Under Louisiana law, you may obtain a judgment of divorce as follows:

•  365 days (1 year) – Children
  • If you are seeking a “no-fault” divorce and have children, you and your spouse must live “separate and apart” continuously for 365 days or more before obtaining a judgment of divorce.
    • If the requisite timeframe is met when you file the petition for divorce, you may request that a hearing be set to obtain a judgment of divorce at the court’s next available hearing date.
    • If the requisite timeframe is not met when you file for divorce, you must wait 365 days from the date your spouse is served with your divorce filing or the date he or she waives service of that filing, before you can obtain a divorce.

• 180 days (6 months) – No Children

• • If you are seeking a “no-fault” divorce and do not have children, you must live “separate and apart” continuously for 180 days before you may obtain a judgment of divorce, in the following ways:
    • If the requisite timeframe is met when you file the petition for divorce, you may request that a hearing be set to obtain a judgment of divorce at the court’s next available hearing date.
    • If the requisite timeframe is not met when you file for divorce, you must wait 180 days from the date your spouse is served with your divorce filing or the date he or she waives service of that filing, before you can obtain a divorce.

• Immediately – Once you file for divorce, you may be able to obtain a divorce at the court’s next available hearing date, without having to wait the 180 or 365 days mentioned above, if you are able to prove:
  • Adultery –  The other spouse has committed adultery.
  • Felony –  The other spouse has committed a felony and has been sentenced to death or imprisonment at hard labor.
  • Physical or Sexual Abuse – During the marriage, the other spouse physically or sexually abused you and/or a child of the marriage.
  • Protective Order Issued – A protective order or an injunction was issued during the marriage, against the other spouse to protect you and/or a child of the marriage from abuse.

Yes, if you are nearing 180 or 365 days and obtaining a divorce at the earliest possible date is what is most important to you.

However, if termination of community property is most important to you, filing as soon as possible would be best since community property is terminated retroactive to the date you filed for divorce. Similarly, if obtaining other incidental relief as soon as possible is most important to you, such as obtaining spousal or child support, you may want to file for divorce before the legal delays have run. You can include those incidental matters in your petition for divorce.

Louisiana awards custody according to what is the “best interest of the child.” If the parents can agree on a custodial arrangement, custody will be awarded according to said arrangement. In the absence of such an agreement or if their agreement is not in the best interest of the child, joint custody will likely be awarded as there is a preference under Louisiana law towards joint custody. However, if custody in one parent is shown by clear and convincing evidence to serve the best interest of the child, the court will award sole custody to that parent alone.

Louisiana uses an income share model for such a determination by first considering a combined adjusted income of both parents to arrive at a basic child support obligation for the child(ren), according to certain  child support guidelines. For a review of the guidelines, visit this link.

From the basic obligation, the court may add costs of health insurance, child care costs, extraordinary medical expenses, and other extraordinary expenses to arrive at a total child support obligation. From the total obligation, the parents will be responsible for their share based on his or her share of combine adjusted income.

For interim spousal support, the claimant spouse must prove that he or she is in need and the other spouse has the ability to pay.

For final spousal support, in addition to the above, the claimant spouse must show that he or she is free from pre-petition fault causing the breakup of your marriage. For example, the breakup of your marriage must not have been caused by your pre-petition adultery or abandonment of the marriage. There are certain exceptions and/or defenses to this requirement that may apply, depending on the facts of the case

Sometimes but not always. There are local rules for each parish district court that affect how incidental matters are handled and many differ from parish to parish. For example, the local rules for one parish district court may require that an incidental matter be heard by a hearing officer before being heard by the trial judge and another parish’s district court local rules may require those matters to go directly before the trial judge.

However, Louisiana law governs the merits and certain procedural issues of causes of actions for divorce and incidental matters. Therefore, the district court’s in all parishes must implement Louisiana law when making decisions that effect the merits of the case and other major procedural issues.

Court costs can vary from parish to parish, according to the type of pleading filed and the number of pages being filed for each pleading. Most Clerk of Courts provide a breakdown of filing fees on their websites and via telephone.

Filing fees for most Petitions for Divorce normally usually range from $250-$500. There are separate fees for serving the defendant with your pleading. You can usually obtain those fees from the clerk of court or the sheriff’s office.

Grounds:

1. No Fault – 180 or 365 days living separate and apart continuously prior to the petition of divorce being filed or after service of petition the petition of divorce upon the spouse or a written waiver of service of the petition of divorce by the spouse is executed, depending on your circumstances.
2. Adultery – The other spouse has committed adultery.
3. Commission of a Felony – The other spouse has committed a felony and has been sentenced to death or imprisonment at hard labor.
4. Physical or Sexual Abuse – During the marriage, the other spouse physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking divorce and/or a child of the marriage.
5. Protective Order or Injunction Issued – After a contradictory hearing or consent decree, a protective order or an injunction was issued during the marriage against the other spouse to protect the spouse seeking the divorce and/or a child of the marriage from abuse.

Residency Requirements:

An action for a divorce in Louisiana must be brought in the parish where either spouse physically resides and intends to remain permanently, or in the parish where both spouses last physically resided as a married couple, with the intent to reside in that parish permanently.

In Louisiana, the division of community property is referred to as “partitioning community property.” The couple can either partition community property voluntarily by agreement between themselves at anytime or if they cannot agree, they can have the court partition it judicially. However, the community property cannot be judicially partitioned until after a judgment of divorce is rendered.

Interim and Final Periodic Spousal Support.

For interim spousal support, the court will generally consider the claimant spouse’s need, the ability of the other spouse to pay, and the standard of living of the parties during the marriage.

For final spousal support, the court will generally consider the claimant spouse’s need, the ability of the other spouse to pay, and whether the claimant spouse is free from the pre-petition fault that caused the breakup of the marriage.

Note: Other factors apply when considering the amount and duration of final spousal support.

When initially fixing custody and modifying custodial arrangements, courts consider factors related to the “best interest of the child.” Louisiana Civil Code Article 134 sets forth the following illustrative list of common factors:

1. The love, affection, and other emotional ties between each party and the child;
2. The capacity and disposition of each party to give the child love, affection, and spiritual guidance and to continue the education and rearing of the child;
3. The capacity and disposition of each party to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care, and other material needs;
4. The length of time the child has lived in a stable, adequate environment, and the desirability of maintaining continuity of that environment;
5. The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home or homes;
6. The moral fitness of each party, insofar as it affects the welfare of the child;
7. The mental and physical health of each party;
8. The home, school, and community history of the child;
9. The reasonable preference of the child, if the court deems the child to be of sufficient age to express a preference;
10. The willingness and ability of each party to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the child and the other party;
11. The distance between the respective residences of the parties; and
12. The responsibility for the care and rearing of the child previously exercised by each party.

Courts have discretion as to the weight afforded to each factor. However, those factors are not exclusive. The court may also consider factors outside of that list, depending on the case.

It affects how quickly one may obtain the divorce. If it is proven that a spouse committed adultery and the spouses have not reconciled since, the requesting spouse may obtain a divorce more immediate than the usual 180 or 365 day waiting period.