Divorce
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Louisiana Civil Legal Navigator
Not sure where to start your legal research? Try the Louisiana Civil Legal Navigator. Answer a few questions about yourself and your situation to get customized legal information, local court forms, referrals to legal aid, and more. Available for Divorce, Child Custody, Employment Law, and private Landlord-Tenant Law.
Getting a Divorce
Information you need to know about getting a divorce in Louisiana in FAQ format. Includes a narrated video.
Divorce Dictionary
A plain-language guide to understanding words used in divorce cases. Click on the terms to see the definitions and find links to in-depth articles explaining more complicated issues.
Domestic Abuse and Divorce
Information about domestic abuse and how domestic abuse impacts divorce issues in a FAQ format. Includes a link to the Louisiana Protective Order Registry.
Who Gets Custody? Who Pays Support?
Information provided by the Lousiana State Bar Association on the grounds for divorce, information on child custody and visitation, relocation of the child, child and spousal support, and property rights.
Classifying Property: Community Property versus Separate Property
Explains separate and community property, marriage contracts, and debts.
Uncontested Divorce Guided Assistant
This Guided Assistant tool can help you complete the paperwork required to file an uncontested divorce on your own. This tool is not legal advice. This tool does not not take the place of legal advice from a competent attorney licensed in your state and familiar with the law and facts of your legal issue.
About the Rights of the Spouse to Military Retirement
The Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA), 10 U.S.C. 1408, accomplishes two things: It recognizes the right of state courts to distribute military retired pay to a spouse or former spouse (hereafter, the former spouse), and It provides a method of enforcing these orders through the Department of Defense.
What is a Covenant Marriage?
A covenant marriage is similar to a “regular” marriage but includes additional legal steps. The covenant marriage sets out harder requirements to end a marriage and puts you into a tougher system of divorce laws. Covenant Marriages were developed by the Louisiana legislature to encourage couples to go through religious or professional counseling before filing for divorce. A covenant marriage allows the couple to show their intent to enter the marriage as a lifelong commitment.
About Contempt of Court and Enforcing Court Orders
This resource explains the basics of contempt of court and enforcing court orders.
About Matters Incidental to Divorce
In a divorce, the Court can address certain issues including custody, visitation, or support of a minor child; support for a spouse; injunctive relief; use and occupancy of the family home or use of community movables or immovables; or use of personal property.
Divorcing a Military or Imprisoned Spouse
This tells you what you need to know about divorcing a spouse that is in the military or prison.
Issue Guide: Name Change After Divorce
This resource explains the name change process after a divorce.
ABA Military Pro Bono Project
The ABA Military Pro Bono Project—managed by the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel (LAMP)—accepts case referrals from military attorneys on behalf of junior-enlisted, active-duty military personnel facing civil legal issues, and it works to place these cases with pro bono attorneys. The Project is also the platform for Operation Stand-By, through which military attorneys and other pro bono attorneys may seek attorney-to-attorney guidance.
About Spousal Support
This article explains both kinds of spousal support in Louisiana, interim and final spousal support. It lays out the factors considered by the Court when deciding whether to award spousal support and how much to award.
Dividing Money and Property After a Divorce
Partition is the legal term for the process of dividing money, property, and debts after a divorce. If the former spouses can agree on who will receive the property and who will pay the debts, the Court can approve a Consent Judgment of partition. Otherwise, the Court can decide disputes about whether property is community or separate and divide the money and debts between the spouses.
Fault-Based Divorce in Louisiana
Fault-based divorce in Louisiana is based on Louisiana Civil Code article 103. This article discusses divorces on the grounds that a spouse committed adultery, domestic violence, or has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to death or imprisonment at hard labor.
Guide to Relocation with Your Child
In Louisiana, changing the address where a child lives most of the time can be classified as a "relocation," and if the move is more than 75 miles away, the person moving the child may have to follow a special procedure before the relocation. This guide explains when Louisiana's relocation law applies and how the relocation procedure works.
How Do Matrimonial Agreements Work?
This article is taken from the Louisiana State Bar Association brochure "Community Property: What is Mine? What is Yours?" The article explains what matrimonial agreements are and when they need judicial approval. This page includes a link to the original brochure.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Divorce in Louisiana?
The time required to get a divorce in Louisiana depends on whether a spouse seeks a fault-based or no-fault divorce. For a no-fault divorce, the time required depends on whether there are minor children of the marriage.
The Louisiana Divorce Process
This resource discusses the different processes for Article 102 and Article 103 divorces in Louisiana. It touches on filing the divorce, service of process, responding to the divorce, and getting ready for a hearing.
Understanding an Answer and When to File An Answer to a Petition for Divorce
The law does not require an answer to be filed in response to a petition for divorce. This article explains the purpose of an answer, the amount of time a party has to file an answer, and the reasons a spouse might want to file one in response to a petition for divorce.
What Does it Mean When A Divorce Case is Abandoned?
If a spouse files a petition for divorce but the case does not move forward for a certain period of time, the divorce may become "abandoned," by operation of law. This article explains what abandonment means, when it occurs, and what a spouse may be able to do to get a divorce after an abandonment.
Article 103 Self-Help Divorce Forms
This resource lets you fill out the forms required for an "Article 103" Divorce in Louisiana. Answer a few questions about yourself and your case to get a complete packet of forms and filing instructions.