Puissegur v. Puissegur

220 So. 2d 547
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 3, 1969
Docket3358
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 220 So. 2d 547 (Puissegur v. Puissegur) 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
Puissegur v. Puissegur, 220 So. 2d 547 (La. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

220 So.2d 547 (1969)

Mrs. Cynthia Sue MARY, wife of Thomas Mattingly PUISSEGUR
v.
Thomas Mattingly PUISSEGUR.

No. 3358.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

March 3, 1969.
Rehearing Denied April 7, 1969.

*548 John L. Hantel, New Orleans, for Thomas Mattingly Puissegur, defendant-appellee.

Wood Brown, III, Montgomery, Barnett, Brown & Read, New Orleans, for Mrs. Cynthia Sue Mary, wife of Thomas Mattingly Puissegur, plaintiff-appellant.

Before CHASEZ, REDMANN and BARNETTE, JJ.

CHASEZ, Judge.

This is a suit by Mrs. Cynthia Sue Puissegur against her husband Thomas M. Puissegur for a judgment of divorce, permanent care, custody and control over their minor children, alimony and child support. Mrs. Puissegur was granted a divorce on the basis of a two year voluntary separation and was granted the custody of their three children. Her demand for alimony and child support was rejected and a writ of non-resident attachment which she had caused to be issued and under which a garnishment was effected to her husband's employer, was ordered dissolved. Mrs. Puissegur takes a devolutive appeal from that part of the judgment which denied her claim for alimony and child support, and a suspensive appeal from that part of the judgment which dissolved the writ of non-resident attachment. Both of these appeals are before us herein but the judgment of divorce and custody is now final.

The plaintiff's plea for child support and alimony was denied and the writ dissolved by the trial judge on his holding that the court had not acquired personal jurisdiction over the defendant upon which to execute such a judgment.

The factual issues in this case are not in dispute and are briefly as follows. Defendant Thomas M. Puissegur and plaintiff Cynthia Sue Mary were married on January 25, 1955 in Poplarville, Mississippi. Shortly thereafter they moved to New Orleans, Louisiana where their matrimonial domicile has remained. After the birth of three children and after several separations and reconciliations, the parties separated finally on or about June 1, 1964.

In February, 1967 Mr. Puissegur was sent to the United Kingdom by his employer in connection with his employment and has apparently remained there since. There is some evidence that defendant did return to New Orleans for a short period of time since that date and this evidence will be examined more thoroughly herein. Plaintiff is employed by Gurtler, Hebert & Co. Inc., a large construction company with general offices in the City of New Orleans, hereinafter referred to as "Gurtler, Hebert".

Mrs. Puissegur instituted the present suit on March 20, 1968, seeking a divorce based on two years living separate and apart as stated above. In connection with this suit the appointment of an attorney to represent the absent defendant was provoked under the provisions of LSA-C.C.P. art. 5091, and service of process was effected on this attorney. Additionally the plaintiff provoked the issuance of a writ of non-resident attachment and, pursuant to said writ, she caused a garnishment to be issued directed to the employer, Gurtler, Hebert. The garnishment interrogatories were duly and timely answered by Gurtler, Hebert wherein it was stated that the defendant was earning $1,096.80 per month.

Plaintiff contends in this appeal that under the express provisions of LSA-C.C.P. art. 6 personal jurisdiction over the defendant to support a judgment for alimony and child support was achieved by service of process on his court appointed attorney, citing Dupuis v. Patin, 155 So.2d 768 (La.App. 1963) and Broussard v. Domingue, 146 So. 2d 445 (La.App.1962).

LSA-C.C.P. art. 6 provides in pertinent part:

"Art. 6. Jurisdiction over the person.

"Jurisdiction over the person is the legal power and authority of a court to render a personal judgment against a party *549 to an action or proceeding. This jurisdiction must be based upon:
* * * * * *
"(2) The service of process on the attorney at law appointed by the court to defend an action or proceeding brought against an absent or incompetent defendant who is domiciled in this state; * *
* * * * * *"

In Broussard v. Domingue, supra, the court was faced with a very similar factual situation and stated therein at page 447:

"[2] There can be no serious doubt that a judgment for alimony and costs is a personal judgment. Baker v. Jewell, 114 La. 726, 38 So. 532; Thompson v. Tanner, 53 App.D.C. 3, 287 F. 980; Meredith v. Meredith, 96 U.S.App.D.C. 355, 226 F.2d 257; Dorney v. Dorney, D.C., 145 F.Supp. 281, affirmed 4 Cir., 245 F. 2d 201. It must therefore follow that before a court may render such a judgment it must have jurisdiction over the person against whom the judgment is to be rendered.
"The record discloses that service of process was made on an attorney at law appointed by the court to defend this action. While this procedure is sanctioned by paragraph (2) of Article 6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, LSA, it is clear from the language of this article that its use is limited to defendants who are domiciled in this state. Thus it necessarily follows that personal jurisdiction over the defendant in the case at bar is dependent upon whether or not the defendant is domiciled in the State of Louisiana."

In that case however the court went on to find that the defendant was not in fact a domiciliary of this state thus the provision of art. 6 quoted above was not applicable. The court therefore found it had no basis for the issuance of a judgment for alimony and child support.

In Dupuis v. Patin, supra, again in a similar factual situation, the court had this to say on the issue before us at page 771 of 155 So.2d:

"If defendant was domiciled in this state, but an absentee therefrom, then personal jurisdiction over the defendant could have been based on service of process on the attorney appointed by the court to represent him. LSA-C.C.P. art. 6."

We agree with the rationale expressed in these two cases, and are of the opinion that the quoted section of LSA-C.C.P. art. 6 expressly controls our situation. If we find that defendant is a domiciliary of this state we must find that personal jurisdiction over him was acquired by the court below, and the trial judge was in error in not granting plaintiff's plea for alimony and child support.

We are not overlooking the Supreme Court decision in Baker v. Jewell, 114 La. 726, 38 So. 532 (1905), cited by the appellee herein. Undeniably this case did stand for the proposition that in an alimony case personal jurisdiction over the defendant could only be acquired through personal service on him, and that a constructive service would not effect that result. However we find that decision has been abrogated by the express codal authority cited above and we feel compelled to follow this later authority, which was not a part of the procedural law of this state until the adoption of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, effective January 1, 1961.

We turn our attention then to the question of domicile which we hold to be the determinative issue in this case. The record reflects that defendant has been employed by Gurtler, Hebert for "a number of years".

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Bluebook (online)
220 So. 2d 547, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/puissegur-v-puissegur-lactapp-1969.