Hedlesky v. Hedlesky

187 So. 3d 510, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 837, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 165, 2016 WL 430407
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 3, 2016
DocketNo. 15-837
StatusPublished

This text of 187 So. 3d 510 (Hedlesky v. Hedlesky) 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
Hedlesky v. Hedlesky, 187 So. 3d 510, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 837, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 165, 2016 WL 430407 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

AMY, Judge.

_JjThe property of the parties’ former marriage was partitioned by a December 2013 judgment. In January 2016, the former wife filed a petition to annul judgment for fraud and ill practices, alleging that she had since discovered that her former husband made certain omissions in the detailed descriptive list filed in the partition proceeding. The former husband thereafter filed exceptions of no cause of action and prescription. The trial court sustained both exceptions and dismissed the suit. The former wife appeals. For the following reasons, we reverse in part and affirm in part.

Factual and Procedural Background

By judgment rendered December 3, 2013, the trial court partitioned the community property of the parties’ former marriage. The present matter was instituted when the plaintiff, Marilyn Williams Hedlesky (Ms. Williams),1 filed a Petition to Annul Judgment on January 7, 2015,

[513]*513wherein she alleged that the partition judgment “was obtained through a series of fraud and ill practices ... and said judgment should be declared null and void.” In particular, Ms. Williams contended that Mr. Hedlesky failed to fully account for all of his assets and the separate debt that he brought into the marriage (and that was allegedly extinguished during the community regime). .Through her petition and amending petition,, Ms. Williams suggested that, had this additional information been included, the equalizing payment she was required to pay under the judgment | ¿would have been offset.2 In her request for relief, Ms. Williams sought annulment of the December 3, 2013 partition judgment “for fraud and ill practices, and for such equitable relief as may be proper under the cireumstanees, and for all costs óf these proceedings.”

Mr. Hedlesky thereafter filed exceptions of no cause of action and prescription. He asserted that the December 2013 partition judgment was a final judgment as Ms. Williams’ appeal of that ruling was dismissed in March 2014 on grounds of abandonment. As for the exception of no cause of action, Mr. Hedlesky asserted that Ms. Williams alleged that the partition judgment became final at a time when her attorney was no longer appearing on her behalf. Mr. Hedlesky argued, however, that attorney conduct does not serve as a basis for a nullity action.

As for the timeliness of the petition, Mr. Hedlesky suggested that the applicable prescriptive period for such an action was “one year of the discovery by the plaintiff in the nullity action of the fraud or ill practices.” Mr. Hedlesky argued that to the extent Ms. Williams alleged that he incompletely reported his assets and liabilities, she was aware of such an alleged occurrence at the time of trial. These events, Mr. Hedlesky argued, occurred more than one year before the filing of the January 7, 2015 petition to annul judgment. Following a hearing, at which the trial court heard testimony and received evidence regarding prescription, the trial court granted both exceptions in favor of Mr. Hedlesky, dismissing Ms. Williams’ petition(s).

|sMs. Williams appeals, addressing both exceptions. We turn first to consideration of the, exception of no cause of action as a prescription analysis necessarily rests upon the existence of a cause of action.

Discussion

Exception of No Cause of Action

The exception of no cause of action tests “the legal sufficiency of the petition joy determining whether the law affords a remedy on the facts as alleged in the petition.” McCarthy v. Evolution Petroleum Corp., 14-2607, p. 4 (La.10/14/15), 180 So.3d 252, 257. (quoting Scheffler v. Adams and Reese, LLP, 06-1774, p. 4 (La.2/22/07), 950 So.2d 641, 646.) “The exception is triable on the face of the pleadings, and, for purposes of resolving the issues raised by the exception, the well-pleaded facts in the petition must be accepted as true.” Id. The moving party must bear the burden of demonstrating that the petition sets forth no cause of action. Jackson v. City of New Orleans, 12-2742, 12-2743 (La.1/28/14), 144 So.3d 876, cert. denied, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 197, 190 L.Ed.2d 130 (2014). As the exception raises a question of law, an appellate court conducts a de novo review of a trial court’s ruling thereon. Id.

[514]*514Ms. Williams’ petition and amending petition advance a claim, for annulment of the underlying judgment due to. fraud or ill practices. See La.Code Civ.P. art,. 2004(A)(providing that: “A final judgment obtained by fraud or ill practices may be annulled.”). The supreme court has..noted that La.Code Civ.P. art. 2004 is not applicable only to cases of actual fraud or intentional wrongdoing. Wright v. Louisiana Power & Light, 06-1181 (La.3/9/07), 951 So.2d 1058 (quoting Power Marketing Direct, Inc. v. Foster, 05-2023 (La.9/6/06), 938 So.2d 662). Rather, Article 2004 encompasses situations where a judgment is rendered through an | ¿improper practice or procedure which operates, even innocently, to deprive the party cast in judgment of some legal right, and where enforcement of the judgment is unconscionable and inequitable. Id. However, a nullity action is: not intended as a substituid for an appeal or a second chance to prove a claim previously denied due to insufficient proof. Id. (quoting Belle Pass Terminal, Inc. v. Jolin, Inc., 01-0149 (La.10/16/01), 800 So.2d 762.) Rather, the purpose of the nullity action is to prevent injustice which cannot be corrected through a new trial and appéáls. Id.

Pertinent to this matter, the supreme court has explained that “[discovery of evidence which could have , been presented at the original trial usually cannot serve as the basis for an action for nullity’ ”. Wright, 951 So.2d at 1068 (quoting Gladstone v. American Auto. Ass’n, Inc., 419 So.2d 1219 (La.1982)) (alteration in the original). An unsuccessful litigant may not attack a judgment as fraudulent simply because the opposing party failed to disclose certain facts when the party attacking the judgment could have ascertained those facts. with reasonable diligence. Id. Such a determination depends upon the nature of the information at issue and the circumstances surrounding the proceeding. Id. “Absent a specific discovery request or ‘knowing concealment,’ failing to disclose information that might have been helpful to the opposing party’s case does not constitute fraud or. ill practice if with, reasonable diligence, the party could have ascertained the information himself.” Id. at 1074.

Having reviewed the petition and amending petition within, this context, we conclude that the plaintiff set forth a cause of action for nullity. Both the petition and amending petition allege that Mr. Hedle-sky failed to include evidence regarding his separate debt as would be necessary to accurately partition the former couple’s community property.. Under the standard of review, those facts must be | .¡accepted as true. McCarthy, 180 So.3d 252. Ultimately, those broad allegations may not be demonstrated by sufficient evidence to satisfy the burden of proof required to prevail on a nullity action under La.Code Civ.P. art.2004. See, e.g., Wright,

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Bluebook (online)
187 So. 3d 510, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 837, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 165, 2016 WL 430407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hedlesky-v-hedlesky-lactapp-2016.