Ward v. Trimble
| Decision Date | 15 January 1945 |
| Docket Number | 6758. |
| Citation | 20 So.2d 765 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
| Parties | WARD v. TRIMBLE et ux. |
Ward T. Jones and Wiley R. Jones, both of Alexandria, for appellant.
K Hundley, of Alexandria, for appellee.
This is a suit on open account wherein plaintiff, the proprietor and sole owner of a hardware establishment, seeks to recover from defendants, husband and wife, alleging that they are obligated, jointly, severally and in solido, for payment of said account.
An exception of no cause or right of action was filed on behalf of the defendant wife, Mrs. Ada Trimble, which exception was sustained, and it is from this judgment that plaintiff brings this appeal.
Plaintiff's petition alleges that the merchandise, consisting of household goods and furnishings, was purchased by defendants that defendants had the use and enjoyment of the property since its purchase, and that the purchased property constituted necessaries for the payment of which the defendant husband was responsible. Plaintiff claims a vendor's lien and privilege upon the merchandise, but no sequestration was sought. In the alternative, in the event the defendant husband should not be held liable, plaintiff prayed for judgment against the defendant wife 'by reason of her use and enjoyment of the said merchandise following her separation from her said husband'.
Accepting the allegations of the plaintiff's petition as true, for the purpose of disposing of the exception, it is apparent that one or the other of defendants purchased said merchandise which was charged to an account that had been used for several years by both husband and wife.
Under the provisions of Article 2403 of the Civil Code and the jurisprudence bearing on said article, it is well established that debts contracted during marriage are community obligations for which the wife is not personally liable. It is elementary that the husband as head and master of the community is responsible for its obligations and debts.
Counsel for plaintiff, while earnestly and zealously opposing the correctness of the judgment appealed from, relies upon only one case as authority, namely, Kennedy v. Bossiere (Bossiere v. Kennedy et al.), 16 La.Ann. 445. Counsel cites the above case in support of his claim that a debt made during marriage is a debt of the wife or of the husband for which one or the other must be liable. We do not find that the cited case is...
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McDONALD v. SENN
...Under the statutes of Louisiana the wife alone is liable for her torts. Adams v. Golson, 187 La. 363, 174 So. 876. And see Ward v. Trimble, La.App., 20 So.2d 765; Fairbanks, Morse & Co. v. Bordelon, La.App., 198 So. 391; Adams v. Golson, 187 La. 363, 174 So. 876; Matulich v. Crockett, La.Ap......
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Rouchon v. Rocamora
...from the judgment. She has filed an exception of no cause or right of action in this court. The exception must be maintained. Ward v. Trimble, La.App., 20 So.2d 765. The contract for housing was a contract for necessities for which the husband is liable as head and master of the community. ......
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Neiman-Marcus Co. v. Viser
...citation of authority, we, nonetheless, point out that this court squarely decided the issue presented in the instant case in Ward v. Trimble, La.App., 20 So.2d 765. (Cited by the Orleans Court of Appeal in Rouchon v. Rocamora, La.App., 84 So.2d 873, and by the First Circuit Court of Appeal......
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Ellis v. White
...absence of same the wife will not be held liable. Some of the decisions holding the wife not liable for community debts are Ward v. Trimble, La.App., 20 So.2d 765; Breau v. Decuir, La.App., 49 So.2d 495; Poindexter v. Louisiana & A. R. Co., 170 La. 521, 128 So. 297; and Fairbanks, Morse & C......