Rousset v. Rousset

170 So. 3d 253, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 663, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 725, 2015 WL 1786894
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 15, 2015
DocketNo. 14-CA-663
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 170 So. 3d 253 (Rousset v. Rousset) 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
Rousset v. Rousset, 170 So. 3d 253, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 663, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 725, 2015 WL 1786894 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

ROBERT A. CHAISSON, Judge.

| gPlaintiff/Appellant, Cynthia Scarengos Rousset, appeals from the district court’s interpretation of a consent judgment concerning the sale of the community home. In addition, Ms. Rousset appeals the district court’s finding that she was in- contempt of court for failing to produce five keys for collectible vending machines and the court’s subsequent imposition of sanctions in the amount of $250.00 per key. For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Cynthia Scarengos Rousset (“Ms. Rous-set”) and Jeffrey Maurice Rousset (“Mr. Rousset”) were married on October 18, 1986, and three children were born of this union. On March 17, 2009, Ms. Rousset filed a petition for divorce pursuant to LSA-C.C. art. 102 based on living separate and apart for the requisite amount of time. In the petition Ms. Rousset requested that she be awarded use and occupancy of the family home located on Hudson Street in Kenner and also |srequested the partition of the community property. Various issues ancillary to the divorce, including custody, child support, and community property, came for hearing on August 11, 2009, before a hearing officer. As a result of issues discussed at this hearing, the parties, on August 26, 2009, signed a consent [255]*255judgment. Pertinent to this appeal is the following language:

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that CYNTHIA SCARENGOS ROUSSET shall be granted interim use and occupancy of the family residence located at 1410 Hudson Street, Kenner, Louisiana 70062. Rental reimbursement is waived by JEFFREY MAURICE ROUSSET. CYNTHIA SCARENGOS ROUSSET shall make the mortgage payments on the family residence and waives reimbursement claim for said mortgage payments. JEFFREY MAURICE ROUS-SET agrees to sell his interest in the family residence located at 1410 Hudson Street, Kenner, Louisiana, 70062 to CYNTHIA SCARENGOS ROUSSET for the appraised value of $196,000 upon finalization of the community property partition.

Thereafter, on July 1, 2010, the court signed a judgment granting the parties a divorce. As part of the ongoing litigation over community property issues, Mr. Rousset filed a rule for contempt on February 23, 2012, in which he requested that Ms. Rousset be required to produce all keys to the collectible vending machines that he received. After a hearing on March 9, 2012, the trial judge found that if Mr. Rousset did not get all of the keys for the items of which he is in possession, then Ms. Rousset would be sanctioned in the amount of $250.00 for each key that was not returned.

On January 21, 2014, Mr. Rousset filed a document entitled “Rules.” In the rule, he alleged that Ms. Rousset had not provided him with keys to seventeen antique vending machines as directed by the court, and therefore, he requested that she be found in contempt and ordered to pay him $250.00 per key. In the rule, he also raised an issue regarding the “purchase of family home per judgment and elimination of reimbursement claims requested by Cynthia' S. Rousset in connection with the immovable property.” In this claim, Mr. Rousset basically | ¿sought to enforce the previously cited provision in the consent judgment regarding the sale of the family residence for $196,000.00.

A hearing was conducted on these issues on April 8, 2014. After considering the evidence presented, the court found that Ms. Rousset failed to return five of the keys and ordered her to pay sanctions in the amount of $250.00 per key. Regarding the sale of the family residence on Hudson, the court found that the consent judgment was an enforceable agreement and that “there was a give-and-take agreement to sell and purchase the house at the stated worth.” It is from this judgment that Ms. Rousset now appeals. She raises two issues: 1) the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding a contract existed wherein Mr. Rousset agreed to sell immovable community property and Ms. Rousset agreed to purchase immovable property; and 2) the trial court abused its discretion and was manifestly erroneous in finding Ms. Rousset in contempt for failing to produce five keys to the collectible vending machines and in thereafter imposing excessive sanctions of $250.00 per key, in addition to attorneys’ fees and court costs.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

In her first assigned error, Ms. Rousset contends that the trial court was manifestly erroneous in finding that the provision of the consent judgment relating to the sale of the family residence was an enforceable agreement between the parties to buy and sell the property. Ms. Rousset acknowledges that Mr. Rousset agreed to sell the property for $196,000.00; however, she maintains that she never agreed to buy it. We find no merit to this argument.

[256]*256A consent judgment is a bilateral contract wherein the parties adjust their differences by mutual consent and thereby put an end to a lawsuit with each party balancing the hope of gain against the fear of loss. LSA-C.C. art. 3071. As such, |fiit should be governed by the same rules of construction that apply to contracts. Nelson v. Nelson, 08-85 (La.App. 5 Cir. 6/19/08), 985 So.2d 1285, 1290.

A compromise agreement which forms the basis for a consent judgment gets its binding force and effect from the consent of the parties. The interpretation of the consent judgment is the determination of the common intent of the parties. LSA-C.C. art. 2045; Nungesser v. Nungesser, 95-2298 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/28/96), 694 So.2d 312, 314. The meaning and intent of the parties is ordinarily determined from the four comers of the instrument. Millet v. Millet, 04-406 (La.App. 5 Cir. 10/26/04), 888 So.2d 291, 293. Each provision in the contract is interpreted in light of the other provisions so that each is given the meaning suggested by the contract as a whole. When the words of a contract are clear and explicit and lead to no absurd consequences, the intent of the parties is to be determined by the words of the contract. LSA-C.C. art. 2046; Sutherlin v. Sutherlin, 05-535 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2/3/06), 930 So.2d 51, 53.

When the language of a contract is- ambiguous it is proper to go outside the four comers of the instrument and use extrinsic evidence to determine the parties’ intent. Nelson v. Nelson, 985 So.2d at 1290. LSA-C.C. art. 2053 provides that “a doubtful provision must be interpreted in light of the nature of the contract, equity, usages, the conduct of the parties before and after the formation of the contract, and of other contracts of a like nature between the same parties.”

In the present case, the parties entered into a consent judgment in August of 2009. It specifically provided that Mr. Rousset agreed to sell his interest in the family residence to Ms. Rousset for the appraised value of $196,000.00 upon finalization of the community property partition. At the hearing on the enforceability of this provision, both Mr. and Ms. Rousset testified about their intent when entering into the consent judgment.

|6Ms. Rousset testified that at the time of the entry of the consent judgment, they owned two pieces of property, a rental house on Iowa Street and the family residence on Hudson Street. According to Ms. Rousset, Mr. Rousset agreed to sell the rental property to her aunt and grandmother, and he also agreed to sell the house on Hudson Street. Ms. Rousset maintained, however, that she never agreed to buy; rather, Mr. Rousset just agreed to sell it.

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Bluebook (online)
170 So. 3d 253, 14 La.App. 5 Cir. 663, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 725, 2015 WL 1786894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rousset-v-rousset-lactapp-2015.