Radcliffe 10, L.L.C. v. Burger

191 So. 3d 79, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0347, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 581, 2016 WL 1213491
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 28, 2016·No. No. 2014 CA 0347·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

lain this suit by plaintiff to revoke a judgment approving a separation of property agreement entered into by defendants during their marriage and, thus, terminating the legal matrimonial regime existing between the defendants, defendants appeal the trial court’s judgment, revoking the previous judgment terminating their community of acquets and gains as void ab initio for failure to follow the procedural requirements of LSA-C.C. art. 2329 and further ordering that plaintiff has the right to have any recordation of that judgment cancelled. This court, sitting en banc, has considered the merits of defendants’ appeal. Ten of the twelve judges of this court have participated, but we are unable to render a decree reflecting a majority judgment on each issue presented in this case. Because there is no majority consensus on the dispositive issue of whether the underlying separation of property agreement and the subsequent judgment approving the agreement and terminating the community of acquets and gains were void ab initio or, instead, a relative nullity subject to ratification, there is no executable majority judgment, and the effect of this court’s vote is that the trial court’s judgment stands.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

' Plaintiff, Radcliffe 10, L.L.C., (“Radcliffe 10”) is a judgment creditor of defendant Ronald G. Burger. On April 24, 2007, Radcliffe 10 filed a “Petition to Revoke Judgment Terminating Legal Matrimonial Regime, Establishing Separation of Property Regime and Separation of Property Agreement,” seeking to revoke and annul a judgment that had approved a “Separation of Property Agreement After Marriage” executed by the defendants Ronald and Lynda Burger, as well as to annul the agreement itself. The background facts leading up to this suit are as follows.

| .¡Radcliffe 10 and Ronald Burger had previously been involved in litigation in the matter of Radcliffe 10, L.L.C. v. Zip Tube Systems of Louisiana, Inc., No.2003-14116 c/w 2003-14973, in the Twenty-second Ju[81] dicial District . Court in St. Tammany Parish (“the Zip Tube litigation”), in which Radeliffe 10 alleged: (1) that Ronald Burger and other named defendants therein had engaged in unfair trade practices, in violation of LSA-R.S. 51:1401, related tp Radeliffe 10’s purchase, of Zip Tube, Systems of Louisiana, Inc,, a corporation of which Ronald Burger was secretary and Lynda Burger was president; and (2) that Ronald Burger had breached his employment contract with Radeliffe 10 executed as part of the sale of Zip Tube.1

Following trial in the Zip Tube litigation, the trial court issued written reasons for judgment on June 24, 2005, finding that Ronald Burger had breached fiduciary duties owed to Radeliffe 10 and had engaged in unfair' trade practices and that Radeliffe 10 was entitled to judgment in its favor against Ronald Burger and the remaining defendants in the amount of $3,428,000.00. However, a judgment in the Zip Tube litigation was not signed until almost two years later, on March 23, 2007,2 and an amended judgment in conformity with the written reasons for judgment was ultimately signed on March 29, 2007, in favor of Radeliffe 10 and against Ronald Burger and the other defendants, in soli-do, awarding damages in the |4total amount of $3,428,Ó00.00.3

In the meantime, on March 20, 2006, after the trial court’s issuance of its written reasons for judgment in the Zip Tube litigation, but before the ultimate signing of a judgment awarding Radeliffe 10 damages, Ronald Burger, filed a “Petition to Terminate Legal Matrimonial Regime and Enter into Separation of Property Agreement,” naming Lynda Burger as defendant (“the Separation of Property proceeding”). In the petition, Ronald Burger averred that he had “no outstanding debts other than the usual. monthly utility and rent bills,” that he “desire[d] to terminate the legal matrimonial regime of community property and enter into a regime of separation of property,” and that he “believe[d] that this action is in the best interests of both parties.... ”

On May 8, 2006, the trial court in the Separation of Property proceeding signed the judgment that Radeliffe 10 has sought to have nullified in the instant proceedings, ie., a. judgment approving a Separation of Property Agreement signed by Ronald and Lynda Burger on May 3,2006, terminating the legal matrimonial regime that existed between the parties and establishing a sepr aration of property regime. The Separation of Property Agreement, in addition to providing that Ronald and Lynda were terminating the legal regime and entering into a separation of property regime, also [82] partitioned property of the Burgers classified as community launder their previous regime by allocating to Lynda Burger $251,247.00 in liquid assets, together with “[a]ll future [fincóme from any source” and allocating to Ronald Burger “[a]ll future [fincóme from any source.”

In its “Petition to Revoke Judgment Terminating Legal Matrimonial Regime, Establishing Separation of Property Regime and Separation of Property Agreement” in the instant matter, Radcliffe 10 averred that Ronald Burger’s petition to terminate the legal matrimonial regime existing between him and Lynda was filed in violation of LSA-C.C. art. 2036, et seq., and was, therefore, subject to a revocatory action.4 Thus, it averred that “the acts of terminating the legal community' of ac-quets and gains, establishing a separation of property regime, and the separation of property agreement after marriage must be annulled.”

In a later-filed motion for summary judgment on January 16, 2012, Radcliffe 10 also advanced an additional theory in support of its claim to have the Separation of Property Agreement annulled, ie., that the Separation of Property Agreement signed by the Burgers was void ab initio for failure of the parties to “follow strictly the requirements of "[LSA-C;C.] Article 2329.”5 Specifically, Radcliffe'10 argued that LSA-C.C. art. 2329, provides that spouses may terminate the matrimonial regime during marriage “only upon joint petition,” but that in this particular case, Ronald Burger filed the petition individually, naming Lynda as a" defendant. Thus, Radcliffe 10 argued that the failure to adhere to the required procedure set forth 'in LSA-kC.C. art. 2329 rendered the Separation of Property Agreement, which was “made the judgment of the court on May 8, 2006” in the Separation of Property proceeding, void ab initio.

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Radcliffe 10, L.L.C. v. Burger, 191 So. 3d 79, 2014 La.App. 1 Cir. 0347, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 581, 2016 WL 1213491 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

191 So. 3d 79 (Radcliffe 10, L.L.C. v. Burger) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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