ENROLLED
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 242
BY REPRESENTATIVES THOMAS AND MAGEE
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana State Law Institute to study the Bergeron standard applied
to requests to modify a considered decree of permanent custody as it compares to
similar standards in other states and make recommendations on the codification of
an appropriate standard.
WHEREAS, Civil Code Article 131 provides that in a proceeding for divorce or
thereafter, the court shall award custody of a child in accordance with the best interest of the
child; and
WHEREAS, as described in the revision comments of Civil Code Article 131, an
additional, jurisprudential requirement is imposed in actions to change custody decisions
rendered in considered decrees which was established by the Louisiana Supreme Court in
Bergeron v. Bergeron, 492 So.2d 1193 (La. 1986); and
WHEREAS, referred to as the Bergeron standard, the court held that "[w]hen a trial
court has made a considered decree of permanent custody the party seeking a change bears
a heavy burden of proving that the continuation of the present custody is so deleterious to
the child as to justify a modification of the custody decree, or of proving by clear and
convincing evidence that the harm likely to be caused by a change of environment is
substantially outweighed by its advantages to the child", Id. at 1200; and
WHEREAS, it is in the legislature's interest to codify an appropriate standard for
such considerations, whether that standard be a direct codification of the Bergeron standard
or an alternate standard; and
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WHEREAS, as part of its consideration of codification, it is in the legislature's
interest to determine how the Bergeron standard compares to similar standards in other
states.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana State Law Institute to
study the Bergeron standard as it compares to similar standards in other states and make
recommendations on the codification of an appropriate standard to be applied by Louisiana
courts in actions to modify custody decisions rendered in considered decrees and report its
findings, including any proposed legislation, no later than March 10, 2023.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana State Law Institute shall submit
one print copy and one electronic copy of any report produced pursuant to this Resolution
to the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library as required by R.S. 24:772.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the
director of the Louisiana State Law Institute.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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