RS 324 - Answer; judgment
The party defendant in any application for the re-establishment of any deed, mortgage or other instrument shall have the same delay as in other writs, and his answer, which shall be under oath, must either admit of the facts as stated in the petition, or deny the same wholly or partially; whereupon the judge shall proceed to trial, and after hearing evidence shall render judgment establishing or not establishing the deed, bond, mortgage, judgment, or other instrument of writing, as the evidence proves to have existed. No other issue is to be tried but the existence or non-existence of the document sought to be established; and when so established, it shall be executory and shall have the same force and effect as the original.