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Varnado v. City of New Orleans
Citations: 219 So. 3d 411; 2016 La.App. 4 Cir. 1081; 2017 WL 1494015; 2017 La. App. LEXIS 740Docket: NO. 2016-CA-1081
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal; April 26, 2017; Louisiana; State Appellate Court
Judge Daniel L. Dysart affirmed the trial court's judgment that Melvin J. Owens, Jr. is the proper party to be substituted as plaintiff in the wrongful death lawsuit following the death of Patricia Varnado. The case originated from the 2004 death of Tommie Varnado, leading his widow, Patricia, and his adult children from a previous relationship to file separate but consolidated lawsuits against various defendants, including the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). After Patricia agreed to settle with DOTD in December 2012, she passed away on March 10, 2013, before a consent judgment was signed on March 20, 2013. Kenneth John Gaunichaux sought to substitute himself as the plaintiff, claiming marital rights to the settlement proceeds based on his marriage to Patricia in 2006. The trial court initially allowed this substitution. However, after questioning by DOTD regarding the validity of the consent judgment post-Patricia’s death, Melvin J. Owens, Jr. filed motions to vacate Gaunichaux's substitution, asserting that all damages awarded to Patricia were her separate property due to her intestate death and that he, as her sole heir, was entitled to the proceeds. A hearing on December 4, 2015, resulted in the trial court ruling in favor of Owens as the proper party to receive the settlement. Despite Gaunichaux's subsequent motion for reconsideration, which the court treated as a motion for a new trial, the motion was denied. Gaunichaux's appeal contends that La. Civ. Code art. 2315.1 should govern the distribution of damages, which entitles a surviving spouse and children to recover damages for wrongful death, affirming Owens' position as the rightful recipient of the settlement proceeds. Patricia Varnado’s death does not fall under the provisions of Art. 2315.1, as it was not caused by an offense or quasi offense. Her right to recover damages from the accidental death of Tommie Varnado accrued before her marriage to Mr. Gaunichaux, making those damages her separate property as defined by La. Civ. Code art. 2341. Upon Mrs. Varnado’s intestate death on March 10, 2013, the damages award became part of her estate and devolved according to intestacy laws, specifically La. Civ. Code Articles 880 and 888. Article 880 states that undisposed property of an intestate decedent passes to descendants, ascendants, collaterals, and the surviving spouse, while Article 888 affirms that descendants inherit from their ascendants. Consequently, the damages award, being Mrs. Varnado’s separate property, passed to her only descendant, Melvin J. Owens, Jr. The trial court correctly ruled that Melvin J. Owens, Jr. is the appropriate party to be substituted as plaintiff in the lawsuit and to receive the settlement proceeds according to Mrs. Varnado’s succession. The trial court's judgment is affirmed.