Lavallais v. James

STOKER, Judge.

The issue in this case is whether a trial court can award the tutorship and custody of an orphaned minor to a stranger without first disqualifying any petitioning relatives which fall within the classes enumerated in LSA-C.C. art. 263. This is an appeal from a judgment awarding custody of the ten-year-old orphaned minor Laverne Michelle Simon to defendant, Mrs. Leela James. Plaintiffs-appellants are Mary Lavallais, Laverne’s paternal aunt, and Mary’s husband, Ophelia Lavallais.1

Laverne Simon was adopted as an infant by Jolean and Sylvan Simon. Upon Jolean Simon’s death Sylvan…