Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Lewis

150 So. 2d 796, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1409
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 5, 1963
DocketNo. 746
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 150 So. 2d 796 (Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Lewis) 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
Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Lewis, 150 So. 2d 796, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1409 (La. Ct. App. 1963).

Opinions

SAVOY, Judge.

The instant case was instituted by Humble Oil Company as a concursus proceeding to determine the ownership of certain funds which it had in its possession representing the purchase price of interests in oil produced from certain described lands.

The petition of Humble alleged that by an instrument dated October 26, 1959, Ever-ard W. Marks transferred to Pierson Lewis and another party (not made a party to this litigation and not affected by the con-cursus) certain overriding royalty interest in lands situated in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. Petitioner alleged further that it had paid to Pierson Lewis a sum equal to one-half Q4)of the royalty assigned to him by Marks, but had withheld payment of the other interest because of a judgment of separation “a mensa et thoro” rendered on November 5, 1959, by the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana, in a suit instituted by Pierson Lewis against his wife, Janice Butler Lewis.

Humble stated in its petition that Pierson Lewis contended that the assignment of October 26, 1959, constituted his separate property; whereas Janice Butler Lewis contended that she owned an undivided one-half (p/z) interest in said assignment of overriding royalty because it was community property since it was acquired during the existence of the community of acquets and gains between her and her husband, Pierson Lewis.

Humble prayed that as the purchaser of the oil from the lands covering the assignment of October 26, 1959, it be permitted to deposit the initial oil payment in the Registry of the court, and that it continue to do so until the matter had been resolved by the court. Humble prayed finally that it be relieved from the payment of court costs and that costs of the instant suit be paid from the funds deposited and to be deposited in the Registry of the court.

Both Pierson Lewis and his wife were cited to answer and assert their respective rights to said funds deposited in the Registry of the court.

Pierson Lewis filed an answer to the suit alleging that the overriding royalty assigned to him by Marks was his own separate property; that although the deed of conveyance and assignment was dated October 26, 1959, said assignment was held in escrow by Marks and was not to become effective until certain curative work was done on mineral leases obtained by him for Marks, and until other assignments- of mineral leases were secured by Lewis, and a loan was obtained by Marks on said mineral leases. Lewis further alleged that the overriding royalty assignment was held by Marks and his attorney until the required work in curing the title to said mineral leases was done and the loan obtained; that the above requirements set forth were [798]*798not met until after the judgment of separation dated November 12, 1959, and said deed was recorded by Lewis on December 2, 1959.

Mrs. Pierson Lewis, nee Janice Butler, also -filed an answer in the instant suit alleging that she and Pierson Lewis were judicially separated by judgment of .court dated November 12, 1959; that she and her husband had not obtained a final divorce and no property settlement had been entered into between her and her husband; nor was there any mention made in the judg, ment of separation ordering an inventory of the community property.

Prior to the trial, numerous depositions were taken at the request of the attorney for Mr. Lewis. At the taking of the depositions, the attorney for Mrs. Lewis objected to any parol evidence as to the escrow agreement for the reason that the alleged escrow agreement was a verbal one, whereas the assignment from Marks to Pierson was in writing, affecting immovable property and was an authentic act; and parol testimony was inadmissible to vary the terms of the said instrument.

After a trial on the merits, the judge of the district court held that the property in controversy was the separate property of plaintiff, Pierson Lewis, citing as authority for his holding the case of Wampler v. Wampler, 239 La. 315, 118 So.2d 423. From said adverse judgment, Mrs. Lewis has appealed to this Court.

Parol evidence was admissible to prove the terms of the assignment in the instant case under the Supreme Court decision in Wampler v. Wampler, supra, and the trial court was correct in so holding.

Having determined that parol evidence is admissible and was properly received in the instant case, this Court will consider whether the said Pierson Lewis acquired the royalty interest from Marks during the existence of the community between him and his wife, Janice Butler.

LSA-C.C. Article 2399 reads as follows:

“Every marriage contracted in this State, superinduces of right partnership - or community of acquets or gains, if there be no stipulation to the contrary.”

LSA-C.C. Article 2402 reads, in part, to-wit:

“This partnership or community consists of the profits of all the effects of which the husband has the administration and enjoyment, either of right or in fact, of the produce of the reciprocal industry and labor of both husband and wife, and of the estate which they may acquire during the marriage, either by donations made jointly to them both, or by purchase, or in any other similar way, even although the purchase be only in the name of one of the two and not of both, because in that case the period of time when the purchase is made is alone attended to, and not the person who made the purchase. * * ”

LSA-C.C. Article 2405 states the following :

“At the time of the dissolution of the marriage, all effects which both husband and wife reciprocally possess, are presumed common effects or gains, unless it be satisfactorily proved which of such effects they brought in marriage, or which have been given them separately, or which they have respectively inherited.”

Counsel for Lewis contends that the case of Wampler v. Wampler, supra, is controlling in the instant case. In that case Vyola Wampler sued Charles Wampler to be decreed the owner of an undivided one-half (1/2) interest in an oil, gas and mineral lease which she alleged had been purchased by her husband, Charles Wampler, prior to the dissolution of their marriage. Mrs. Wamp-ler and her husband were divorced on August 15, 1952. On July 8, 1952, an assignment of the lease in question had been executed by R. L. Corley in favor of Charles [799]*799Wampler and a brother. At the time of the assignment, ten (10) of eighteen (18) owners of said leased property had not signed said lease. Because of this and the fact that the title to said lease had not been examined by the attorney for the assignees, Corley left the incompleted lease and the executed assignment with an attorney under a verbal agreement that Charles Wampler was not to pay the purchase price of said lease until all lessors had signed the lease and until all of the title curative work had been completed by the attorney who was acting as escrow agent. On July 23, 1952, (before the divorce was granted) Corley acquired all of the signatures required to complete the lease. The title correction work was not completed, however, and the consideration for the lease was not paid by Wampler until more than a month after the divorce was granted.

We think the facts presented in the instant suit are distinguishable from those presented in the Wampler case.

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Related

Humble Oil & Refining Co. v. Lewis
159 So. 2d 132 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
150 So. 2d 796, 1963 La. App. LEXIS 1409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/humble-oil-refining-co-v-lewis-lactapp-1963.