## Facts

- Pierre Valcour Miller co-owned, in indivision, immovable property in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, with multiple other co-owners and mineral interest holders.
- The property included three areas known as the West Club District, Sweeney District, and Baker District, each protected by levees.
- Miller alleged the levees had been breached and/or required maintenance and repair to preserve the property and prevent saltwater intrusion.
- Miller contended the contemplated levee work and related permitting/mitigation costs would constitute “necessary expenses” or “expenses for ordinary maintenance and repairs” under Louisiana Civil Code article 806.
- Miller had not performed or paid for the repairs; instead, he sought declaratory relief establishing that, if he completed and paid for the work, he would be entitled to proportionate reimbursement from the other co-owners.
- Defendants challenged the petition through exceptions and/or answers, including denials that the proposed repairs were necessary.

## Issues

1. Whether the pleadings alleged an actual, justiciable controversy sufficient for declaratory relief, rather than an impermissible advisory opinion.
2. Whether a co-owner may obtain a declaratory judgment about the article 806 characterization of proposed expenditures before incurring them, or whether article 806 requires expenses to be incurred before any judicial determination may be sought.

## Decision

- The court of appeal reversed the judgment sustaining the exception of no cause of action and remanded.
- The court held the petition stated a cause of action for declaratory judgment because the parties’ dispute over the necessity of the work and reimbursement obligations presented an actual controversy.
- The court concluded that, although article 806 reimbursement is triggered only after expenses are incurred, that timing does not bar a present declaration of the parties’ rights and obligations contingent on future expenditures.

## Legal Principles

- Declaratory relief is available to declare rights, status, and other legal relations where there is an actual controversy or antagonistic claims indicating imminent litigation.
- The existence of another remedy does not necessarily preclude declaratory relief, and declaratory judgment provisions are to be liberally construed to reduce uncertainty regarding legal relations.
- Louisiana Civil Code article 806 grants a co-owner who incurs necessary expenses or ordinary maintenance and repair expenses a right to reimbursement from other co-owners in proportion to their shares.
- A litigant may seek a declaration concerning whether contemplated expenditures would qualify under article 806, even though the separate reimbursement claim for money would arise only after the expenses are actually incurred.

## Conclusion

The court held that a co-owner may pursue declaratory relief to determine whether proposed levee-repair expenditures would qualify as reimbursable expenses under Civil Code article 806, because a concrete dispute over necessity and reimbursement presented a justiciable controversy notwithstanding that the expenses had not yet been incurred.


Miller v. Seven C’s Props., L.L.C., 800 So. 2d 406 (La. Ct. App. 3d Cir. 2001)