## Facts

- Henry Fairrow bought a tract of immovable property in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, and took title in his name alone.
- At the time of the purchase, Fairrow was living with Laura King on the property, but they were not married to each other.
- King was employed and earning wages during the relationship; Fairrow was not working during at least part of that time.
- King was legally married to Horace Marves during her relationship with Fairrow and had children with Marves.
- After Fairrow and King ended their relationship, Fairrow married Ora Dee Fairrow; they had two surviving children (the plaintiffs).
- After Fairrow’s death, his children sued King’s heirs (the defendants) seeking a declaratory judgment that King and her heirs had no right, title, or interest in the property titled to Fairrow.
- The defendants relied on assertions that King’s earnings and efforts helped pay for the property and its upkeep (including taxes and improvements) while she lived there with Fairrow.

## Issues

1. Whether the heirs of an unmarried cohabitant can establish an ownership interest in immovable property titled solely in the other cohabitant’s name based on alleged contributions of wages, labor, and payments made during the relationship.
2. Whether the defendants’ affidavits and other summary-judgment submissions raised a genuine issue of material fact on ownership sufficient to defeat the record-title holder’s heirs’ motion for summary judgment.

## Decision

- The court affirmed summary judgment in favor of Fairrow’s children.
- The court held that King’s heirs failed to produce competent evidence of a legally recognized basis to grant King (and thus her heirs) any ownership interest in the immovable property titled solely to Fairrow.
- The court concluded that allegations that King contributed money or labor during an unmarried relationship did not, without a valid legal act or other recognized source of a real right, create co-ownership of the immovable.
- The court found no genuine issue of material fact that would prevent judgment as a matter of law declaring that King’s heirs had no right, title, or interest in the property.

## Legal Principles

- A Louisiana community property regime arises from a valid marriage; cohabitation alone does not create community ownership rights in immovable property.
- Ownership or transfer of rights in immovable property generally must be established by legally effective written acts (and, as to third parties, by the public records), not by informal understandings or after-the-fact assertions.
- A party opposing summary judgment must present specific, admissible evidence showing a genuine issue of material fact; general claims of having paid expenses or performed labor, without a legal mechanism creating a real right, do not defeat summary judgment on title.
- Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law under La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 966.

## Conclusion

The Louisiana Third Circuit affirmed a declaratory judgment quieting title in Henry Fairrow’s heirs because Laura King never married Fairrow and her heirs did not show any legally effective act or recognized property doctrine giving King an ownership interest in the immovable titled solely to Fairrow; the defendants’ evidence of alleged contributions did not create a triable issue on ownership.


Fairrow v. Marves, 862 So. 2d 1234 (2003)