Santiny ex rel. Santiny v. Pitre

591 So. 2d 1245, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 3483, 1991 WL 272523
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 11, 1991
DocketNos. 91-CA-512, 91-CA-513
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 591 So. 2d 1245 (Santiny ex rel. Santiny v. Pitre) 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
Santiny ex rel. Santiny v. Pitre, 591 So. 2d 1245, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 3483, 1991 WL 272523 (La. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

WICKER, Judge.

State Farm Mutual Insurance Company appeals a judgment decreeing Beth Lynn Santiny to be the illegitimate daughter of Rickye Brown and awarding the policy limits of $100,000.00 to her mother, Hope Theresa Santiny, on her behalf. In addition to the issue of whether or not filiation had been proven by clear and convincing evidence, State Farm raises the issues of whether it was entitled to a jury trial and whether or not it was entitled to a credit for policy proceeds paid to another claim[1246]*1246ant, Rickye Brown’s mother, Charmon Bou-dreaux. We affirm.

Rickye, a sixteen-year-old, was riding with his friend Dean Pitre in a car belonging to Rodney Rigaud. Dean lost control of the car and smashed into a telephone pole. Both boys were killed.

State Farm is Rigaud’s insurer. It investigated the claim for Rickye’s death and learned that Rickye was survived by his mother, Charmon Boudreaux, and his father, Ronnye Brown, Sr. Rickye lived with his mother and stepfather, Philoman Bou-dreaux. Rickye was not married, and State Farm’s adjuster did not inquire about any illegitimate children Rickye might have had.

State Farm considered invoking a concur-sus proceeding because of the competing claims of Mrs. Boudreaux and Mr. Brown. However, it was able to settle Mrs. Bou-dreaux’s claim for $75,000.00, leaving it $25,000.00 for Mr. Brown’s claims.

In August of 1985, almost one year after the accident and five months after State Farm’s settlement with Mrs. Boudreaux, Hope sued State Farm on behalf of her minor daughter, Beth.

State Farm then refused to pay the remaining policy limits to Mr. Brown, and Mr. Brown sued. State Farm excepted on the grounds of no right of action, i.e. that Rickye was survived by a child; and Mr. Brown’s suit was apparently dismissed. State Farm then sued the Boudreauxs for reimbursement. [Mr. Boudreaux, although not Rickye’s father, had paid his medical and funeral expenses.] Hope’s suit for wrongful death damages and State Farm’s suit for reimbursement were consolidated. State Farm requested a jury, but this request was denied on the basis that filiation actions are not entitled to jury consideration. State Farm and Hope stipulated that State Farm’s policy limits were $100,000.00 and that Beth’s damages, if she was Rick-ye’s daughter, exceeded the policy limits.

The judge tried only the filiation action and did not rule on whether or not State Farm would be entitled to rescind its settlement with Mrs. Boudreaux.

Hope must prove Beth’s filiation to Rickye, since he is deceased, by clear and convincing evidence. La.C.C. art. 209 B. The evidence does not indicate that Rickye ever formally acknowledged Beth, so Hope must prove informal acknowledgement. The requirements for informal acknowl-edgement are not contained in legislation. Chatelain v. State of Louisiana, DOTD, 586 So.2d 1373 (La.1991); Succession of Matte, 346 So.2d 1345 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1977).

In discussing informal acknowledgment, appellate decisions have generally referred to the standards set forth in the original Article 209 [pre 1984 amendment, irrelevant to the instant decision] for proving paternity, such as the alleged father’s acknowledgment of the child in formal writings or in public or private conversations, causing the education of the child as his own, and living in concubinage with the mother in his home at the time of the child’s conception. Other conduct which has been considered to constitute informal acknowledgment by the alleged father include rearing the child in his home, naming the child in his will, giving the child his surname, and holding the child out in the community as his own.... Moreover, courts have been reluctant to recognize an informal acknowledgment for purposes of filiation unless the father has recognized the child as his own unequivocally and on several occasions....

Chatelain v. State of Louisiana, DOTD, supra at 1379.

We agree with the factual finding that Rickye was Beth’s father. Rickye was the only boy Hope was dating when she became pregnant. She frequently came to stay with Rickye in his room [Rickye’s parents were managing and living in a condominium in Grand Isle], and his parents sometimes had to chase her home in the early morning hours. Although Rickye’s older brother, Ronnye, was sometimes present in the room they shared, Ronnye’s girlfriend was there with him at those times. Both Rickye and Hope were high school students while they were dating. [1247]*1247When Hope became pregnant, she and Rickye went to her parents and then his about the impending birth. Mr. and Mrs. Boudreaux wanted the kids to get married, but Mrs. Santiny would not allow it because Rickye and Hope were too young. Hope and Rickye broke up when she was six months pregnant, partly because of his parents’ wishes but also partly because of some incident involving a boy Hope had dated briefly before she met Rickye. “Everyone”, that is friends of the couple and the community in general in Grand Isle, knew that Hope was carrying Rickye’s baby.

When Hope went to the hospital to give birth, Rickye asked Ronnye to go with her as a representative of the family because he thought someone from the family should be there. Mr. and Mrs. Boudreaux did not approve of Rickye’s going with her. Hope did not have Rickye’s name put on the birth certificate as Beth’s father because she understood from the hospital personnel that was not allowed because she and Rickye were not married. In addition, Hope’s father wanted the baby’s name to be “Santiny.” Friends of Hope and Rickye heard him talk about quitting school, getting his GED, and going to work so he could get married to Hope and support her and the baby.

A few days after the baby was born, Rickye called and asked if he could come and see the baby. He held Beth and cried. There is a photograph of him holding Beth at this time. Rickye continued to visit several times a week. The record also contains photographs showing a possible family resemblance between Rickye and Beth at various ages. Rickye told Hope they had a beautiful baby and that he would do everything he could to help. He kept a picture of Beth in his bedroom.

Rickye was sixteen years old'when he was killed, and Beth was about three months old. Rickye had a weekend job on a fishing boat and was killed returning from his first weekend on the job. The Boudreauxs called Hope to come to the wake; and Mrs. Boudreaux held Beth for comfort and cried, hoping that the baby would be a piece of her dead son. Beth’s photograph was placed in the coffin with Rickye, and Mrs. Boudreaux turned over to Hope money collected at the wake and Rickye’s $300 paycheck from his weekend of work. The Boudreauxs took Rickye’s body to Texas [Mrs. Boudreaux is originally from Texas] and paid for Hope’s and Beth’s plane fare. Hope was introduced at the funeral and visits to Mrs. Boudreaux’s family as the mother of Rickye’s child, Beth. There was an obituary card, which was probably also published in a newspaper, which notes that Rickye was survived by a child named Beth Lynn Santiny. In addition to the trip to Texas for the funeral, the Boudreauxs took Beth and Hope to visit family at Thanksgiving and Christmas, gave Beth presents, and saw Beth regularly until they moved away from Grand Isle, apparently about the same time Hope filed suit for damages. Since their return to Grand Isle, the Boudreauxs once again see Beth.

Mrs.

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Related

Santiny ex rel. Santiny v. Pitre
592 So. 2d 1336 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
591 So. 2d 1245, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 3483, 1991 WL 272523, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/santiny-ex-rel-santiny-v-pitre-lactapp-1991.