Succession of Sylvester

181 So. 3d 250, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 125, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2478, 2015 WL 8521192
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 9, 2015
DocketNo. 15-CA-125
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 181 So. 3d 250 (Succession of Sylvester) 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 Sylvester, 181 So. 3d 250, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 125, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2478, 2015 WL 8521192 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

ROBERT A. CHAISSON, Judge.

IsThe instant appeal arises from an amended final judgment from the 24th Judicial District Court on a petition to partition properties in a decade-long succession dispute. Sharon Sylvester (“Sharon”), the decedent’s surviving spouse, appeals the trial court’s ruling which adopts the recommendations of the court-appointed special master regarding the denial of a usu-fruct in favor of Sharon, the classification of certain immovable property as separate or community, the inclusion of out-of-state immovable property in the design of lots for partition, and the calculation of reimbursements owed by Sharon to the estate for use of community funds. For the following reasons, we amend the decision of [252]*252the trial court in part and, as amended, affirm. We further reverse the decision of the trial court in part and remand this case for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Anthony Sylvester, Sr. (“Anthony”) died testate on January 9, 2005. At the time of his death, he was survived by his second wife, Sharon, to whom he was |3married from May 19, 2001, until his death. There were no children born of this marriage. Anthony was also survived by four natural born children from his first marriage, Anthony, Jr., Anita, Aaron, and Ashton, who are the sole legatees of his estate according to a notarial testament executed on March 17, 1997. His children have been represented in this succession dispute by their mother, Anthony’s first wife, Joyce M. Sylvester (“Joyce”), from whom he was divorced by judgment of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans dated October 19, 2000.1

Anthony was a plumber by .trade and owned a successful, business, Anthony’s Plumbing, LLC: At the. time of. his unexpected death in January of 2005, his estate consisted' of multiple immovable and movable assets including the following contested assets: .

• 2186 Daniels Road, Gretna, Louisiana — a residential property purchased - by Anthony and Sharon on June 8, 2001, and valued at $112,500.
• 1212-1214 South Rampart Street, Square 278, Lot 17 or 18, First Municipal District, Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana — a lot with a double shotgun style, residence purchased by Anthony on December 12, 2002, during his marriage to Sharon and valued at $105,100.
• 1216-1218 South Rampart Street, Square 278, Lot 17 or 18, First Municipal District, Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana — a lot purchased by Anthony on January '29, 2003, during his marriage to Sharon and valued at $13,200.
[⅜* 1208-1210 South Rampart Street, ' Square 278, Lot 17 or 18, First Municipal District, Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana — a lot with improvements purchased for $25,000 by Anthony’s Plumbing, LLC, on December 6, 2002.
• Two adjacent lots located in Pass Christian, Mississippi: Lot 92, Pass Christian, Harrison County, Mississippi, purchased by Anthony and Sharon and valued at $12,500, and Lot 75, Pass Christian, Harrison County, Mississippi, purchased by Anthony and Sharon and valued at $15,000.
• Two timeshare condominiums located near Disney . World in Kissimmee, Florida: Orange Lake Country Club, Week/Unit 47/86745, Kissimmee Flori- , da, purchased by Anthony and Sharon on January 6, 2004, and valued at $8,867, and Orange Lake Country Club, Week/Unit 23/2567, Kissimmee, Florida, purchased by Anthony and Sharon on April 10, 2003, and valued at $11,517.2
• Two Hibernia Bank accounts for Anthony’s Plumbing, LLC, with, funds at [253]*253the time of Anthony’s death: $75,245.99 in a checking account and $116,991.22 in a savings account.

Sharon opened succession proceedings on January 31, 2005, by filing in the 24th Judicial District Court of Jefferson Parish a petition to be appointed administratrix of the estate, a sworn descriptive list of assets, and an affidavit of death, heirship, and domicile. A few months later, in March of 2005, Joyce filed an opposition to Sharon’s application to be appointed ad-ministratrix, a petition for probate of the statutory testament, and Anthony’s last will and testament.3

liiThe case remained inactive for many years, and was not taken up again until October of 2009, when Joyce obtained a Judgment of Possession. Subsequently, recognizing that there were procedural defects in obtaining this judgment, Joyce moved to reopen the succession. On March 24, 2010, the parties reached a Consent Judgment whereby the Judgment of Possession was rescinded and Joyce and Sharon were named co-independent ad-ministratrices of the estate.

On November 19, 2010, Joyce, acting on behalf of her children and the estate, filed a petition to partition property held in co-ownership, the judgments on which form the basis for the instant appeal.

Due to the complexity of the legal and factual issues presented in this case, on February 17, 2011, the trial court appointed a special master, Mr. Beau Sagona, under La. R.S. 13:1465, to facilitate its resolution. Pursuant to this Special Master Order (to which the parties consented), the parties met with the special master and provided him with evidence to substantiate their claims. The special master submitted three process verbals to the court which detailed his findings of fact and conclusions of law-together with evidence to support .his conclusions. The third process verbal was subsequently amended.

The first process verbal filed into the record on January -5, .2012, limited the partition demand to the assets of the second community, denied Sharon a usufruct over the property that may have arisen under La. C.C. art. 890, made initial classification of the immovable properties as community or separate, and recommended these properties be partitioned by licitation. The first process verbal also identified a potential reimbursement claim owed by Sharon to the estate for funds withdrawn from the Anthony’s Plumbing, LLC checking and savings accounts, and gave the parties time.to submit additional evidence regarding the issue of reimbursements.

lfiThe second process verbal issued on June 14, 2012, addressed only the issue of reimbursements. At that time, neither party had submitted additional evidence with regard to reimbursement claims. The special master noted 'that while Anthony’s Plumbing, LLC-was separate property of the estate because Anthony organized it prior to his marriage to Sharon, the funds in the Anthony’s Plumbing accounts were presumed community funds.4 The special master also found that Sharon, who had access-to and signatory authority for these accounts, made, substantial withdrawals from them, and because the accounts had no present value, Sharon owed the estate for its share of the community funds withdrawn. Following this second [254]*254process verbal, the trial court issued a judgment on August 2, 2012, removing Sharon as a succession representative of the estate, appointing Joyce as sole executrix, and probating Anthony’s will.

On June 20, 2013, the special master submitted a third process verbal addressing classification of community and separate property and reimbursement claims. In it, he proposed partition-in-kind pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 4606.

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Related

Ton v. Ton
E.D. Louisiana, 2019
Succession of Sylvester
215 So. 3d 368 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
181 So. 3d 250, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 125, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2478, 2015 WL 8521192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/succession-of-sylvester-lactapp-2015.