Blanc v. Succession of Simon

295 So. 2d 569, 1974 La. App. LEXIS 4688
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 24, 1974
DocketNo. 4528
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 295 So. 2d 569 (Blanc v. Succession of Simon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blanc v. Succession of Simon, 295 So. 2d 569, 1974 La. App. LEXIS 4688 (La. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

DOMENGEAUX, Judge.

Olita Vincent Simon died December 21, 1970, intestate, and her succession was opened by her surviving husband, Jeneus Simon. Neither ascendants nor descendants survived Olita Simon. An ex parte judgment of possession was signed December 28, 1970, whereby Jeneus Simon was recognized as owner of an undivided one-half (J4) interest in and to all community property and as sole heir of the decedent, thereby being placed into possession of the remaining one-half (i/á). On April 7, 1971, a petition was filed by Nicholas Blanc, nephew of the decedent, to reopen .the estate of Olita V. Simon and appoint an administrator. This plea was subsequently granted by the District Court in an order handed down April 7, 1971, and Nicholas Blanc was appointed administrator. On that date same plaintiff also filed a “PETITION TO HAVE CERTAIN PROPERTIES OF THE ESTATE TO BE RECOGNIZED AS SEPARATE ESTATE OF DECEDENT AND RECOGNIZE THE LEGAL HEIRS THERETO”. Plaintiff alleged and prayed that the former ex parte judgment be set aside because a certain tract of land containing 37 acres, more or less, listed therein, was in fact separate rather than community property, the same having been inherited by Olita V. Simon from her parents. Prior to trial, exceptions of vagueness and no cause or right of action were filed by the defendant, the former exception being cured by way of an amendment to the original petition and the latter being overruled at trial. After the trial on the merits judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, setting aside the former ex parte judgment of possession, insofar as it pertained to the aforementioned 37-acre tract of land, and declaring said tract to be separate property, thereby entitling the collateral heirs of the decedent to be placed into possession thereof. A motion for a new trial was also subsequently denied and defendant has appealed to this court.

[571]*571The pertinent facts to this suit are as follows: Olita Vincent inherited 20.64 acres of land from her father on. May 14, 1902. On November 18, 1908, Olita became legally married to Jeneus Simon. By subsequent extra-judicial partition of her mother’s estate in 1913, Olita received an additional tract of land containing 19 acres, more or less, said tract being adjacent to the aforementioned 20.64 acres. These two tracts aggregated the “37 acres, more or less” referred to in these proceedings which are in controversy. Jeneus and Olita Simon lived on this land, first in a wooden house given to Olita by her mother. Jeneus farmed the land and trapped for furs during the trapping seasons.

On February 16, 1922, a note payable to Kaplan Lumber Co. in the sum of $588.00 was executed by Jeneus and Olita, as maker and endorser respectively, for lumber to be used to construct a new house on the aforementioned land which Olita had inherited. This note was due on November 1, 1922, and suit was subsequently filed on said note against Jeneus and Olita Simon on February 15, 1923. The note and judgment thereon were cancelled on December 18, 1923.

On December 4, 1922, Olita V. Simon executed a mortgage on the property by notarial act in favor of Ode Guidry, her brother-in-law, for the sum of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), payable five years after date.

On July 3, 1923, Olita again appeared before the same notary public and transferred the aforementioned 37-acre tract inherited by her to the same Ode Guidry for Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) (the consideration having been shown as $600.-00 cash and a note in the sum of $1,400.00 due on or before December 1, 1923). The aforementioned mortgage in favor of Ode Guidry was also cancelled on the same day, July 3. However, after said transfer Olita and her husband remained living in their home, farming the land as usual, and paid no rent to Ode Guidry.

On September 22, 1924, Meaux Brothers obtained a judgment against Jeneus Simon for Thirteen Hundred and Sixty-five Dollars ($1,365.00), with eight per cent (8%) interest from January 3, 1923, and ten percent (10%) attorney’s fees. Said judgment also recognized the enforcement of a chattel mortgage on several mules, a mare and colt, and assorted farm implements, to pay the debt. Meaux Brothers had allowed Jeneus to borrow money for a number of years prior thereto as an advance for his crops, but as testified to by Jeneus, he continuously owed his lenders year after year. This judgment in favor of Meaux Brothers was never cancelled.

On December 27, 1929, over five years after the Meaux Brothers’ judgment, Ode Guidry appeared before the same notary public who transacted the aforementioned mortgage and sale and for the sum of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) cash, transferred to Olita V. Simon the identical property she had inherited and sold to him in 1923. In the cash deed for this sale the following declaration appeared:

“The Vendor (sic) herein acquires the property hereinabove described with her own separate funds, which is by her separately administered.”

Jeneus Simon did not sign the instrument.

The sole issue before us is whether the trial judge committed manifest error in rendering judgment setting aside the former ex parte judgment of possession in favor of Jeneus Simon and declaring the aforementioned 37-acre tract of land inherited by the decedent to be separate rather than community property.

The defendant, without particularly specifying the errors on which he bases this appeal, argues essentially (a) that his exception of no cause or right of action should have been maintained by the trial judge, (b) that Louisiana Civil Code Article 2480 on simulation was not applicable to the present facts, and (c) that the repurchase of the property in 1929 was in [572]*572fact made by himself with his own funds, despite the recitation in the cash deed, and as a result, the nature of the property was changed from separate to community.

On defendant’s first allegation the trial judge ruled that the action taken by Nicholas Blanc, as an heir of the decedent, was not prohibited by law. Thus he overruled defendant’s exception of no cause or right of action.

We agree that defendant’s exception should have been overruled. In a situation, such as is present herein, where an heir is sent into possession by an ex parte judgment, said judgment is not conclusive as to ownership of the property in the parties put in possession. The judgment is prima facie evidence of ownership entitling the heir to exclusive possession, but only until someone else appears timely and asserts and proves ownership in himself. Succession of Brice D. Dickson, 227 La. 838, 80 So.2d 433 (1954); Succession of Fachan, 179 La. 333, 154 So. 15 (1934); Jackson-Hinds Bank v. Davis, 244 So.2d 633 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1971); Curry v. Caillier, 37 So.2d 863 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1948).

It clearly appears from the plaintiff’s pleadings and affidavits attached that Nicholas Blanc is an heir of his deceased aunt. Therefore plaintiff is properly before the court in his capacity as heir of Olita V. Simon claiming ownership of the property which she died possessed of. Thus sufficient grounds existed for the overruling of the exception.

Defendant also makes a vague reference in his exception of no cause or right of action as to the impropriety of appointing the plaintiff as administrator under LSA CCP Art. 3393. This, however, in our opinion is mere surplusage and would not affect the rights of either parties herein insofar as the no right or cause of action is concerned.

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Related

Succession of Favaloro
410 So. 2d 840 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1982)
Blanc v. Succession of Simon
300 So. 2d 182 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
295 So. 2d 569, 1974 La. App. LEXIS 4688, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blanc-v-succession-of-simon-lactapp-1974.