Laviolette v. Laviolette, 128 So. 3d 1043

Dawn Laviolette filed for divorce from Rocky Laviolette in January 2011, and the parties discussed dividing community property before the divorce was finalized.
Two property-related documents were signed; the later one, May 12, 2011, titled Joint Stipulation of Community Property and Descriptive List, was notarized and filed with the court.
In February 2012 Dawn moved to enforce a settlement and obtain judgment approving the May 2011 document, arguing it reflected a written compromise of all community property issues under La. Civ. Arts. 3071-3072.
Rocky admitted signing the May 2011 document but claimed it was only for appraisal purposes, not for partition, and he denied reviewing it in detail.
The trial court found that the May 2011 document constituted an extrajudicial contract settling the property, and it entered a judgment of partition allocating assets and excluding the Carenero residence as Dawn’s separate property.
An amended judgment later purported to make the partition conveyances retroactive to May 11, 2011; Rocky challenged the amendment as an impermissible alteration of a final judgment under La.Code Civ.P. art. 1951.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the May 2011 document constitutes a valid extrajudicial partition agreement	Laviolette argues the May 2011 document evidences a mutual settlement of community property.	Laviolette contends the document improperly circumvents partition rules and is not a true partition.	No error; May 2011 document validly evidenced a mutual property settlement and supported partition.
Whether the amended judgment altering the partition was permissible	Amendment clarifies and enforces the May 2011 settlement.	Amendment constitutes an impermissible substantive alteration of a final judgment under Article 1951.	Amended judgment vacated as null.

Succession of Faget, 53 So.3d 414 (La. 2010) (matrimonial agreement classification and court-approval considerations for property dispositions)