Until Debt Do Us Part: The Need for Revision of Article 2364 Reimbursement Claims for Student Loan Debts

• Author: Ashley L. Gill
• Position: J.D./D.C.L., 2014, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
• Pages: 1007-1037

Until Debt Do Us Part: The Need for Revision of

Article 2364 Reimbursement Claims for Student Loan

Debts

INTRODUCTION

The day that you have been waiting for your entire life is finally

here. Today, you will marry your sweetheart, the love of your life,

and the answer to your every prayer. Today, your $100,000 student

loan debt is the furthest thing from your mind. However, it may be

the first thing on your mind if you and your spouse later file for

divorce.

Your divorce is bad enough in its own right. You must decide

who gets the house, the car, and custody of the children. However,

you may sustain the biggest blow when you least expect it—when

your spouse files a reimbursement claim to recover $50,000 of the

money that he or she “contributed” to your student loan debts.1 Even

though those loans ultimately secured the high-paying job that

provided the basis for you and your spouse’s elevated standard of

living, Louisiana’s community property regime makes such a claim

for reimbursement possible.2

The offending legislation lies in Louisiana Civil Code article

2364, which provides a remedy for the non-debtor spouse in the

event that he or she contributed to a separate debt during the

marriage:

If community property has been used during the existence of

the community property regime or former community

property has been used thereafter to satisfy a separate

obligation of a spouse, the other spouse is entitled to

reimbursement for one-half of the amount or value that the

property had at the time it was used.

Considering current trends in student loan debt and marriage, it

is entirely inequitable to allow one spouse to file a reimbursement

claim against the other spouse to recover half of the value of the

debt.3 This is primarily because the spouse claiming the

reimbursement benefited from the increased standard of living

during the marriage. Student loan debt is a part of most modern

marriages and thus a prospective issue at divorce.4 Due to the lack of

Copyright 2014, by ASHLEY L. GILL.

1. See discussion infra Part I.B.

2. See discussion infra Part I.B.

3. See discussion infra Part I.A.

4. See discussion infra Part I.A.

1008 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 74

jurisprudence and specific legislation available to solve this issue,

Louisiana Civil Code article 2364 must be amended to limit

reimbursement claims for student loan debt, or alternativel y, a

jurisprudential rule must be adopted in order to ensure equity5 and

reflect societal expectations.6

Part I of this Comment discusses current statistics surrounding

education, marriage, and student loan debt in the United States. It

also gives an overview of the fundamental aspects of community

property law in Louisiana. Part II presents Louisiana’s current

approach to handling reimbursement claims, as well as claims

specifically dealing with student loan debt.7 Part III explains why

student loan debt should be the exception to the general rule

allowing reimbursement claims. It explores the characteristics of

such debt that make it different and views reimbursement claims for

student loan debt through the lenses of equity and societal

expectation. Finally, Part IV proposes that Louisiana must either

establish a jurisprudential rule or enact legislation that limits

reimbursement claims for student loan debt. Adopting these

proposed solutions would ensure that Louisiana’s community

property laws reflect the current needs of society.

I. LOVE, MARRIAGE, AND STUDENT LOAN DEBT

The most convincing evidence of the need for change in

Louisiana’s treatment of student loan debt lies in statistics. People

are getting married later in life,8 are better educated when they do

marry,9 and many enter marriage with student loan debt.10 These

characteristics of many modern marriages clash with Louisiana’s

community property law, demonstrating a vital need for change.

5. See discussion infra Part III.B.

6. See discussion infra Part III.C.

7. See LA. CIV. CODE art. 2358 (2014) (providing the basis for allowing

reimbursement claims).

8. Sharon Jayson, Sooner vs. Later: Is There an Ideal Age for First

Marriage?, USA TODAY, http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-11-09-

delayed-marriage_N.htm (last updated Nov. 9, 2008) [http://perma.cc/8GDH-

55NL] (archived Mar. 8, 2014) (noting that the age of first marriage has been

climbing steadily for all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups).

9. Hanna Rosin, The End of Men, ATLANTIC, July/Aug. 2010, available at

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2010/07/the-end-of-men/308135 [http:

//perma.cc/6VYD-JXYR] (archived Mar. 8, 2014).

10. See Meta Brown, Andrew Haughwout, Donghoon Lee, Maricar Mabutas &

Wilbert van der Klaau w, Grading Student Loans, FED. RES. BANK N.Y. (Mar. 5,

2012), http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2012/03/grading-student-loans

.html [http://perma.cc/WWH8-5UMJ] (archived Mar. 8, 2014).