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The
following is the complete text of House Bill 756 of the 1997 Regular Session of the
Louisiana Legislature signed into law by Governor Foster on July 15, 1997 as Act 1380 of
1997. HB 1631 of the 1999 Regular Session provided amendments to the "Covenant
Marriage Act." HB 1631 was signed into law as Act 1298 of 1999. The complete text of
HB 1631 is provided in an Adobe pdf format. Click
here to review HB 1631.
AN ACT
To
amend and reenact Civil Code Articles 102 and 103 and R.S. 9:234 and 245(A)(1) and to
enact R.S. 9:224(C) and
225(A)(3), Part VII of Chapter 1 of Code Title IV of Code Book I of Title 9 of the
Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950,
comprised of R.S. 9:272 through 275, and R.S. 9:307, 308, and 309, all relative to
covenant marriages; to provide for a
declaration on the application for a marriage license; to provide prerequisites to
entering into a covenant marriage, including
counseling; to authorize the entering into a covenant marriage by couples already married;
to provide for indication thereof on
the marriage certificate; to provide the exclusive means to terminate a covenant marriage;
to provide with respect to
jurisdiction, venue, and incidental relief; and to provide for related matters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
Section 1. Civil Code Articles 102 and 103 are hereby amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
Art. 102. Judgment of divorce; living apart one hundred eighty days prior to rule
Except in the case of a covenant marriage, a divorce shall be granted upon motion of a
spouse when either spouse has filed a
petition for divorce and upon proof that one hundred eighty days have elapsed from the
service of the petition, or from the
execution of written waiver of the service, and that the spouses have lived separate and
apart continuously for at least one
hundred eighty days prior to the filing of the rule to show cause.
The motion shall be a rule to show cause filed after all such delays have elapsed.
Art. 103. Judgment of divorce; other grounds
Except in the case of a covenant marriage, a divorce shall be granted on the petition of a
spouse upon proof that:
(1) The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously for a period of six
months or more on the date the petition is
filed; or
(2) The other spouse has committed adultery; or
(3) The other spouse has committed a felony and has been sentenced to death or
imprisonment at hard labor.
Section 2. R.S. 9:234 and 245(A)(1) are hereby amended and reenacted and R.S. 9:224(C) and
225(A)(3) are hereby
enacted to read as follows:
224. Same; information required
* * *
C. In cases wherein the parties intend to contract a covenant marriage, the application
for a marriage license must also include
the following:
"We, [name of intended husband] and [name of intended wife], do hereby declare our
intent to contract a Covenant Marriage
and, accordingly, have executed a declaration of intent attached hereto."
225. Same; attachments
A. An application for a marriage license shall be accompanied by:
* * *
(3) If applicable, the declaration of intent for a covenant marriage, as provided in Part
VII of this Chapter.
* * *
234. Time and date; indication of covenant marriage
The official who issues the marriage license shall show on the face of it the exact time
and date of issuance.
The official shall also indicate on the marriage license whether the parties intend to
enter into a covenant marriage.
* * *
245. Marriage certificate
A.(1) The marriage certificate is the record prepared for every marriage on a form
approved by the state registrar of vital
records. It shall contain the information prescribed. On the face of the certificate shall
appear the certification to the fact of
marriage including, if applicable, a designation that the parties entered into a covenant
marriage, signed by the parties to the
marriage and by the witnesses, and the signature and title of the officiant.
* * *
Section 3. Part VII of Chapter 1 of Code Title IV of Code Book I of Title 9 of the
Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be
comprised of R.S. 9:272 through 275, is hereby enacted to read as follows:
PART VII. COVENANT MARRIAGE
272. Covenant marriage; intent; conditions to create
A. A covenant marriage is a marriage entered into by one male and one female who
understand and agree that the marriage
between them is a lifelong relationship. Parties to a covenant marriage have received
counseling emphasizing the nature and
purposes of marriage and the responsibilities thereto. Only when there has been a complete
and total breach of the marital
covenant commitment may the non-breaching party seek a declaration that the marriage is no
longer legally recognized.
B. A man and woman may contract a covenant marriage by declaring their intent to do so on
their application for a marriage
license, as provided in R.S. 9:224(C), and executing a declaration of intent to contract a
covenant marriage, as provided in
R.S. 9:273. The application for a marriage license and the declaration of intent shall be
filed with the official who issues the
marriage license.
273. Covenant marriage; contents of declaration of intent
A. A declaration of intent to contract a covenant marriage shall contain all of the
following:
(1) A recitation by the parties to the following effect:
"A COVENANT MARRIAGE
We do solemnly declare that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman who agree to
live together as husband and
wife for so long as they both may live. We have chosen each other carefully and disclosed
to one another everything which
could adversely affect the decision to enter into this marriage. We have received
premarital counseling on the nature, purposes,
and responsibilities of marriage. We have read the Covenant Marriage Act, and we
understand that a Covenant Marriage is
for life. If we experience martial difficulties, we commit ourselves to take all
reasonable efforts to preserve our marriage,
including marital counseling.
With full knowledge of what this commitment means, we do hereby declare that our marriage
will be bound by Louisiana law
on Covenant Marriages and we promise to love, honor, and care for one another as husband
and wife for the rest of our lives."
(2)(a) An affidavit by the parties that they have received premarital counseling from a
priest, minister, rabbi, clerk of the
Religious Society of Friends, any clergyman of any religious sect, or a marriage
counselor, which counseling shall include a
discussion of the seriousness of covenant marriage, communication of the fact that a
covenant marriage is a commitment for
life, a discussion of the obligation to seek marital counseling in times of marital
difficulties, and a discussion of the exclusive
grounds for legally terminating a covenant marriage by divorce or by divorce after a
judgment of separation from bed and
board.
(b) A notarized attestation, signed by the counselor and attached to or included in the
parties' affidavit, confirming that the
parties were counseled as to the nature and purpose of the marriage and the grounds for
termination thereof and an
acknowledging that the counselor provided to the parties the informational pamphlet
developed and promulgated by the office
of the attorney general, which pamphlet entitled the Covenant Marriage Act provides a full
explanation of the terms and
conditions of a covenant marriage.
(3)(a) The signature of both parties witnessed by a notary.
(b) If one or both of the parties are minors, the written consent or authorization of
those persons required under the Children's
Code to consent to or authorize the marriage of minors.
B. The declaration shall contain two separate documents, the recitation and the affidavit,
the latter of which shall include the
attestation either included therein or attached thereto. The recitation shall be prepared
in duplicate originals, one of which shall
be retained by the parties and the other, together with the affidavit and attestation,
shall be filed as provided in R.S. 9:272(B).
274. Covenant marriage; other applicable rules
A covenant marriage shall be governed by all of the provisions of Chapters 1 through 4 of
Title IV of Book I of the Louisiana
Civil Code and the provisions of Code Title IV of Code Book I of Title 9 of the Louisiana
Revised Statutes of 1950.
275. Covenant marriage; applicability to already married couples
A. On or after August 15, 1997, married couples may execute a declaration of intent to
designate their marriage as a covenant
marriage to be governed by the laws relative thereto.
B.(1) This declaration of intent in the form and containing the contents required by
Subsection C of this Section must be
presented to the officer who issued the couple's marriage license and with whom the
couple's marriage certificate is filed. If the
couple was married outside of this state, a copy of the foreign marriage certificate, with
the declaration of intent attached
thereto, shall be filed with the officer who issues marriage licenses in the parish in
which the couple is domiciled. The officer
shall make a notation on the marriage certificate of the declaration of intent of a
covenant marriage and attach a copy of the
declaration to the certificate.
(2) On or before the fifteenth day of each calendar month, the officer shall forward to
the state registrar of vital records each
declaration of intent of a covenant marriage filed with him during the preceding calendar
month pursuant to this Section.
C.(1) A declaration of intent to designate a marriage as a covenant marriage shall contain
all of the following:
(a) A recitation by the parties to the following effect:
"A COVENANT MARRIAGE
We do solemnly declare that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman who agree to
live together as husband and
wife for so long as they both may live. We understand the nature, purpose, and
responsibilities of marriage. We have read the
Covenant Marriage Act, and we understand that a Covenant Marriage is for life. If we
experience marital difficulties, we
commit ourselves to take all reasonable efforts to preserve our marriage, including
marital counseling.
With full knowledge of what this commitment means, we do hereby declare that our marriage
will be bound by Louisiana law
on Covenant Marriage, and we renew our promise to love, honor, and care for one another as
husband and wife for the rest of
our lives."
(b)(i) An affidavit by the parties that they have discussed their intent to designate
their marriage as a covenant marriage with a
priest, minister, rabbi, clerk of the Religious Society of Friends, any clergyman of any
religious sect, or a marriage counselor,
which included a discussion of the obligation to seek marital counseling in times of
marital difficulties and the exclusive grounds
for legally terminating a covenant marriage by divorce or by divorce after a judgment of
separation from bed and board.
(ii) A notarized attestation, signed by the counselor and attached to the parties'
affidavit, acknowledging that the counselor
provided to the parties the information pamphlet developed and promulgated by the office
of the attorney general, which
pamphlet entitled the Covenant Marriage Act provides a full explanation of the terms and
conditions of a covenant marriage.
(iii) The signature of both parties witnessed by a notary.
(2) The declaration shall contain two separate documents, the recitation and the
affidavit, the latter of which shall include the
attestation either included therein or attached thereto. The recitation shall be prepared
in duplicate originals, one of which shall
be retained by the parties and the other, together with the affidavit and attestation,
shall be filed as provided in Subsection B of
this Section.
Section 4. R.S. 9:307, 308, and 309 are hereby enacted to read as follows:
307. Divorce or separation from bed and board in a covenant marriage; exclusive grounds
A. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary and subsequent to the parties obtaining
counseling, a spouse to a covenant
marriage may obtain a judgment of divorce only upon proof of any of the following:
(1) The other spouse has committed adultery.
(2) The other spouse has committed a felony and has been sentenced to death or
imprisonment at hard labor.
(3) The other spouse has abandoned the matrimonial domicile for a period of one year and
constantly refuses to return.
(4) The other spouse has physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking the divorce or a
child of one of the spouses.
(5) The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation
for a period of two years.
(6)(a) The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation
for a period of one year from the
date the judgment of separation from bed and board was signed.
(b) If there is a minor child or children of the marriage, the spouses have been living
separate and apart continuously without
reconciliation for a period of one year and six months from the date the judgment of
separation from bed and board was
signed; however, if abuse of a child of the marriage or a child of one of the spouses is
the basis for which the judgment of
separation from bed and board was obtained, then a judgment of divorce may be obtained if
the spouses have been living
separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for a period of one year from the
date the judgment of separation from
bed and board was signed.
B. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary and subsequent to the parties obtaining
counseling, a spouse to a covenant
marriage may obtain a judgment of separation from bed and board only upon proof of any of
the following:
(1) The other spouse has committed adultery.
(2) The other spouse has committed a felony and has been sentenced to death or
imprisonment at hard labor.
(3) The other spouse has abandoned the matrimonial domicile for a period of one year and
constantly refuses to return.
(4) The other spouse has physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking the divorce or a
child of one of the spouses.
(5) The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation
for a period of two years.
(6) On account of habitual intemperance of the other spouse, or excesses, cruel treatment,
or outrages of the other spouse, if
such habitual intemperance, or such ill-treatment is of such a nature as to render their
living together insupportable.
308. Separation from bed and board in covenant marriage; suit against spouse;
jurisdiction, procedure, and incidental relief
A. Unless judicially separated, spouses in a covenant marriage may not sue each other
except for causes of action pertaining to
contracts or arising out of the provisions of Book III, Title VI of the Civil Code; for
restitution of separate property; for
separation from bed and board in covenant marriages, for divorce, or for declaration of
nullity of the marriage; and for causes
of action pertaining to spousal support or the support or custody of a child while the
spouses are living separate and apart,
although not judicially separated.
B.(1) Any court which is competent to preside over divorce proceedings, including the
family court for the parish of East
Baton Rouge, has jurisdiction of an action for separation from bed and board in a covenant
marriage, if:
(a) One or both of the spouses are domiciled in this state and the ground therefor was
committed or occurred in this state or
while the matrimonial domicile was in this state.
(b) The ground therefor occurred elsewhere while either or both of the spouses were
domiciled elsewhere, provided the
person obtaining the separation from bed and board was domiciled in this state prior to
the time the cause of action accrued
and is domiciled in this state at the time the action is filed.
(2) An action for a separation from bed and board in a covenant marriage shall be brought
in a parish where either party is
domiciled, or in the parish of the last matrimonial domicile.
(3) The venue provided herein may not be waived, and a judgment of separation rendered by
a court of improper venue is an
absolute nullity.
C. Judgments on the pleadings and summary judgments shall not be granted in any action for
separation from bed and board in
a covenant marriage.
D. In a proceeding for a separation from bed and board in a covenant marriage or
thereafter, a court may award a spouse all
incidental relief afforded in a proceeding for divorce, including but not limited to
spousal support, claims for contributions to
education, child custody, visitation rights, child support, injunctive relief and
possession and use of a family residence or
community movables or immovables.
309. Separation from bed and board in a covenant marriage; effects
A.(1) Separation from bed and board in a covenant marriage does not dissolve the bond of
matrimony, since the separated
husband and wife are not at liberty to marry again; but it puts an end to their conjugal
cohabitation, and to the common
concerns, which existed between them.
(2) Spouses who are judicially separated from bed and board in a covenant marriage shall
retain that status until either
reconciliation or divorce.
B.(1) The judgment of separation from bed and board carries with it the separation of
goods and effects and is retroactive to
the date on which the original petition was filed in the action in which the judgment is
rendered, but such retroactive effect shall
be without prejudice (a) to the liability of the community for the attorney fees and costs
incurred by the spouses in the action in
which the judgment is rendered, or (b) to rights validly acquired in the interim between
commencement of the action and
recordation of the judgment.
(2) Upon reconciliation of the spouses, the community shall be reestablished between the
spouses, as of the date of filing of the
original petition in the action in which the judgment was rendered, unless the spouses
execute prior to the reconciliation a
matrimonial agreement that the community shall not be reestablished upon reconciliation.
This matrimonial agreement shall not
require court approval.
(3) Reestablishment of the community under the provisions of this Section shall be
effective toward third persons only upon
filing notice of the reestablishment for registry in accordance with the provisions of
Civil Code Article 2332. The
reestablishment of the community shall not prejudice the rights of third persons validly
acquired prior to filing notice of the
reestablishment nor shall it affect a prior community property partition between the
spouses.
Section 5. The office of attorney general, Department of Justice shall, prior to August
15, 1997, promulgate an informational
pamphlet, entitled "Covenant Marriage Act", which shall outline in sufficient
detail the consequences of entering into a covenant
marriage. The informational pamphlet shall be made available to any counselor who provides
marriage counseling as provided
for by this Act.
Section 6. The provisions of Section 5 of this Act shall become effective upon signature
by the governor or, if not signed by the
governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature by the
governor, as provided in Article III,
Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If vetoed by the governor and subsequently
approved by the legislature, this Act
shall become effective on the day following such approval.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
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