Succession of Malone

589 So. 2d 520, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 2846, 1991 WL 226448
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 18, 1991
DocketNo. 90 CA 1034
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 589 So. 2d 520 (Succession of Malone) 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
Succession of Malone, 589 So. 2d 520, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 2846, 1991 WL 226448 (La. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

WATKINS, Judge.

The issues presented by this appeal are: (1) whether prescription of a promissory note was interrupted by partial payment; (2) whether various acts of a usufructuary amounted to renunciations of the usufruct; and (3) whether a unilateral, partial renunciation was permissible absent court order. The first issue of interruption of prescription was purely factual, and we will not disturb the trial court’s decision. Second, because the Louisiana Civil Code provides that a renunciation of usufruct must be express and written, we hold that a usu-fructuary must reduce to writing his clear intent to renounce the usufruct. Finally, we hold that a court order is unnecessary to effectuate a partial renunciation if the partial renunciation is acquiesced in by the naked owner.

On March 20, 1977, Cecilia Roccaforte Malone died intestate. She was survived by her spouse, Bernard L. Malone, Sr., and her only child, Bernard L. Malone, Jr. A judgment of possession dated May 3, 1977, put decedent’s son in possession as naked owner of decedent’s net estate and confirmed decedent’s surviving spouse as usu-fructuary.

The usufruct of Bernard L. Malone, Sr. over the property inherited by his son ended with the death of the usufructuary on June 28, 1987.

Mr. Malone, Sr. died testate. Rosalie Parrino and Bernard L. Malone, III were [522]*522named co-executors in his testament, and they qualified as such. The co-executors filed a sworn, detailed descriptive list. They included as an asset of the estate a promissory note made by Bernard L. Malone, Jr. and his wife in favor of his father, the decedent. The note in the amount of $17,500.00 bearing interest at the rate of twelve (12%) percent was dated November 16,1979. The co-executors did not list as a liability of the estate the value of consumables and nonconsumables which were inherited by Bernard L. Malone, Jr. from his mother.

Bernard L. Malone, Jr. filed two rules in his father’s succession proceeding with which we are concerned on appeal. The first was a rule to traverse the descriptive list by striking the promissory note on the ground that it had prescribed. The co-executors defended the rule on the basis of interruption of prescription by alleged payment of interest in 1984. The second rule filed by Mr. Malone, Jr. sought to have himself recognized as a creditor of the succession of his father.

The trial court ruled in favor of Bernard L. Malone, Jr., striking the note from the list of assets and listing the mover as a creditor of the succession in the amount of $114,165.95. The executrix, Ms. Parrino, has appealed. The appellee answered the appeal, seeking to have the judgment which awarded him legal interest on the $114,165.95 from the date of judicial demand amended to provide for interest from the date of death of the testator/usufructu-ary.

PRESCRIPTION

The promissory note of Mr. and Mrs. Malone, Jr., dated November 16, 1979, was prescribed on its face at the time of trial in 1989. See LSA-C.C. art. 3498 (five-year liberative prescription for a promissory note). The party attempting to collect on the note, namely the executrix, had the burden of proof that prescription had been interrupted or suspended. See Austin v. Perry, 325 So.2d 722 (La.App. 4th Cir.), writ denied, 329 So.2d 466 (La.1976). In an attempt to satisfy her burden, the executrix introduced evidence of two payments made by Mr. Malone, Jr. to Mr. Malone, Sr. in 1984. However, there was no evidence to connect the two payments with the promissory note. Furthermore, the unre-futed testimony of Mr. Malone, Jr. satisfactorily explained the nature of these two payments and negated any possibility of an inference being drawn that prescription had been interrupted or suspended by payment. Accordingly, we find no error in the ruling of the trial court.

PROPERTY SUBJECT TO USUFRUCT

The principles applicable to the usufruct of consumable things are stated in LSA-C.C. art. 538, as follows:

If the things subject to the usufruct are consumables, the usufructuary becomes owner of them. He may consume, alienate, or encumber them as he sees fit.. At the termination of the usufruct he is bound to pay to the naked owner either the value that the things had at the commencement of the usufruct or deliver to him things of the same quantity and quality.

This type of usufruct is explained further in the “Comments” to Article 538, which provide in part:

The usufruct of consumables is a real right that may be established for a limited duration only. The usufructuary acquires the ownership of the property subject to the usufruct, and, therefore, he is free to dispose of it as he sees fit, subject to certain obligations prescribed by law. The ownership of the usufructuary does not terminate with the usufruct; upon termination of the right, the usufructu-ary or his heirs, as the case may be, are merely under obligation to account to the naked owner.

The judgment of possession in the Succession of Cecilia Roccaforte Malone was rendered pursuant to a detailed descriptive list dated April 29, 1977. All of the assets on the list were community assets; the debts were divided into community debts and separate debts. Although the detailed descriptive list from Cecilia Roccaforte Malone’s succession was evidence in Mr. Malone’s succession that was highly relevant to a determination of what property was due the naked owner by the usufructuary’s estate, some adjustments to the list of as[523]*523sets and debts were necessary to reflect various transactions which transpired between the dates of death of the two spouses.1

After the hearing on the motions filed by Mr. Malone, Jr. in his father’s succession proceeding, the trial judge determined that the naked owner was due $114,165.95 from the succession of the usufructuary. Although we find that the record supports the conclusion by the trial court that Mr. Malone, Jr. carried his burden of proof that he was a creditor of his father’s succession, we also find that there is merit to a portion of appellant’s argument and that the amount of the judgment should be reduced accordingly.

Appellee has provided us with the analysis that he provided to the trial court,, as follows:

Value of consumables and non-consumables before taxes, etc. from the

succession of Cecilia Malone.$118,944.36

Advance rentals stipulated to.5,601.93

Funeral expenses uncontested.2,200.00

TOTAL $126,746.29

Less 12,580.34 2

NET $114,165.95

Appellant apparently accepts the amount of $114,165.95 as a starting point, but she argues that the following amounts should be deducted from that figure:

1. An attorney’s fee listed as a debt in the detailed descriptive list in the Succession of Cecilia Roccaforte Malone ... $ 5,872.41

2. Louisiana inheritance tax paid on the estate of Cecilia Roccaforte Malone... $ 2,641.47

3. A note owed by Mr. Malone, Jr. to his mother’s estate.$ 6,250.00

4. Federal estate tax paid on the estate of Cecilia Roccaforte Malone.$17,615.16

5. Cash advanced by Mr. Malone, Sr. to appellee and his wife to pay off a mortgage on their home.$40,803.59

6. Value of real property transferred by Mr. Malone, Sr. to appellee and his wife.$32,626.28

7.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Succession of Malone
596 So. 2d 553 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
589 So. 2d 520, 1991 La. App. LEXIS 2846, 1991 WL 226448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/succession-of-malone-lactapp-1991.