. "I. The trial court erred by failing to find that it is more likely than not that Plaintiff was a nonresident of Ohio when he filed for divorce from Shirley Moore in 1968.
. "II. The trial court erred for failing to find that it is more likely than not that Plaintiff failed to exercise reasonable diligence in properly notifying Shirley Moore of his petition for divorce as required by Ohio Revised Code ยง3105.06."
. The cross-appeal presents the following assignments of error:
. "I. The trial court's failure to find Appellant's motion untimely was against the weight of the evidence.
. "II. The trial court's denial of Cross-Appellant's motion for attorney fees was arbitrary, unreasonable, and against the weight of the evidence."
. After considering the entire record, we find no error on the part of the trial court. Accordingly, the judgments will be affirmed.
I.
. The circumstances of the present case are not flattering to anyone involved. On one side stands a man who married several times and fathered five children, none of whom did he apparently support. In fact, when asked at a deposition about his children, he could not remember all their names, and forgot one child entirely. On the other side is a woman who was so little concerned with her marital status and her children's need for support that she waited more than thirty years to investigate and challenge the divorce decree. Support was surely needed, as the children were given up, at least in part, because the mother could not support them. And finally, behind the scenes is an unrelated family, scheming to increase its wealth. The common denominator in this case, as in many, appears to be greed.
. According to the record, Ernest Rambo and Shirley Moore were married in April, 1962, in Columbus, Indiana. They lived in Columbus for a while, and had three children between 1962 and 1966. However, at some point, Rambo began working in Dayton, Ohio. The precise date or even the year is unclear, due to the passage of time and both parties' imperfect recollection. In the beginning, Rambo commuted between Dayton and Indiana. That ended shortly, however, and Rambo then began living in Dayton. Ultimately, on March 8, 1968, Rambo filed for divorce in Montgomery County, Ohio. The divorce itself was granted in April, 1969, after non-resident service by publication was made on Moore. Rambo subsequently married and divorced several more wives over the next 29 years.
. In 1998, Rambo's fifth wife, Jane Townsend Rambo, was killed in an auto accident, less than six months after they were married. As a result of Jane's death, Rambo received significant insurance proceeds and also inherited substantial property that had belonged to Jane. Jane's family was quite wealthy and apparently did not take kindly to the inheritance. A private investigator was hired, and he eventually located the Ohio divorce decree and Moore.
. Over 31 years after the original divorce decree was issued, Moore filed a motion to set the decree aside. In the motion, Moore claimed that Rambo failed to comply with Ohio residency requirements, that she was not properly served in the divorce action, and that Rambo had perpetrated a fraud on the cour
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