Mason v. Mason

927 So. 2d 1235, 2006 WL 1007625
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 19, 2006
Docket40,804-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 927 So. 2d 1235 (Mason v. Mason) 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
Mason v. Mason, 927 So. 2d 1235, 2006 WL 1007625 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

927 So.2d 1235 (2006)

Stanley MASON, Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
Rowena MASON, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 40,804-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 19, 2006.
Rehearing Denied May 11, 2006.

*1237 Louis Granderson Scott, for Appellant.

Evelyn Kelly, for Appellee.

Before GASKINS, CARAWAY and PEATROSS, JJ.

GASKINS, J.

The plaintiff, Stanley Mason, appeals a trial court judgment partitioning the former community property of the plaintiff and the defendant, Rowena Mason. For the following reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part the trial court judgment.

FACTS

The parties were married in 1980 and Stanley filed a petition for divorce, custody and visitation on December 13, 2000. A judgment of divorce was filed by the trial court on December 19, 2000. The former community property was not partitioned at that time.

On February 12, 2003, Stanley filed a petition for partition of the former community and attached a detailed descriptive list. Rowena asserted that the parties had reached an extrajudicial verbal agreement to partition the former community. She also traversed the detailed descriptive list filed by Stanley.

A hearing on the partition suit was held on March 26, 2004. On February 24, 2005, the trial court filed a judgment partitioning the community. After assigning a net value of $83,972.00 to the former community, the court awarded Stanley $8,217.45 and Rowena $28,400.00 for reimbursement for payment of community debts. The court recognized that each party was entitled to a portion of the other's retirement and then allocated assets and liabilities between them. Rowena received the family home, a vacant lot, a 1997 Ford Expedition, and household furnishings. Stanley received a 1968 Camaro, a master bedroom set and painting, a 1992 GMC pickup truck, a riding lawn mower, and savings bonds.

In assigning community liabilities, Rowena was allocated the mortgage on the house, the loan on the Expedition, and the balance due on another loan. No liabilities were assessed to Stanley. After considering the reimbursement amounts owed between the parties, the court found that Rowena owed Stanley an equalizing payment of $1,803.35.

Stanley appealed the trial court judgment, arguing that the trial court erred in awarding Rowena reimbursement for one-half of the amount she paid on the mortgage on the family home and the loan on the Expedition after the termination of the community. He also claimed that the trial court erred in overvaluing the Camaro which was allotted to him in the partition.

*1238 VALUATION OF THE 1968 CAMARO

Stanley claims that he listed the value of his Camaro at $5,290.00, but that the trial court valued the car at $11,300.00, without any evidence to support that decision. This argument is without merit.

La. R.S. 9:2801(A)(4)(a) provides that the court shall value the assets as of the time of trial on the merits, determine the liabilities, and adjudicate the claims of the parties. La. R.S. 9:2801(A)(4)(c) provides, in pertinent part, that the court shall allocate or assign to the respective spouses all of the community assets and liabilities. In allocating assets and liabilities, the court may divide a particular asset or liability equally or unequally or may allocate it in its entirety to one of the spouses. The court shall consider the nature and source of the asset or liability, the economic condition of each spouse, and any other circumstances that the court deems relevant.

A trial court has broad discretion in adjudicating issues raised by divorce and partition of the community regime. The trial judge is afforded a great deal of latitude in arriving at an equitable distribution of assets between the spouses. A court of appeal may not set aside a trial court's finding of fact in the absence of "manifest error" or unless it is "clearly wrong." Sherrod v. Sherrod, 1997-907 (La.App. 5th Cir.3/25/98), 709 So.2d 352, writ denied, XXXX-XXXX (La.6/5/98), 720 So.2d 687.

In light of this discretion, the trial court is not required to accept at face value a spouse's valuation of assets or debts, or claims against the community. See Cutting v. Cutting, 625 So.2d 1112 (La.App. 3d Cir.1993), writ denied, 1993-2770 (La.1/7/94), 631 So.2d 453; Sheridon v. Sheridon, 2003-103 (La.App. 3d Cir.2/4/04), 867 So.2d 38.

After the hearing on the suit for partition, the trial court ordered the parties to provide proof of the value of the automobiles involved in this case. Regarding the Camaro, the plaintiff attached a page from an internet car appraisal guide to his post-trial brief. This document lists the low retail price of the car, with a V-8 engine at $5,290.00. This amount is circled. Low retail value is defined as a vehicle in mechanically functional condition. There was no evidence presented at trial as to the options on the car, such as a V-8 engine, or the condition of the car. Based upon the information furnished by Stanley, the average retail of such a vehicle, without a V-8 engine, is listed as $11,300.00. The average retail value is described as a vehicle in good condition overall. In its reasons for judgment, the trial court specified that it accepted the average retail value. There is no showing that the trial court abused its discretion in making this determination. The plaintiff's argument to the contrary is rejected.

REIMBURSEMENT FOR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS

The judgment of partition recognizes Rowena's entitlement to one-half of the mortgage notes she paid on the former matrimonial domicile from the termination of the community property until the date of trial. This amount totaled $11,705.00.

Stanley contends that the trial court erred in ordering reimbursement to Rowena for one-half of the mortgage payments where she was awarded use of the family home during the proceedings and ownership of the house in the partition judgment. He also asserts that a spouse seeking reimbursement must show that separate funds were used to pay a debt of the community. Stanley claims that *1239 Rowena failed to make such a showing. These arguments are without merit.

La. R.S. 9:374(C) provides:

C. A spouse who uses and occupies or is awarded by the court the use and occupancy of the family residence pending either the termination of the marriage or the partition of the community property in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 9:374(A) or (B) shall not be liable to the other spouse for rental for the use and occupancy, except as hereafter provided. If the court awards use and occupancy to a spouse, it shall at that time determine whether or not to award rental for the use and occupancy and, if so, the amount of the rent. The parties may agree to defer the rental issue for decision in the partition proceedings. If the parties agreed at the time of the award of use and occupancy to defer the rental issue, the court may make an award of rental retroactive to the date of the award of use and occupancy.

In McCarroll v. McCarroll, 1996-2700 (La.10/21/97), 701 So.2d 1280, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that rental payments may not be retroactively assessed under La. R.S. 9:374(C) unless otherwise agreed by the spouses or ordered by the court. The court reasoned that the use and management of a thing held in indivision is determined by agreement of all the co-owners. A co-owner is entitled to use the thing held in indivision according to its destination, but he cannot prevent another co-owner from making such use of it.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
927 So. 2d 1235, 2006 WL 1007625, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mason-v-mason-lactapp-2006.