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Abandonment Period for Cases Filed Prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Extended to Five Years by Recent Amendment of Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 561

by Laura L. Hart

2007 La. Acts No. 361 amended Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 561 to provide an exception to the abandonment period for cases filed before the landfall of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The amendment extends to five (5) years the abandonment period for cases that meet the requirements set forth in La. C.C.P. art. 561(2). Article 561 states, in pertinent part, as follows:

A.       (1) An action, except as provided in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, is abandoned when the parties fail to take any step in its prosecution or defense in the trial court for a period of three years, unless it is a succession proceeding:

            (a) Which has been opened;  

            (b) In which an administrator or executor has been appointed; or

            (c) In which a testament has been probated.

(2) If a party whose action is declared or claimed to be abandoned proves that the failure to take a step in the prosecution or defense in the trial court or the failure to take any step in the prosecution or disposition of an appeal was caused by or was a direct result of Hurricane Katrina or Rita, an action originally initiated by the filing of a pleading prior to August 26, 2005, which has not previously been abandoned in accordance with the provisions of Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph, is abandoned when the parties fail to take any step in its prosecution or defense in the trial court for a period of five years, unless it is a succession proceeding:

            (a) Which has been opened;

            (b) In which an administrator or executor has been appointed; or

            (c) In which a testament has been probated.

*         *         *         *         *

          (6) The provisions of Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph shall become null and void on August 26, 2010.

(Emphasis added).

            Therefore, Article 561 now provides a five (5) year abandonment period for cases if: (1) the actions were filed prior to August 26, 2005 and were not previously declared abandoned under the three (3) year abandonment period; and (2) the parties prove that their failure to take a step in the prosecution of the case were caused by or were the direct result of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita. To date, there have been no published decisions which indicate what evidence or proof would be adequate to support a party’s claim that their failure to take a step in the prosecution of the suit was caused by or was the direct result of the hurricanes.

            Notably, the extension of the abandonment period to five (5) years ends by statute on August 26, 2010. 

Full post as published by Louisiana Law Blog on November 15, 2007 (boomark / email).