## Facts

- John Trahan owned a residence before marrying Betty Leger Trahan, making the house John’s separate property under Louisiana community-property rules.
- John and Betty married on August 28, 1975, and lived in the residence during the marriage.
- During the marriage, improvements were made to the home; although the amount and timing were disputed, the parties agreed a new roof was installed after the marriage.
- John purchased a homeowner’s insurance policy on the residence during the marriage in his name.
- Three or four months later, the home burned, and the insurer paid John $46,560 in proceeds (with $1,000 treated as an advance for which John did not seek repayment, leaving $45,560 at issue).
- John deposited the proceeds into a bank account he had maintained before the marriage in his name alone.
- Betty filed suit for separation from bed and board; John answered and sought partition of the community property by licitation (judicial sale).
- The trial court granted the separation, ordered the partition by licitation, and set credits to be paid from the sale/partition: $34,860 to John’s separate estate, $2,000 to Betty’s separate estate, and the remainder to be divided equally.
- Betty appealed, arguing that the insurance proceeds received during marriage should be classified as community property; John answered the appeal, contesting any credit to Betty’s separate estate.

## Issues

1. Whether fire-insurance proceeds received during marriage on a residence that was the husband’s separate property should be classified as the husband’s separate property or as community property.
2. Whether the trial court correctly calculated and allocated credits/reimbursements between the spouses’ separate estates and the community in partitioning the property after dissolution.

## Decision

- The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit affirmed the trial court’s judgment.
- The court upheld the classification of the bulk of the insurance proceeds as belonging to John’s separate estate because the policy proceeds were paid for the loss of John’s separately owned residence.
- The court also upheld the trial court’s allocation of credits and reimbursements, including the credit awarded to Betty’s separate estate and the equal division of the remainder.

## Legal Principles

- Property owned by a spouse before marriage is that spouse’s separate property.
- Insurance proceeds generally take the classification of the insured interest; proceeds paid for damage to or destruction of separate property are ordinarily separate property of the owning spouse, even if received during the community.
- Community funds or labor used to improve a spouse’s separate property do not convert the property to community; instead, they may give rise to a reimbursement/credit claim when the community is dissolved and partitioned.
- On appeal, factual determinations and credit allocations in a community-property partition are reviewed for manifest error, and they will be affirmed when supported by the record.

## Conclusion

Trahan v. Trahan affirms that fire-insurance proceeds paid during the marriage for the loss of a home owned by the husband before marriage were treated primarily as the husband’s separate property, with the community and each spouse’s separate estate protected through reimbursement-style credits rather than by reclassifying the proceeds as community property.


Trahan v. Trahan, 387 So. 2d 35 (1980)