Peters v. Haley

762 So. 2d 695, 2000 WL 584047
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 12, 2000
Docket99 CA 0866
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 762 So. 2d 695 (Peters v. Haley) 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
Peters v. Haley, 762 So. 2d 695, 2000 WL 584047 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

762 So.2d 695 (2000)

Elia PETERS
v.
Hollis B. HALEY.

No. 99 CA 0866.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 12, 2000.
Writ Denied June 30, 2000.

*696 Kyle M. Keegan, William L. Caughman, III, Roy, Kiesel & Tucker, Baton Rouge, for Plaintiff-Appellee Elia Peters.

A. Wayne Stewart, Denham Springs, for Defendant-Appellant Hollis B. Haley.

Before: SHORTESS, C.J., PARRO, and KUHN, JJ.

*697 PARRO, J.

Hollis B. Haley appeals a judgment partitioning certain former community property belonging to him and his ex-wife, Elia Peters. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Elia Peters filed a petition for judicial partition of former community property on October 20, 1993, asking the court to partition certain property that had not been partitioned at the time of her divorce from Mr. Haley. The property she claimed as part of the former community consisted of immovable property in Livingston Parish purchased during the marriage and a portion of Mr. Haley's military pension and retirement benefits that had been paid and were continuing to be paid to him.

Mr. Haley filed an exception of "no cause of action," stating he was not married in Louisiana, the parties never lived as husband and wife in Louisiana, and they did not come under a community property regime. In an amended petition and attached affidavit, Mrs. Peters stated that Mr. Haley was domiciled in Louisiana immediately before entering the United States Air Force in 1955. They were married in 1965 in San Antonio, Texas, where he was stationed; he remained a domiciliary of Louisiana at that time. Before she and Mr. Haley were married, she was attending college in San Antonio and paying in-state tuition; after her marriage, because she was married to a Louisiana domiciliary, she had to pay out-of-state tuition. Her daughter began attending Louisiana State University in 1972 and paid in-state tuition, because the parties were domiciled in Louisiana. Several years before Mr. Haley retired in 1975, his last posting was to Louisiana. He remained in Louisiana after retirement and still lives in Livingston Parish. According to Mrs. Peters, throughout their marriage, although Mr. Haley was stationed at various Air Force bases in the United States and overseas, it was her understanding that his domicile and their matrimonial domicile was the state of Louisiana. They were divorced in August 1981 by a Florida court.

Mr. Haley's exception of no cause of action was eventually heard and overruled by the district court. Mrs. Peters filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which was also denied by the court. Her application for supervisory writs to this court was denied. Mr. Haley filed a reconventional demand, claiming reimbursement for separate funds expended for the benefit of the community and seeking partition of certain movable property, including household furnishings and Mrs. Peters' retirement benefits.

After a trial, the court provided written reasons for judgment. The court concluded that Mr. Haley was a Louisiana domiciliary and, because under Louisiana law a wife's domicile is that of her husband, Mrs. Peters was also a Louisiana domiciliary during their marriage. Therefore Louisiana's community property laws were applicable. The court found that the parties voluntarily divided all personal effects and most of their movable property at the time of the divorce, so the court did not consider any movable property except the retirement benefits of both parties. The evidence showed that, applying the Sims formula to Mr. Haley's retirement funds,[1] Mrs. Peters was entitled to 24.69% of all his retirement benefits. The court ordered Mrs. Peters to produce documentation to determine what amounts would be owed to Mr. Haley from her retirement benefits.[2] The court found the immovable *698 property was located in Louisiana and the evidence showed it was purchased during the marriage. The court also found the evidence did not sufficiently prove that the immovable property was purchased with separate funds, and therefore it was classified as community property. However, because the garage and barn were added by Mr. Haley after the termination of the marriage, the court found they were his separate property.

On June 30, 1998, after Mrs. Peters had supplemented the record with documentation concerning her retirement benefits, the court signed a judgment. The court ordered that retirement benefits of both parties were to be distributed in conformity with the Sims formula. Mrs. Peters was entitled to 24.69% of all of the military retirement benefits that Mr. Haley had received in the past, net of taxes, and would receive in the future. Mr. Haley was entitled to 29 .34% of all retirement benefits that Mrs. Peters had received in the past, net of taxes, and would receive in the future. Based on evidence that Mr. Haley had already received retirement benefits from the date of divorce through May 1998 in the amount of $193,614.42, net of taxes, Mrs. Peters was entitled to 24.69% of this amount, or $47,803.40, with interest from date of judicial demand through May 1998 in the amount of $15,551.04, for a total of $63,354.44. This amount was to be offset by $2,316.98, representing 29.34% of $7,897.00, net of taxes, already received by Mrs. Peters in retirement benefits, plus $81.70 in judicial interest. Accordingly, Mr. Haley was ordered to pay Mrs. Peters $60,955.76 for benefits he had received from the date of their divorce through May 1998, with judicial interest, and with judicial interest continuing thereon until paid.

The court declared Mrs. Peters owner of a one-half undivided interest in the immovable property in Livingston Parish, including the house and improvements. However, the court declared that the barn and garage located on that property were the sole property of Mr. Haley.

Mr. Haley moved for a new trial, claiming the court erred in declaring some of the buildings were his separate property, despite finding that the land upon which they were built was community property. He also contended the court erred in failing to grant him reimbursement for funds spent in the preservation of the property, including the past, present, and future payment of the mortgage notes. The motion for new trial was denied on September 25, 1998. This appeal followed.

Mr. Haley raises only two issues in this appeal. He argues that the trial court erred in ruling that Louisiana was the domicile of the parties and that the law of Louisiana governs the classification and distribution of his retirement benefits. He also contends the trial court erred in that it attempted to divide immovable property with Mr. Haley owning buildings and sheds on the immovable property and with both parties having an undivided interest in the land.[3]

MILITARY RETIREMENT BENEFITS

A state court which otherwise has jurisdiction can apply state law to military *699 retirement benefits.[4] Jurisdiction exists if the military spouse is domiciled or resides in the state or consents, either impliedly or expressly, to the jurisdiction of the court. 10 U.S.C.A. § 1408(c)(4)[5]; Blackwell v. Blackwell, 606 So.2d 1355, 1357 (La.App. 2nd Cir.1992). In this case, Mr. Haley resides in Louisiana and accordingly, Louisiana has jurisdiction over this case.

Louisiana's conflict of laws principles determine which state's law applies for the purposes of classifying and dividing military retirement benefits. Schueler v. Schueler,

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Bluebook (online)
762 So. 2d 695, 2000 WL 584047, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peters-v-haley-lactapp-2000.