Estate of Helis v. Hoth

150 So. 2d 106, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1353
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 4, 1963
DocketNos. 923, 924,
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 150 So. 2d 106 (Estate of Helis v. Hoth) 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
Estate of Helis v. Hoth, 150 So. 2d 106, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1353 (La. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinions

YARRUT, Judge.

Plaintiffs-appellees filed these concursus proceedings (consolidated for trial) under LSA-R.S. 13:4811 et seq., and LSA-C.C.P. 4651-4662, to deposit in the Registry of the Court royalties accruing from various oil and gas leases held by them in two producing units, to be relieved of all liability therefor to the parties impleaded (Defendants-Appellants).

One unit is designated as Helis-Shell State Lease 1762, et al., Unit 1; and the [108]*108other designated as Helis-Shell State Lease 1762, et al., Unit 2; each containing 160 contiguous acres. As to these two units Appellants claim title to all the land area, water bottoms, submerged land, water courses, and/or other area within the Northeast Quarter of Section 19, T. 16 S., R. 16 E., and within the Southeast Quarter of Section 19, T. 16, S., R. 16 E., Plaque-mines Parish, Louisiana.

All Appellants, except Nicholas D. Olivier, have judicially disclaimed any right to any property located within Units Nos. 1 and 2, lying within the Northwest Quarter of Section 20, T. 16 S., R. 16 E., and the Southwest Quarter of Section 20, T. 16 S., R. 16 E. Olivier, however, claims title to that portion of the Southwest Quarter of Section 20, T. 16 S., R. 16 E., lying within either or both of said units.

The royalties involved are due on those portions of the production allocable to those lands located in each respective unit. As to Unit No. 1, Plaintiffs seek to deposit royalty payments attributable to 163/1600ths of unit production from 16.30 of 160 acres. As to Unit No. 2, Plaintiffs allege, on information and belief, that thq conflict affects 75.02 out of the 160-acre unit, as to which they desire to deposit royalty payments on 7502/16,OOO'ths of unit production.

Exceptions of no right or cause of action and non-joinder of the State were referred to the merits by the District Court, and ultimately dismissed. Appellants re-urge the exceptions here, and Appellees contend Appellants abandoned them when agreeing that they be referred to the merits. Pretermitting the question of abandonment of the exception of non-joinder of the State, we find no merit to any of the exceptions,, since the basis of Appellants’ contention is that Appellees failed to deposit all royalties within each of the units, with particular reference to royalties due the State on the water bottoms' in the units, which are not at issue here. In a case, as here, where a unit is involved, and royalty on production is attributable to a part only of the land in the unit, only those entitled to participate in the royalties from the unit and whose right is contested, need be joined.

In Union Producing Company v. Schneider, La.App., 131 So.2d 133, the court entertained a concursus proceeding, and stated that an exception of no cause or right of action was without merit where the exceptor was contending that the stakeholder had joined less than all of the parties in interest. In Phelps v. State, La.App., 1 So.2d 806, it was held that the stakeholder was not required to deposit the entire proceeds from all production from a unit; and, further, that an attack upon the title of claimants as to funds not on deposit is entirely foreign to the initiated proceeding, and the funds deposited therein constitute no part of it.

Since the State is not named as a claimant here, nor facts alleged showing it to be a claimant, all exceptions were properly overruled. The sole question then is the ownership of the land area of Section 19, as both units are a part of the east half of Section 19.

On the merits, the record establishes that Appellant (Willard Curtis) inherited one-half of his father’s share, or one-fourth of the whole of the marital community. His father and mother, Will and Lili Curtis, acquired the property in 1917 from Plaque-mines Land Co., the latter having acquired it from the State.

Appellees claim title through a 1937 tax sale in the name of Will and Lili Curtis, cancelled in 1951 by the State Auditor on the ground the title was in the State (in 1936) under an adjudication in 1919 to the State. No suit was brought to annul the cancellation or quiet the tax title, other than a “protest” recorded in 1952. Appellees claim the 1919 adjudication was void, so the State had no title in 1936; hence, the tax sale to their predecessor was valid. The ground for nullity is that an even earlier adjudication had been made in 1917.

Accordingly, the validity of the 1937 tax sale, as it may be affected by the validity vel [109]*109non of the two prior adjudications to the State, is the pivotal question here.

A large tract of land, including Section 19, was assessed in 1916 in the name of Plaquemines Land Company. A great portion of this property was dually assessed and the taxes paid. The property was adjudicated to the State on June 23, 1917. By deed dated October 29, 1917, Plaquemines Land Co. sold Section 19, excluding 40 acres, to Will and Lili Curtis. The 1917 adjudication was redeemed on October 9, 1919.

In the meantime, a second adjudication of Section 19 was made on September 13, 1919, for taxes assessed to Will and Lili Curtis in 1918. This adjudication was not redeemed until after the 1937 tax sale. It was redeemed by one of the Appellees here, in the name of the original owners.

The District Court properly narrowed the issue to the validity of the first adjudication in 1917, and applied to it the provisions of the 1921 Constitution; rejected the plea of dual assessment and prior payment on the ground Section 19 was not part of the property dually assessed, and on which the tax had been paid; declared the 1917 adjudication valid; the 1919 adjudication void; the tax sale in 1937 valid; and annulled the cancellation by the State Auditor in 1951 as having been issued in error.

Appellants contend that the 1917 adjudication was void, but, if not, that the 1919 adjudication was not radically null, and the court erred in determining the issue solely on the validity of the first adjudication; that the 1937 sale was absolutely void for lack of assessment; and, if not, the matter should be remanded to prevent an injustice.

All evidence is documentary. The undisputed documentary evidence and the applicable law were fully discussed in the District Judge’s “Reasons for Judgment,” with which we fully agree, and adopt as our own, viz.:

“Basically the cases involve the ownership of certain lands or the mineral or royalty interest in the lands located within the two units. It should be noted that the State of Louisiana was not made a party defendant in either suit. Therefore, title to the water bottoms, or the mineral underlying the water bottoms, is not at issue. As a consequence neither suit involves the full 160 acres comprising the unit. Suit #5128 involves only 16.3 acres out of 160 acres and suit #5129 involves only 75.02 acres out of 160 acres.
“The two units together cover a small portion of SWJ4 of Section' 17, T-16-S, R-16-E, a portion of the SJ4 of the SEJ4 of Section 18, T-16-S, R-16-E, a large portion of the ID/2 of Section 19, T-16-S, R-16-E and a portion of the Wj4 of Section 20, T-16-S, R-16-E.
“Since the issues involved in each of these sections is different we will discuss each section separately.
“As to that portion of Section 17, T-16-S, R-16-E, located in the unit, no claimants were named as party defendant in either suit so we made no attempt to pass upon the title to said Section 17.

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Bluebook (online)
150 So. 2d 106, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-helis-v-hoth-lactapp-1963.