Louisiana Civil Code Book I, Title V - Divorce

Marriage in Louisiana terminates upon death of either spouse, divorce, judicial declaration of nullity, or court order authorizing remarriage when a spouse is presumed dead. Louisiana does not have legal separation for standard (non-covenant) marriages.

Effective: 2024

Either spouse may file a petition for divorce before the required separation period has elapsed. Once the requisite time passes (180 or 365 days per Article 103.1) and the spouses have lived separate and apart continuously, the court grants the divorce upon a Rule to Show Cause. This retroactively terminates community property to the date the original petition was filed.

Effective: 2024

A spouse may obtain a divorce after already living separate and apart for the requisite period, or immediately upon proving fault-based grounds: adultery, felony conviction with death or hard labor sentence, physical or sexual abuse of a spouse or child, or issuance of a protective order during the marriage against the other spouse.

Effective: 2024

The mandatory separation period is 180 days when there are no minor children of the marriage, and 365 days when there are minor children at the time the Rule to Show Cause (Art. 102) or petition (Art. 103) is filed. Louisiana does not use 'irretrievably broken' as a standard — it relies on mandatory separation periods instead.

Effective: 2024

A divorce action must be filed in the parish where either party is domiciled or in the parish of the last matrimonial domicile. Venue is jurisdictional and cannot be waived — a divorce obtained in a court of improper venue is an absolute nullity. At least one spouse must be domiciled in Louisiana, with a rebuttable presumption of domicile after 6 months of residency.

Effective: 2024

Louisiana is a community property state. Community property includes all property acquired during the marriage through the effort, skill, or industry of either spouse, property acquired with community funds, joint donations, and fruits of community property. Unless classified as separate property, assets acquired during the marriage belong equally to both spouses.

Effective: 2024

Each spouse's separate property belongs exclusively to them. Separate property includes assets acquired before the marriage, property acquired with separate funds (when any community contribution is inconsequential), and gifts or inheritances received individually during the marriage. The burden of proving an asset is separate falls on the claiming spouse.

Effective: 2024

Each spouse owns a present undivided one-half interest in the community property during the marriage. Neither the community nor community assets may be judicially partitioned before the regime terminates. However, spouses may voluntarily partition community property during the marriage without court approval.

Effective: 2024

After the community regime terminates, each spouse owns an undivided one-half interest in former community property. Each spouse has a duty to preserve and prudently manage former community property under their control. Neither spouse may alienate, encumber, or lease former community property without the other's concurrence. Either spouse may demand partition at any time — a contrary agreement is absolutely null.

Effective: 2024

This is the exclusive procedure for judicially partitioning community property when spouses cannot agree. Each party files a detailed descriptive list of assets and liabilities, the other party has 60 days to traverse or concur, and the court determines classification, valuation, and allocation. The goal is an equal 50/50 net value division, with equalizing payments if allocation is uneven. The court may appoint experts for appraisals.

Effective: 2024

When partitioning community property, the court may include goodwill in the valuation of any community-owned corporate, commercial, or professional business. However, goodwill attributable to the personal qualities of the spouse awarded the business (personal goodwill) may not be included in the valuation — only enterprise goodwill is divisible.

Effective: 2024

In a proceeding for divorce or thereafter, the court shall award custody of a child in accordance with the best interest of the child. The court considers the totality of the circumstances, including the 14 factors listed in Article 134, when making custody determinations.

Effective: 2024

If the parents agree to joint custody, the court shall award joint custody. In the absence of agreement, joint custody is presumed to be in the child's best interest. A parent seeking sole custody must prove by clear and convincing evidence that joint custody is not in the child's best interest.

Effective: 2024

The court considers 14 factors including: (1) potential for child abuse (primary consideration), (2) love and emotional ties, (3) capacity for guidance and education, (4) capacity to provide material needs, (5) stability of environment, (6) permanence of family unit, (7) moral fitness, (8) substance abuse or criminal history, (9) mental and physical health, (10) home and school history, (11) child's preference, (12) willingness to facilitate relationship with other parent, (13) distance between residences, and (14) previous care responsibility. The list is illustrative, not exhaustive.

Effective: 2024

In a joint custody arrangement, the court designates a domiciliary parent with whom the child primarily resides. The domiciliary parent makes day-to-day decisions, and all major decisions by the domiciliary parent are presumed to be in the child's best interest. Both parents share information about the child's health, education, and welfare, and the non-custodial parent has reasonable telephone access.

Effective: 2024

There is a rebuttable presumption that no parent with a history of perpetrating family violence shall be awarded sole or joint custody. If both parents have a history of family violence, custody goes to the parent less likely to continue the violence, and that parent must complete a court-monitored domestic abuse intervention program.

Effective: 2024

A parent must provide 60 days' written notice by certified mail before relocating a child's principal residence outside Louisiana or more than 75 miles within the state. The non-relocating parent has 30 days to object. The relocating parent bears the burden of proving the move is in the child's best interest. Courts consider 12 factors including the child's relationship with both parents, feasibility of preserving the non-relocating parent's relationship, and the child's educational and emotional needs.

Effective: 2024

Louisiana uses the Income Shares model for child support. Both parents' adjusted gross incomes are combined, and a schedule determines the basic child support obligation based on income level and number of children. The obligation is divided proportionally between parents. Additional expenses for childcare, health insurance, and extraordinary medical costs are added. Worksheet A applies to sole/joint custody; Worksheet B (with a 1.5× multiplier) applies to shared custody.

Effective: 2025

The guideline amount is a rebuttable presumption of the correct child support amount. The court may deviate if the guidelines would not be in the child's best interest or would be inequitable. The court must state specific written or oral reasons for any deviation, including the guideline amount and the particular facts justifying the deviation.

Effective: 2024

If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court calculates child support based on their earning potential rather than actual income. Courts consider work history, education, job skills, age, health, and the local job market. If no evidence of actual or potential income exists, there is a rebuttable presumption of weekly gross income equal to 32 hours at the applicable minimum wage.

Effective: 2024

In a divorce proceeding or afterward, the court may award interim periodic support or final periodic support to a spouse who is in need of support and who was free from fault prior to filing the divorce petition. Louisiana distinguishes between short-term interim support and longer-term final periodic support, each with different standards.

Effective: 2024

Final spousal support requires the claimant to be free from fault and in need. The court considers 14 factors: income and means, financial obligations, earning capacity, effect of custody on earning capacity, time needed for education or training, health and age, duration of marriage, tax consequences, domestic abuse history, agreement that one spouse would forego employment, child care responsibilities, any other relevant circumstances, equitable distribution of assets, and cooperative endeavors during the marriage. The award is capped at one-third of the obligor's net income, except in domestic abuse cases.

Effective: 2024

The court may award interim spousal support based on the claimant's needs, the other party's ability to pay, any child support obligation, and the standard of living during the marriage. Interim support terminates 180 days after the divorce judgment is rendered, though it may be extended for good cause. Final periodic support does not begin until interim support ends.

Effective: 2024

Child or spousal support awards may only be modified upon showing a material change in circumstances since the previous award. A judgment for past-due support does not itself constitute a material change. In Department of Children and Family Services enforcement cases, the court may adjust child support every 3 years without requiring a material change, and a 25% difference between the current award and the guideline amount creates a rebuttable presumption of material change.

Effective: 2024

An Article 102 divorce is filed before the separation period has elapsed. The petition is served on the other spouse (or service is waived in writing). After the separation period expires (180 or 365 days), the filing spouse files a Rule to Show Cause. This is the more common type, particularly when a spouse needs immediate access to interim relief for custody, support, or use of community property during the waiting period.

Effective: 2024

An Article 103 divorce is filed after the spouses have already lived separate and apart for the required period (180 or 365 days). Because the separation period has already passed, this type is generally simpler, faster, and less expensive. No Rule to Show Cause is needed. However, community property terminates on the date of the judgment rather than retroactively.

Effective: 2024

In any divorce, custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, or community property proceeding, the court may order mediation. If the parties cannot agree on a mediator, the court selects one. Failure to comply with a mediation order subjects a party to contempt. However, a party who demonstrates they or their children have been victims of family violence cannot be court-ordered to participate in mediation.

Effective: 2024

All new child support orders issued after January 1, 1994 must include an immediate income assignment order (wage garnishment) unless the parties agree in writing or the court finds good cause to waive it. Payments are made through the Louisiana state disbursement unit for collection and disbursement of child support.

Effective: 2024

Child support continues for unmarried children who are full-time secondary school students in good standing, under age 19, and dependent on a parent — until age 19 or graduation, whichever comes first. Support extends to age 22 for children with developmental disabilities who are full-time secondary students, and continues indefinitely for any unmarried child incapable of self-support due to intellectual or physical disability that manifested before majority.

Effective: 2024

Victims of domestic abuse may obtain temporary restraining orders ex parte and protective orders after a hearing, without filing for divorce. Relief includes orders to refrain from abuse, temporary custody, temporary housing, and temporary support. Protective orders last up to 18 months and may be extended. The court shall consider any past history of abuse, regardless of how recent. Violation of a protective order results in mandatory arrest by law enforcement.

Effective: 2024

Couples may enter a covenant marriage by signing a Declaration of Intent after receiving marriage counseling. Covenant marriages are harder to dissolve — divorce requires proof of adultery, felony conviction, abandonment for one year, physical or sexual abuse, two years of living separate and apart, or one to one and a half years after a separation judgment. Pre-divorce counseling is mandatory except in abuse cases. The agreement cannot be dissolved by mutual consent.

Effective: 2024

Spouses may establish a separation of property regime or modify the legal community property regime through a matrimonial agreement. Pre-marriage agreements must be by authentic act (notarized with two witnesses). Agreements during marriage require joint petition and a court finding that the modification serves both spouses' best interests. Agreements cannot renounce the marital portion or alter the legal order of succession. Waivers of child support are unenforceable.

Effective: 2024

Marriage does not legally change the name of either spouse in Louisiana. A married person may use the surname of either or both spouses during the marriage, but their legal name remains unchanged. After divorce, a spouse who used a married name can simply revert to their birth name — no separate court order for a name change is required.

Effective: 2024

When awarding final spousal support, the court considers any criminal conviction of the obligor spouse for offenses committed against the claimant during the marriage. Without a criminal conviction, the court may order an evaluation by an independent, court-appointed licensed mental health professional experienced in domestic abuse. The professional must have no prior relationship with either party.

Effective: 2024

Every child support order is automatically suspended when the obligor is incarcerated for 180 consecutive days or more. The support obligation resumes by operation of law on the first day of the second full month after the obligor's release from incarceration. This prevents accumulation of unpayable arrears during lengthy incarceration.

Effective: 2024