Report Full of Evidence Casting Aspirations on Individual's Credibility About Financial Matters

In Bach v. Bach (September 10, 1999), Montgomery App. No. 17497, 1999 Ohio App, the trial court expressed its skepticism about Mr. Bach's credibility. The trial court found he was forgetful, evasive, and combative with both his own and opposing counsel. He kept shoddy business records when he kept any at all, and never produced documents critical to the evaluation of his business and the conduct of the trial. The Court of Appeals found the record was replete with evidence casting doubt on appellant's credibility about financial matters. The Bach court found in general, income is imputed where a party is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. The trial court was not so much imputing income to Mr. Bach, but rather, was estimating his income based upon other information in the record, including appellant's claimed obligations. The trial court, as the trier of fact, must weigh the evidence, and is not required to accept any testimony as true.