Louisiana § RS 44:321 - Petition and service

§ RS 44:321. Petition and service

Any person may re-establish and revive any deed, bond, mortgage, judgment, contract, or any other instrument or writing, of any kind or nature whatsoever, which was of record, or deposited in any public office, or held in any courthouse or in any other office or building, for the purpose of recordation in the proper office in the parish, and which was destroyed by fire or any other way, by following the procedure set forth as follows:

(1)  He must apply to the district court of the parish by petition under oath, in which he shall describe the instrument or document sought to be revived with as much certainty as possible.

(2)  If defendant is a resident, the petition, with a citation, shall be served on him as having an interest adverse to the plaintiff in the matter of the suit, or in the original document sought to be revived.

(3)  If the defendant is an absentee, this fact shall be set forth in the petition, under oath, and the judge shall appoint a curator ad hoc to represent the absentee, upon whom service shall be made.

(4)  In case of the death of the vendor, mortgagor, obligor, debtor, or other original party in interest in or connected with, the original document sought to be revived, service shall be made on his heirs and legal representatives.

In all cases in which service of petition and citation is required under this Section, it will be sufficient to cause service to be made on the defendant either in person or by publication of the notice in any newspaper published in the parish, at the option of the plaintiff, which notice shall be in the form of a citation to the defendant and shall contain a brief and clear statement of the object and intent of the demand, the name of the party having an adverse interest in the instrument of writing sought to be revived, or who held title to any realty claimed at any time anterior to the party applying, as far as known; and the delay in which the party made defendant shall be required to answer; provided that in case the service is made in person, the delay to answer shall be the same as now prescribed by law in ordinary civil action.  If service is made by publication it shall be published in any newspaper of the parish at least once a week for two consecutive weeks and the last publication shall be at least six weeks before the case is heard.  If there is no newspaper published in the parish in which the action is filed the publication of the notice as above required shall be made in any newspaper in any adjoining parish.