McTurner v. McTurner

649 So. 2d 1, 1994 WL 532958
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 26, 1994
Docket26123-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 649 So. 2d 1 (McTurner v. McTurner) 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
McTurner v. McTurner, 649 So. 2d 1, 1994 WL 532958 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

649 So.2d 1 (1994)

Michael Ray McTURNER, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Kim Mathieu McTURNER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 26123-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

September 21, 1994.
Order Denying Rehearing October 26, 1994.
Writ Denied January 27, 1995.

*2 McLeod, Verlander, Eade & Verlander by Paul J. Verlander, Robert P. McLeod, Monroe, for defendant-appellant.

Paul Henry Kidd, Jr., Monroe, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before SEXTON, J., JONES, J. Ad Hoc, and PRICE, J. Pro Tem.

PRICE, Judge Pro Tem.

In this rule for child support, the trial court awarded Kim McTurner $2,838 per month for child support retroactive to the filing of her petition, and credited Michael McTurner's retroactive child support obligation with $2,000 of the $2,250 monthly "lease payments" he made to Kim pursuant to the parties' community property settlement agreement.

Kim appeals the portion of the trial court judgment awarding Michael a credit on his child support obligation for certain lease rentals payable to her under the community property settlement contract. She primarily contends the court erred in allowing evidence contradicting the provisions of the property agreement in this summary proceeding brought by her for child support. She also contends the court, after allowing the evidence, erred in finding the true intent of the parties was to consider the lease payments under the contract to in fact be child support payments. She further contends the child support award was inadequate because the court erred in calculating Michael's true income.

Michael answers the appeal alleging that the trial court erred in failing to award the income tax dependencies for the two minor children to either parent; in failing to award him credit as stipulated by the parties for amounts he paid for extraordinary expenses of the children; in crediting him with only $2,000 of the $2,250 monthly payments he made, rather than the entire $2,250; and in failing to reduce the amount of child support he owes during the summer months when he has physical custody of the children.

We find the trial court erred in permitting evidence to contradict the express provision of the property settlement agreement in this summary proceeding relative to child support and we therefore reverse the portion of the judgment awarding a credit to Michael for the amounts provided as lease rental under the property agreement. Because the trial court failed to award either parent with the income tax dependencies for the two children, or to incorporate into its judgment stipulations by the parties crediting the father with extraordinary expenses of the children that he paid, we remand to the trial court for determinations as to these issues. We do not find that the trial court erred in failing to reduce Michael's child support obligation during the summer, and affirm the remainder of the trial court judgment.

FACTS

After the parties separated on April 5, 1990, they executed a community property settlement agreement on May 29, 1990, in which they agreed that Kim would lease "her share of the Computer Access and Data, copying machine, and other office equipment," to Mike McTurner's Dealers Auto Auction, Inc. for $2,250 per month until November 15, 1993. The divorce judgment, dated February 14, 1991, which awarded Kim *3 custody of the minor son and Michael custody of the minor daughter pursuant to their joint custody plan, did not provide for child support. Sometime after the divorce, both children came to live with Kim. She then filed a rule for change of custody and for child support on July 2, 1992. Judgment was awarded by consent giving Kim custody of both children.

On the day prior to the date fixed for hearing of the child support rule, Michael filed a pleading styled Exception of No Cause of Action and Affirmative Defense of Estoppel and Compromise. In this filing he raised the issue of whether he should be given credit for the amounts paid as rent to Kim under the community partition agreement. On the succeeding day but prior to the beginning of the trial of the rule, Kim filed an opposition to the exception and affirmative defense made by Michael as being improper in a summary proceeding. The trial court did not rule on this opposition prior to the taking of evidence and referred all evidentiary rulings to the conclusion of evidence.

SUMMARY PROCEEDING

Michael now contends in brief to this court that Kim failed to file a formal exception to the improper use of summary proceedings before the beginning of trial and that this issue is now waived under C.C.P. Art. 924 and the decision of this court in Boyd v. Boyd, 499 So.2d 164 (La.App. 2d Cir.1986). We find this argument to be misplaced. In the event that it could be said that a plaintiff in a summary proceeding must file a responsive pleading to an exception filed by a defendant, the written memorandum filed by Kim in this instance projects her opposition to the injection of improper issues into the summary proceedings more thoroughly than a formal exception. Her opposition is expressed as follows:

This agreement contains a number of other provisions whereby the parties settled the division of their community and whereby Kim McTurner relinquished certain interests and afforded certain rights to Michael McTurner. The above-quoted provisions of the document are unquestionably clear on their face. Consequently, under Civil Code Article 2046, no further interpretation may be made in search of the parties' intent. See Louisiana Civil Code Article 2046 ("When the words of a contract are clear and explicit and lead to no absurd consequences, no further interpretation may be made in search of the parties' intent.").
Initially, Kim McTurner would note that, to the extent Michael McTurner is alleging some breach of the terms of the community property settlement by her or some defect in that agreement, his remedy is clearly limited to an ordinary proceeding to enforce, modify, or set aside that agreement, on whatever basis he can in good faith allege. Just as clearly, he is not entitled to attempt to enforce, modify, or set aside a community property settlement agreement in the form of an answer to a summary proceeding for child support, filed one day before the trial of the said rule, which has been pending for nearly nine months.

Having found that Kim has timely opposed the defense projected by Michael in the summary proceeding, we will now consider the correctness of this opposition.

Summary proceedings are those which are conducted with rapidity, within the delays allowed by the court, and without citation and the observance of all the formalities required in ordinary proceedings.
C.C.P. Art. 2591.

C.C.P. Art. 2592 lists the eleven types of matters where summary proceedings may be used for trial or disposition. Included is:

The original granting of, subsequent change in, or termination of custody, visitation, and support for a minor child; support for a spouse; injunctive relief; support between ascendants and descendants; use and occupancy of the family home or use of community movables or immovables; or use of personal property.

The right to resort to summary proceedings cannot be extended beyond the cases expressly authorized by law. The statutory listing categorizing actions that may be instituted by summary process is exclusive, not illustrative. Burdine & Associates, Inc. v. Noel, 550 So.2d 677 (La.App. 2d Cir.1989).

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649 So. 2d 1, 1994 WL 532958, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcturner-v-mcturner-lactapp-1994.