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FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE NEWS RELEASE # 14 FROM: CLERK OF SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA The Opinions handed down on the 2nd day of March, 2005 , are as follows:

BY VICTORY, J .: 2004-C -1314 C/W 2004-C -1756

VICKI COUDRAIN LANZA v. LOUIS LANZA (Parish of Orleans) For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the court of appeal is affirmed and the matter is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion. AFFIRMED; REMANDED. JOHNSON, J., concurs.

03/02/2005

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 04-C-1314 c/w No. 04-C-1756 VICKI COUDRAIN LANZA VERSUS LOUIS LANZA ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH CIRCUIT, PARISH OF ORLEANS

VICTORY, J. The issues presented in these two consolidated writ applications are (1) whether a State Farm Agency is community property subject to partition and, if not, (2) whether an ex-spouse is entitled to any portion of renewal commissions or "service compensation" received by the insurance agent spouse after termination of the community on insurance policies written during the community. After reviewing the record and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeal and hold that the State Farm Agency is not community property subject to partition, but that the ex-spouse is entitled to the portion of renewal commissions received after termination of the community to the extent that these commissions were the result of effort, skill, or industry of the insurance agent spouse during the community. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Louis Lanza and Vicki Lanza, now Vicki Coudrain, were married on August 1, 1975. On January 23, 1981, Mr. Lanza signed an Agent's Acceptance of Agreement to become a State Farm agent pursuant to the terms and conditions set out in a document entitled "State Farm Agent's Agreement." Mr. Lanza then began operation of the Lou Lanza State Farm Agency (the "Agency"). A Petition for

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Divorce was filed on September 11, 1997, and a Consent Judgment of Divorce was entered into on August 12, 1998, based on the parties having lived apart for the requisite time period. Mr. Lanza has remained a State Farm agent after the divorce. The parties were unable to reach an agreement as to the partition of community property, particularly as to whether the Agency managed by Mr. Lanza or any benefits derived therefrom are community property subject to partition. After a three-day trial, the trial court first found the Agency was "a non-entity" and therefore, "not a `thing' which is subject to partition." The trial court then rendered judgment in favor of Mr. Lanza on March 7, 2003, with the decree "that the State Farm agency, including any income earned by Mr. Lanza after the filing of the Petition for Divorce, is not property subject to partition, nor is it community property to which [Ms. Coudrain] holds an ownership interest." The court of appeal affirmed the portion of the judgment that held that the Agency was a non-entity and not a "thing" under the La. Civil Code subject to partition, but reversed the judgment with respect to whether "any income earned by Mr. Lanza after the filing of the Petition of Divorce" is property subject to partition or community property to which Ms. Coudrain holds an ownership interest, finding that Ms. Coudrain is entitled "to at least a portion of the renewal commissions from polices written during the existence of the community property regime." Lanza v. Lanza, 03-1382 (La. App. 4 Cir. 4/28/04), 874 So. 2d 890. The case was remanded to determine the extent to which the renewal commissions are the result of Mr. Lanza's effort, skill, or industry during the existence of the community property regime. We granted Ms. Coudrain's writ application which assigns as error that the appellate court erred in affirming the trial court's determinations that the Agency is a non-entity and not a "thing" under the La. Civil Code subject to partition and that the Agency was not community property in

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which Ms. Coudrain had an ownership interest. Lanza v. Lanza, 04-1314 (La. 10/8/04), 883 So. 2d 1025. We granted and consolidated Mr. Lanza's writ

application which assigns as error that the appellate court erred in overruling the trial court's determination that Ms. Coudrain was not entitled to any income earned by Mr. Lanza after the filing of the Petition for Divorce. Lanza v. Lanza, 04-1756 (La. 10/8/04), 883 So. 2d 1024. DISCUSSION Is the Agency community property subject to partition? Ms. Coudrain asserts two theories to support her position that the Agency is community property subject to partition.1 First, she argues that the lower courts erred in finding that the Agency was a "non-entity" and not a "thing" subject to partition because the proper inquiry is whether the Agency is "property," which she argues is anything that meets the definition of the "patrimony" of Mr. Lanza. Second, she argues that the Agency is a "community enterprise" under La. C.C. art. 2369.3, in which she is entitled to share in the co-owned income generated thereby. Before an asset can be classified as community or separate, it must first be identified as "property." Hare v. Hodgkins, 586 So. 2d 118, 122 (La. 1991). Ms. Coudrain argues that "property" comprises not just "things" but is defined in the broadest sense of the word as follows: the word property is used broadly to denote rights forming part of a person's patrimony, and narrowly rights conferring on a person a direct and immediate authority for the use and enjoyment of a thing that is susceptible of appropriation. Thus, leases, contractual or delictual causes of action, interests in pension plans, the rights to pursue employment and to conduct a business, and uncopyrighted designs are property in the broad sense. All real rights, such as ownership, personal
Under this theory, Ms. Coudrain argues that all income generated by the former "community enterprise" is income which is co-owned by Mr. Lanza and Ms. Coudrain until the "community enterprise" is partitioned. This would include both "renewal commissions" earned following termination of the community on policies first issued during the marriage as well as commissions earned on policies issued post-termination. 3
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servitudes, predial servitudes, and mineral servitudes, are property in the narrow sense. 2 A. N. Yiannaopoulos, Louisiana Civil Law Treatise, Property,

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