2024 Regular Session ENROLLED SENATE BILL NO. 29 BY SENATOR MILLER (On Recommendation of the Louisiana State Law Institute) 1 AN ACT 2 To amend and reenact R.S. 9:374(G)(2) and to enact R.S. 9:375(C), relative to the allocation 3 of community property; to provide for factors for consideration in allocating 4 community property; to provide for attorney fees; and to provide for related matters. 5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana: 6 Section 1. R.S. 9:374(G)(2) is hereby amended and reenacted and R.S. 9:375(C) is 7 hereby enacted to read as follows: 8 §374. Possession and use of family residence or community movables or 9 immovables 10 * * * 11 G. (1) * * * 12 (2) The court shall determine allocation of community property after 13 considering: 14 (a) The custody of the children and exclusive use and occupancy of the 15 family residence. 16 (b) The total community property, including the liquidity of community 17 assets, and spousal management rights in community assets and liabilities. 18 (c) The need of a spouse for funds to maintain a household prior to partition. 19 (d) The need of a spouse to receive legal representation during the course of 20 the proceedings. 21 (e) The history of domestic abuse during the marriage. 22 (f) The history of financial control by one of the spouses during the 23 marriage. 24 * * * 25 §375. Award of attorney fees 26 * * * 27 C. In an action in accordance with R.S. 9:374, the court may award Page 1 of 2 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 29 ENROLLED 1 attorney fees and costs when it determines that either party has caused 2 unreasonable delay. 3 Revision Comments – 2024 4 A party's failure to respond to a court order amounts to contempt of court and 5 is punishable under the provisions of Louisiana law. See, e.g., Code of Civil 6 Procedure Article 221 et seq. This revision extends the availability of attorney fees 7 and costs beyond acts involving contempt of court to frivolous filings and purposeful 8 unreasonable delay. Attorney fees and costs are not available for delays that are 9 intentional but reasonable. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA APPROVED: Page 2 of 2 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions.