White v. Morris
| Decision Date | 16 February 1959 |
| Docket Number | No. 43705,43705 |
| Citation | 109 So.2d 87,236 La. 767 |
| Parties | Dianne Buchanan WHITE v. E. R. MORRIS, Jr. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Helen K. Overton, Richard Kilbourne, Clinton, for plaintiff-appellant.
William T. Bennett, Clinton, Benton & Moseley, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee.
The plaintiff is appealing from a judgment dismissing her demands for accrued alimony awarded under a judgment granting her a separation from bed and board.
The plaintiff alleges in her petition that the defendant is indebted to her in the sum of $6,885, accrued alimony, under a judgment obtained on November 6, 1952, in the Twentieth Judicial District Court granting her a separation from bed and board and awarding her the sum of $35 weekly for the support of the two minor children, issue of the marriage between her and the defendant. She alleges that the defendant has made no payment of the alimony from the date of the judgment until January, 1955.
The defendant answered and averred that he had complied with the judgment and that, therefore, he was not indebted to the plaintiff. This averment is based on the fact that the plaintiff had complied with the judgment up until the time a final divorce was granted on January 21, 1954 wherein the judgment granting the divorce made no provision for the payment of alimony. He further averred that he has been paying $30 per month for the support of the two children since January 10, 1955, in pursuance to his conviction on a charge of criminal neglect or non-support of the children.
During the course of the trial of the case in the lower court, the defendant moved to dismiss the suit on the ground that the claim for accrued alimony had prescribed and interposed an exception of no right or cause of action to plaintiff's petition. Upon hearing the merits of the case, the trial judge gave judgment dismissing plaintiff's suit.
We find from the record that the plaintiff obtained the judgment of separation from bed and board on November 6, 1952, wherein she was awarded the custody of the children and the defendant was condemned to pay the sum of $35 weekly for the support of the two minor children. On January 21, 1954, the plaintiff was granted a judgment of final divorce but no mention was made therein as to the payment of alimony or as to the custody of the children.
The sole question presented on this appeal is whether the plaintiff can enforce the payment of alimony awarded under a judgment of separation from bed and board, or, in other words, alimony granted pendente lite, after a final judgment of divorce has been rendered wherein no provision for the payment of alimony is made.
The plaintiff contends that the award of alimony granted in the judgment of separation from bed and board for support of the minor children does not cease upon the rendition of a final judgment of divorce, although it makes no provision for the payment of alimony, since there is a continuing...
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Golson v. Golson
... ... Thornton v. Floyd, 229 La. 237, 85 So.2d 499 (1956); White v. Morris, 236 La. 767, 109 So.2d 87 (1959); Kennedy v. Kennedy, 261 So.2d 657 (La.App.4th Cir., 1972); Starkey v. Starkey, 209 So.2d 593 ... ...
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Lewis v. Lewis
...or divorce, automatically terminates upon divorce. La.C.C. arts. 148, 160; Golson v. Golson, 351 So.2d 100 (La.1977); White v. Morris, 236 La. 767, 109 So.2d 87 (1959); Bienvenue v. Bienvenue, 186 La. 429, 172 So. 516 (1937); Bowsky v. Silverman, 184 La. 977, 168 So. 121 (1936). Accordingly......
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Viser v. Viser
...lite, terminates upon rendition of a Final judgment of divorce in which no provision for the payment of alimony is made; White v. Morris, 236 La. 767, 109 So.2d 87. We are, therefore, of the opinion that plaintiff-appellant is entitled to a judgment for all past due and unpaid semimonthly i......
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Webb v. Webb
...3rd Cir. 1975), writ denied 313 So.2d 240 (La.1975); Kennedy v. Kennedy, 261 So.2d 657 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1972); White v. Morris, 236 La. 767, 109 So.2d 87 (1959); Thornton v. Floyd, 229 La. 237, 85 So.2d 499 (1956). In other words, separation and divorce are separate and distinct actions, t......