Magnon v. Magnon

Full title: JESSICA ALLEMAN MAGNON v. JEREMIAH MAGNON

Court: Court of Appeals of Louisiana, Third Circuit

Date published: Dec 6, 2023

375 So. 3d 1053 (La. Ct. App. 2023)

Opinion

12-06-2023

Jessica Alleman MAGNON v. Jeremiah MAGNON

John W. Tilly, William A. Keaty, II, Keaty & Tilly, LLC, 2701 Johnston Street, Suite 307, Lafayette, LA 70503, (337) 347-8995, COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE: Jessica Alleman Lahood Robert C. Lowe, Paula Hamilton Lee, Lowe Stein LLC, 701 Poydras Street, Suite 3600, New Orleans, LA 70139, (504) 581-2450, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT: Jeremiah Magnon Barry Joseph Sallinger, Barry J. Sallinger, APLC, 820 East St. Mary Boulevard, Suite 1, Lafayette, LA 70503, (337) 235-5791, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE: South Side Towing, LLC, Breaking Barriers, LLC Don Landry, District Attorney, 15 th Judicial District, Shane Mouton, Special Assistant District Attorney, Post Office Box 2609, Lafayette, LA 70502, (337) 235-0751, COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: State of Louisiana

STILES, Judge.

APPEAL FROM THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF LAFAYETTE, NO. C-20144742, HONORABLE KRISTIAN EARLES, DISTRICT JUDGE

John W. Tilly, William A. Keaty, II, Keaty & Tilly, LLC, 2701 Johnston Street, Suite 307, Lafayette, LA 70503, (337) 347-8995, COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE: Jessica Alleman Lahood

Robert C. Lowe, Paula Hamilton Lee, Lowe Stein LLC, 701 Poydras Street, Suite 3600, New Orleans, LA 70139, (504) 581-2450, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT: Jeremiah Magnon

Barry Joseph Sallinger, Barry J. Sallinger, APLC, 820 East St. Mary Boulevard, Suite 1, Lafayette, LA 70503, (337) 235-5791, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE: South Side Towing, LLC, Breaking Barriers, LLC

Don Landry, District Attorney, 15^th Judicial District, Shane Mouton, Special Assistant District Attorney, Post Office Box 2609, Lafayette, LA 70502, (337) 235-0751, COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: State of Louisiana

Court composed of Sharon Darville Wilson, Gary J. Ortego, and Wilbur L. Stiles, Judges.

STILES, Judge.

₁The trial court ordered Appellant Jeremiah Magnon to pay Appellee Jessica Alleman Magnon (now Jessica Lahood) an equalizing payment in the amount of $155,936.19, following the partition of the community of acquets and gains formerly existing between the parties. Mr. Magnon appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Mr. Magnon and Ms. Lahood were married in August 2002. During the course of the marriage, the parties owned and operated Imperial Consulting, LLC, a safety consulting and training business.

Ms. Lahood filed a petition for divorce on September 16, 2014. The couple owned two homes at that time. In November 2014, Ms. Lahood was granted exclusive use of the home located on Marteau Road in Youngsville, whereas Mr. Magnon was granted exclusive use of the home located on Gauraud Road in Abbeville. Each party was awarded the fair market rental value of the home in which the other party resided. Moreover, Mr. Magnon was ordered to provide the utilities and mortgage payments on the Marteau Road property, the residence granted to Ms. Lahood. He was also ordered to provide payments and insurance on the 2014 Ford Explorer driven by Ms. Lahood.

The following month, December 2014, Mr. Magnon purportedly sold Imperial Consulting to a third-party, his brother-₂in-law, but did not provide Ms. Lahood with proceeds from the sale. Suggesting that Mr. Magnon’s dissolution of Imperial Consulting was mere artifice, Ms. Lahood noted that Mr. Magnon continued to pay community expenses and his child support obligation from the new iteration of the business for a number of years.

The trial court rendered a judgment of divorce on November 23, 2015. The community formerly existing between the parties was terminated retroactive to the filing date of the petition for divorce in September 2014.

Mr. Magnon filed a petition for judicial partition of the community property in January 2016. With the petition pending, the parties’ community obligations continued to evolve through several hearing officer conferences. Ms. Lahood, for instance, made the mortgage payments on the Marteau Road property but, in October 2018, Mr. Magnon was granted exclusive use of the home. Ms. Lahood was therefore granted a rental reimbursement claim for the home. Those rulings were reduced to judgment in October 2018.

Although Mr. Magnon was represented by counsel in early proceedings, he began representing himself in 2019 as the parties continued to work toward the valuation and partition of their community property. The parties ultimately narrowed the remaining contested issues by the execution of a Final Joint Detailed Descriptive List in June 2022. In addition to the two ₃residences, the parties identified that a 2014 Ford Explorer remained "To be sold" and that the "Value of Imperial Consulting" remained to be determined. The parties also quantified their respective reimbursement claims. The parties subsequently entered into a Consent Judgment, agreeing that both residences would be listed and sold. They further agreed to sell the 2014 Ford Explorer.

When the community property issues were heard on October 31, 2022, the trial court was largely asked to resolve the parties’ reimbursement claims. Only the Marteau Road property and immovable property owned by Imperial Consulting remained at issue as the Gauraud Road property and the 2014 Ford Explorer had been sold by that time.

In written reasons for ruling, the trial court rejected Mr. Magnon’s contention that he had dissolved Imperial Consulting on December 5, 2014 that he therefore did not owe Ms. Lahood reimbursement for that asset. The trial court explained that, although Jeremiah attempted to unilaterally dissolve the LLC by affidavit, La.R.S. 12:1335.1 permits dissolution by that procedure only if the LLC "is no longer doing business, owes no debts, and owns no immovable property[.]" However, the trial court recognized that Imperial Consulting owns immovable property in Broussard. Finding Mr. Magnon’s dissolution of "no effect[,]" the trial court determined that Ms. Lahood "is entitled to ½ of the value ₄of the company and the immovable property it owned." Referencing the reports of Ms. Lahood’s accountant and appraiser, the trial court awarded Ms. Lahood $53,000.00 for her share of Imperial Con- suiting and $88,500.00 for her one-half share of its immovable property.