Valvoline Oil Co. v. Krauss
| Decision Date | 01 July 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 5517,5517 |
| Parties | VALVOLINE OIL COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Edward E. KRAUSS, Jr., et al., Defendant-Appellees--defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Patrick H. Wright, Jr., Monroe, and William G. Avery, Jonesville, for defendant-appellant.
Smith, Taliaferro, Seibert & Boothe, by J. W. Seibert, III, Jonesville, for defendant-appellee.
Armand F. Rabun, Farmerville, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before CULPEPPER, GUIDRY and BERTRAND, JJ.
This is a concursus proceeding filed by Valvoline Oil Company the purchaser of oil from a well drilled by Munoco Company in SW/4 of NW/4 Section 24, T.10 N., R.6 E., Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, to have determined the ownership of royalties allocable to a 1/2 interest (hereafter referred to as the Krauss interest) and a 1/40th interest (hereafter referred to as the Tigner interest) in such property. The title dispute surrounding the Krauss interest is unconnected with and bears no relation whatever to the title dispute surrounding the Tigner interest except that such interests stem from a common author in title. This matter was tried in the lower court only insofar as the Krauss interest is concerned, the matter insofar as the Tigner interest is concerned being still pending. On December 19, 1974 the trial court rendered judgment adjudicating the controversy as to the Krauss interest and ordered that the monies in the registry of the court allocable to the Tigner interest remain so deposited pending further judgment of the court. Although this matter has only been partially tried in the lower court the judgment of December 19, 1974, is a final appealable judgment insofar as it constitutes a complete adjudication as to the Krauss interest, the trial court retaining jurisdiction in the instant matter for the purpose of adjudicating the controversy surrounding the Tigner interest. See Devillier v. City of Opelousas, 243 So.2d 118 (La.App.3rd Cir. 1971).
The dispute as to the ownership of a 1/2 interest in the described acreage and which prompted the filing of this concursus proceeding arises as a result of the following, R. A. Stothart, husband of Josephine Stothart acquired a full interest in the property from Stewart Realty Company Inc. by deed dated January 9, 1942, recorded in Book 48, folio 452 entry number 30671 records of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Presumably, following his acquisition of the property R. A. Stothart encountered some financial difficulty as a result of which he entered into an agreement with Edward E. Krauss Sr. and H. G. Tigner which provided for a rather complex series of transactions designed to culminate in Krauss Sr.'s acquisition of the property at foreclosure sale following which Krauss Sr. was to deed a one-half interest in the property to H. G. Tigner, as trustee . One-half of the interest deeded to Tigner, as trustee, was to be retained by him for himself and his unnamed associates and the other one-half or a one-quarter interest in the property was to be held in an undisclosed trust for the benefit of R. A. Stothart. This agreement is dated January 8, 1947 and has never been recorded. A copy of this agreement was introduced in evidence as exhibit K--1 without objection there being no explanation given as to the whereabouts of the original.
On September 10, 1947 R. A. Stothart instituted suit in the District Court of Tulsa County, Oklahoma, seeking a divorce from his wife, Josephine Stothart. The suit referred to bears number D42175 of the docket of that court. On the same day, i.e., September 10, 1947, R. A. Stothart and his wife entered into a separation agreement and property settlement. This agreement reads in pertinent part as follows:
'. . . As to all other property of every kind and character, real, personal or mixed, now owned by the parties jointly or separately, or hereafter acquired by either party, and wheresoever located, shall become and be the separate property of the party in whose name the title now stands, or is taken of record, or has the possession thereof; and the respective owner of such separately owned property as herein defined shall have full and complete authority and right to manage and control same without interference by the other party, and shall also have the right to sell, mortgage, or lease for agricultural, grazing or oil and gas purposes, or otherwise to dispose of the same, or any part thereof, without the joinder of the other party in any instrument of conveyance, mortgage or lease thereof.'
On the 4th day of June, 1948, Mrs. Josephine Stothart, appeared in the aforesaid suit, and through counsel, filed answer alleging execution of the separation and property agreement of September 10, 1947 and specifically requested that portions of such agreement (those making reference to custody and support) be made a part of the final decree to be entered by the Oklahoma Court. Mrs. Stothart verified the answer by her sworn acknowledgment and annexed a certified copy of the separation and property agreement thereto. The certified copy of the agreement annexed to Mrs. Stothart's answer does not bear her signature but only that of Mr. Stothart. On July 14, 1948 judgment was rendered in the referenced matter dissolving the marriage between R. A. and Josephine Stothart. This judgment states as follows in regard to the property settlement agreement:
'IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the separation agreement and property settlement made and entered into on the 10th day of September 1947 between plaintiff and defendant, and made a part hereof by reference, be and the same is hereby ratified, approved and confirmed and made the judgment of this court, . . .'
A complete certified copy of the entire divorce proceeding was introduced in evidence at the trial of the instant matter as exhibit K--2.
On September 19, 1951 R. A. Stothart conveyed the subject forty acre tract to Edward E. Krauss Jr., such deed being recorded in the records of Catahoula Parish in Book 61 at folio 276. (See exhibit K--4). Following his acquisition as aforesaid and on March 14, 1958 Edward E. Krauss Jr. conveyed a 1/4th interest in said land to H. G. Tigner and others.
In July of 1969 William C. Nolan acquired oil, gas and mineral leases covering the disputed tract from Edward E. Krauss Jr. and from Josephine Stothart McDaniel, and her two children, Robert Austin Stothart and June Elizabeth Stothart Hodge, which leases were assigned by Nolan to Munoco Company. The lease granted by Krauss provides for the retention by lessor of a 1/6th royalty and that executed by the Stotharts provides for the retention by lessors of a 1/8th royalty. Munoco Company drilled a well on the subject tract which was completed as a commercially producing oil well on the 11th of June, 1971. Plaintiff, Valvoline Oil Company, began the purchase of production from the aforesaid well after its completion and because of the title dispute between Edward E. Krauss Jr. and the Stotharts instituted this concursus proceeding. Plaintiff has paid to E. E. Krauss Jr. the royalties attributable to a 1/4th interest (1/4 1/6 or a .041667) but deposited the royalties attributable to a 1/2 interest (1/2 1/6 or .083333) in the registry of court pending a determination of the conflict as between Krauss and the Stotharts.
In his answer to the petition of plaintiff Krauss alleged that his vendor R. A. Stothart acquired the subject tract from Stewart Realty Company Incorporated; although this land formed part of the community of acquets and gains which existed between R. A. Stothart and Josephine Stothart McDaniel, the former acquired the one-half interest of the latter in the property settlement agreement dated September 10, 1947, which was later confirmed by judgment of court dated July 14, 1948; and, by virtue of the deed to him from R. A. Stothart dated September 19, 1951 he acquired a full interest in the subject property. Krauss further alleged in answer that R. A. Stothart died on September 15, 1955 and that regardless of the fact a full interest in the subject tract was placed in his name, one-fourth of said property was in truth and fact owned by Robert A. Stothart and now belongs to his two children, Robert Austin Stothart and June Elizabeth Stothart Hodge. In this latter connection we digress at this point to note that by judgment of possession rendered in the matter of the Estate of Robert A. Stothart, No. 466 of the docket of the Seventh Judicial District Court for the Parish of Catahoula, the two children above named were recognized as the sole and only heirs of the decedent.
The Stotharts filed answer and allege that the subject property formed part of the community of acquets and gains which existed between R. A. and Josephine Stothart; that there never was a partition of the community the settlement agreement confirmed by the Oklahoma court never having been signed by Mrs. Josephine Stothart and being only a proposed settlement; that such agreement is otherwise invalid by reason of fraud; and, defendants, Robert Austin Stothart and June Elizabeth Stothart Hodge are owners of a one-fourth interest by virtue of the judicial admission contained in the answer of Edward E. Krauss Jr. Accordingly, these defendants contend that they collectively own an undivided 3/4th interest in the subject land, Mrs. Josephine Stothart owning a 1/2 interest and the Stothart children a 1/4th interest.
Without assigning reasons the district court decreed the disputed interest in the subject tract to be owned 1/2 by E. E. Krauss Jr. and 1/2 by the Stothart children and accordingly ordered the lessors' royalty under the Munoco leases allocable to this interest to be distributed as follows:
"Edward E. Krauss, Jr., husband of Beverly Nussbaum Krauss .. 041667
June Elizabeth Stothart Hodge .............................. 015625
Robert Austin Stothart ..................................... 015625
Munoco
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