Broadway v. Broadway

417 So. 2d 1272
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 29, 1982
Docket14958
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 417 So. 2d 1272 (Broadway v. Broadway) 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
Broadway v. Broadway, 417 So. 2d 1272 (La. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

417 So.2d 1272 (1982)

Margie Gladden BROADWAY
v.
James L. BROADWAY.

No. 14958.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

June 29, 1982.
Rehearing Denied August 24, 1982.

*1273 John Comish, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee Margie Gladden Broadway.

Ralph W. Brewer, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant James L. Broadway.

Before LOTTINGER, EDWARDS and SHORTESS, JJ.

*1274 LOTTINGER, Judge.

This is a suit for partition by licitation of a ten-acre tract of land located in East Baton Rouge Parish. Margie Gladden Broadway filed suit against James L. Broadway, alleging that she and defendant were each owners of an undivided one-half interest in the tract, and demanding partition of the tract by licitation. From judgment of the trial court in favor of plaintiff, defendant has appealed.

FACTS

At trial, plaintiff attempted to prove her co-ownership of the tract of land by introducing into evidence an authentic act of sale dated July 8, 1967, of the tract from Gerald W. Sides and Leland N. Stockwell to, "James L. Broadway and Margie Gladden Broadway, born Gladden, husband and wife, married to and living with each other in community."

On cross-examination, defense counsel sought to elicit plaintiff's testimony that she and the defendant were never legally married, that their relationship was one of concubine and paramour, and that no regime of community property ever existed between the parties. This line of questioning was met with a general objection on the ground that same was inadmissible parol evidence. The trial judge noted the general objection and allowed cross-examination to continue. After all evidence was in, the trial judge asked counsel to prepare memoranda on the admissibility of the parol evidence and took the entire suit under advisement. Subsequently, the trial judge found that the cross-examination of plaintiff did violate the parol evidence rule, held evidence adduced therein to be inadmissible, and rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff on the basis of the authentic act of sale.

Defendant moved for a suspensive appeal, or a devolutive appeal in the alternative. The trial court granted a suspensive appeal, but because no suspensive appeal bond was timely filed, the appeal is in fact devolutive.

ISSUES

The specifications of error assigned by defendant-appellant can be crystallized into two issues:

1) Was the cross-examination of plaintiff as to her marital status violative of the parol evidence rule?

2) Does plaintiff have any ownership interest in the subject property?

PAROL EVIDENCE

Defendant-appellant argues that the trial judge committed error in his application of the parol evidence rule. The trial judge held that testimony of the plaintiff as to her marital status could not be admitted to refute the recitation in the authentic act that the plaintiff and defendant were married at the time of the sale.

The following articles of the Louisiana Civil Code are applicable:

"Art. 2236. The authentic act is full proof of the agreement contained in it, against the contracting parties and their heirs or assigns, unless it be declared and proved a forgery.
"Art. 2238. An act, whether authentic or under private signature, is proof between the parties, even of what is there expressed only in enunciative terms, provided the enunciation have a direct reference to the disposition.
"Enunciations foreign to the disposition, can serve only as a commencement of proof.
"Art. 2276. Neither shall parol evidence be admitted against or beyond what is contained in the acts, nor on what may have been said before, or at the time of making them, or since." (emphasis supplied)
A reading of these codal provisions indicates that parol evidence cannot be introduced to vary or contradict the terms of a written agreement.

However, the clear import of these articles is that the parol evidence rule applies only where the enforcement of an obligation created by the writing is essentially the cause of action. The parol evidence *1275 rule does not apply where the controversy is between those parties to the act of sale who were on the same side and whose interest was identical. Richard v. Cain, 168 La. 608, 122 So. 866 (1929). Nor does the rule apply when the writing is collateral to the issue involved and the action is not based on the writing. Wampler v. Wampler, 239 La. 315, 118 So.2d 423 (1960).

The parol evidence argument raised by plaintiff is essentially the same as that presented in Tucker v. Joseph, 292 So.2d 357 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1974). Tucker involved an action for partition by licitation of immovable property brought by the heirs of one co-owner against the surviving co-owner. At issue was the marital status of the deceased co-owner, Carrie Tucker Washington, also known as "Carrie Anderson." The credit deed contained the following recitation, "... the property herein conveyed unto ... Carrie Anderson, once married, and then to W. M. Anderson, now residing with him." The heirs of Carrie Tucker Washington sought to prove by parol evidence that Carrie Tucker was lawfully married but once, and then to Willie Washington, and that Carrie Tucker left her lawful husband without dissolving their marriage and subsequently cohabited with one Willie Williams, also known as "Willie Anderson." The defendant argued that this evidence could not be admitted to vary or contradict the recitation in the credit deed that Carrie Tucker (Carrie Anderson) had once married and then to W. M. Anderson; that to do so would violate the parol evidence rule. The trial court overruled defendant's objection, and this court found no error, holding that the parol evidence was properly admitted.

The instant action is not one to enforce an obligation created by the authentic act of sale. This suit involves an issue totally collateral to the act of sale. This action is between parties who were originally on the same side of the act of sale. Accordingly, the parol evidence rule has no application to the instant case. Wampler, supra. We hold that the exclusion of plaintiff's cross-examination testimony as to her marital status at the time of the act of sale was erroneous.

Because of this holding, we consider plaintiff's answers on cross-examination to be a proper part of the record. This evidence reveals conclusively that plaintiff and defendant were never legally married, and that their relationship was that of concubine and paramour. Thus, plaintiff's claim of co-ownership in the subject tract must be evaluated within the context of concubinage.

CONCUBINAGE

The fact that a man and a woman live together as concubines does not create a community of acquets and gains between them. See La.Civ.Code arts. 87 and 88. Additionally, in Sparrow v. Sparrow, 231 La. 966, 93 So.2d 232 (1957), the Supreme Court held that where the initial motive for a man and a woman to live together is concubinage, and such relationship continues, the concubine is not entitled to recover assets of the joint entity under any theory of partnership. The court based its ruling on La.Civ.Code Art. 2804, which stated at that time:

"All partnerships are null and void which are formed for any purpose forbidden by law or good morals...."

In Sparrow,

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417 So. 2d 1272, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/broadway-v-broadway-lactapp-1982.