Marriott v. Hollenshead

572 So. 2d 193, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2603, 1990 WL 180091
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 14, 1990
DocketNos. CA 89 1497, CA 89 2017
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 572 So. 2d 193 (Marriott v. Hollenshead) 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
Marriott v. Hollenshead, 572 So. 2d 193, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2603, 1990 WL 180091 (La. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

LOTTINGER, Judge.

This is an action by Richard Hollenshead in Family Court of the Parish of East Baton Rouge to reform and modify his support obligations pursuant to a foreign judgment that was made executory in Louisiana by default judgment on March 11, 1988. Subsequently, Linda Marriott filed suit to recover past due child support, expenses, and attorney’s fees. These cases have been consolidated for purposes of appeal. From a judgment dismissing Ms. Marriott’s Rule for Past Due Child Support, Expenses, Attorney’s Fees and Contempt, Ms. Marriott appeals. From a judgment granting an exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction in his suit to enforce the divorce agreement, Mr. Hollenshead appeals.

FACTS

On May 25, 1983, Ms. Marriott and Mr. Hollenshead were divorced by decree of a Texas Court. The parties had two minor children at this time, ages 10 and 14. In order to settle the rights between the parties, to provide for the support of the two children and Ms. Marriott, and to provide for other matters, the parties entered into an “Agreement Incident to Divorce”. This agreement was incorporated into the Texas divorce decree. The parties filed suit in Family Court asking it to interpret the provisions of the “Agreement Incident to Divorce” pertaining to child1 and spousal2 support.

The agreement provided that Mr. Hol-lenshead would continue to pay the house note on the family home in Texas until it was sold. Upon the sale of the house, the agreement provided for the implementation of alternative support obligations. Additionally, the divorce decree provided that payment of the house note would be “in lieu of alimony and child support”. Payment of the house note was in no way tied to the ages of the two then minor children, nor had a deadline been set for the sale of the house.

Subsequent to the divorce, Mr. Hollens-head moved to Louisiana for employment reasons. Ms. Marriott and her two children continued to reside in the family home in Texas. Mr. Hollenshead faithfully paid the house note for approximately five (5) years while Ms. Marriott attempted to sell the house. During October 1988, while the present suits were pending, Ms. Marriott unilaterally refinanced the house thereby lowering the monthly note, adding to the principal amount of the original mortgage, and extending the term from twenty-three (23) years to thirty (30) years. Ms. Marriott contended that the refinancing was necessitated by Mr. Hollenshead’s failure to timely pay the house note and was undertaken only after repeated requests from Mr. Hollenshead that she refinance the [195]*195house. Mr. Hollenshead was not informed that the home had actually been refinanced.

On December 17, 1987, Ms. Marriott filed suit against Mr. Hollenshead in the Family Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge to make the Texas divorce decree exec-utory in Louisiana. The Texas judgment was recognized and made executory on March 14, 1988. On February 4, 1988, Mr. Hollenshead filed suit to reduce the support obligation imposed by the Texas judgment in light of alleged changed circumstances. On March 17, 1988, Ms. Marriott sought to recover arrearages on past due house notes by filing a “Rule for Past Due Child Support, Attorneys’ Fees, and Contempt”.

On September 2, 1988, Ms. Marriott challenged the efforts of Mr. Hollenshead to reduce his support obligation by filing the declinatory exception raising the objection of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. After analyzing the provisions of the agreement and divorce decree, the court found that the respective provisions clearly established a property settlement in lieu of child support and alimony. The Family Court found that it did not have jurisdiction to reform the property settlement. Therefore, on November 17, 1988, the Family Court granted Ms. Marriott’s exception and dismissed Mr. Hollenshead’s petition for reduction of his support obligation.

On January 10, 1989, in an attempt to get around the Family Court’s finding of no jurisdiction, Mr. Hollenshead filed suit seeking to enforce (rather than reform) the provisions of the Texas Judgment and the incorporated agreement. Ms. Marriott again filed the declinatory exception raising the objection of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court granted the exception on March 27, 1989, and dismissed the action on the basis that the Family Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over a suit to enforce provisions of property settlement agreements. ■ It is from this judgment that Mr. Hollenshead appeals.

On January 31, 1989, a trial was conducted on Ms. Marriott’s “Rule for Past Due Child Support”. The court found that all judicially enforceable obligations created by the Texas divorce decree had been maintained by Mr. Hollenshead and that Ms. Marriott’s unilateral actions in refinancing the house constituted a “sale of the house” thereby triggering the alternative child and spousal support provisions of the agreement. On June. 5, 1989, the court signed the judgment vacating and dismissing Ms. Marriott’s Rule for Past Due Child Support based on oral reasons given at the January 31, 1989 hearing. It is from this judgment Ms. Marriott appeals.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Mr. Hollenshead contends that the Family Court erred in granting Ms. Marriott’s exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction on the basis that it misconstrued the support provisions of the “Agreement Incident to Divorce” as constituting a property settlement over which proper jurisdiction lies in the district court.

Ms. Marriott contends that the Family Court erred in:

I. finding that the refinancing constituted a sale thereby invoking the alternative support obligations under the agreement;
II. finding that arrearages were not owed;
III. limiting Ms. Marriott’s recovery of the cost of enforcing the agreement to attorney’s fees and court costs despite the language contained in the agreement;
IV. determining the amount of attorney’s fees; and
V. signing the June 5, 1989, judgment based on oral reasons given at the January 31, 1989, hearing on Ms. Marriott’s Rule for Past Due Child Support once the court determined on March 27, 1898, that it did not have jurisdiction over this matter.

JURISDICTION OF THE FAMILY COURT

Article 5, § 18 of the Louisiana Constitution provides that the family court’s jurisdiction is limited to those matters estab[196]*196lished by law. La.R.S. 13:1401 provides that the Family Court of the parish of East Baton Rouge shall have exclusive jurisdiction over several enumerated actions including actions for alimony and child support, “as well as of all matters incidental to” alimony and child support actions. This statute also gives the family court jurisdiction over juvenile matters. This is the extent to which the legislature has by law extended the jurisdiction of the family court.

DeHaven v. DeHaven, 412 So.2d 537 (La.1982), involved the interpretation of a provision in an agreement that had been incorporated into the judgment of, divorce which obligated the husband to pay the note on the family home until the home was paid off regardless of the children’s status. The Supreme Court of Louisiana found that this provision constituted a property settlement in lieu of child support and alimony since payment of the house note was not contingent on the age of the children.

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Bluebook (online)
572 So. 2d 193, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2603, 1990 WL 180091, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marriott-v-hollenshead-lactapp-1990.