Rep. Sandra Harwood, D-Niles, recently introduced two pieces of legislation that address disclosure of assets and division of property in divorce proceedings.

House Bill 238, introduced last week, would amend the Ohio Revised Code to require the court, in divorce proceedings, to require the spouses to fully disclose their assets and to classify nondisclosure of assets as financial misconduct.

"In Ohio law, if there has been financial misconduct in a case there are certain grounds. Concealment or nondisclosure is not one of the grounds for financial misconduct," Harwood said.

Harwood said the need for legislation in regard to disclosure of assets was brought to her attention at a judicial conference.

"The judges said if they don't disclose, it's not considered misconduct," Harwood said.

Under the bill, "the court shall require each spouse to disclose in a full and complete manner all marital property, separate property and other assets of the spouse."

If a spouse fails to disclose all assets, the "court may compensate the offended spouse with a distributive award or with a greater award of marital property," the bill states.

HB 238 has bipartisan support and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 244, introduced by Harwood Tuesday, would amend the Ohio Revised Code to permit a court to modify a division of property in a divorce decree or decree of dissolution of marriage, upon the express written consent or agreement of both spouses.

Harwood said HB 244 is timely due to the recession and waning property values.

She said in some divorce proceedings one partner may be permitted to remain in the shared property because it is home for their children, or for other reasons, for a set amount of time.

She said if, hypothetically, three years pass and by court order the partner must sell and divide the property when the housing market is in a slump, this creates an unfairness to both parties.

"This bill makes it clear that if the parties agree you can modify the division of property order when it is no longer practical to follow the order," she concluded.

The bill states, "A division or disbursement of property or a distributive award ... is not subject to future modification by the court except upon the express written consent or agreement of both spouses."

Also included in the bill is a provision that states, "if a petition for dissolution of marriage contains an authorization for the court to modify the division of property provided in the separation agreement, the modification shall be made with the express written consent or agreement of both spouses."

She said this issue, too, was brought to her attention at the judicial conference.

"I have seen where the court orders things done that make no sense at all - it makes no economic sense at all. I have seen this when they appoint a real estate agent to a case and they keep slashing the price of the house and there is no equity and since three years ago, the value of the home has dropped $100,000. It no longer makes good sense (to sell it now)," Harwood said.

HB 244 also has bipartisan support, but has not been referred to a committee at this time.