Issues to Consider Regarding Finances in Divorce: Generally speaking, a divorce will have a profound impact on your finances both now and in the future. As Louisiana is a community property state, all property is presumed to be community unless proven otherwise, meaning essentially half of your net worth could be exposed via trial or in a final settlement. Furthermore, you might also be responsible for paying a joint debt that you didn’t know about or play a role in accruing. Tips for Paying Off Joint Debts When a Marriage Ends: It might be in your best interest to make
Category: Legal News
We handle all types of family law cases, including divorce, custody, child support, spousal support, community property partitions, paternity, and more. We also offer estate planning services including the drafting of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, and more. Our probate attorneys can help with all your succession needs. We also handle personal injury claims for our former clients and new clients alike. Finally, our creditor’s rights team handles collections, repossessions, foreclosures, and evictions statewide. Here you will find legal news and the latest happenings concerning our practice areas and the law in general.
Section 8 Evictions Explained: Many landlords choose to participate in the Section 8 program. Afterall, it offers the benefit of guaranteed rent subsidy payments. However, it may not always work out as expected. The tenant may stop paying their portion of the rent, seriously damage the property, or some other lease violation may arise. If it becomes necessary to pursue eviction, the landlord must follow not only state and local procedures for eviction, but also U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. As a landlord participating in the Section 8 program, it’s essential to understand and protect your
Louisiana Grandparent Visitation and Custody Considerations: If your grandchildren live with you already or you have concerns about their home life, you may want to seek legal custody or visitation. Louisiana allows grandparents to take this step in certain situations. Review the factors that affect grandparent visitation and custody before moving forward with this process. Circumstances Warranting Grandparent Visitation: One can petition a Louisiana court in the parish where your grandchild lives for legal visitation if: Your grandchild’s parents have divorced or lived apart for at least six months; One or both of your grandchild’s parents has died, gone to prison,
Louisiana Law of Usufruct: Full ownership in Louisiana is broken down into three elements: (1) usus which is the right to use or possess a thing; (2) fructus which is the right to the fruits or income of a thing; and (3) abusus which is the right to abuse or dispose of a thing (either physically or juridically). Per La. Civ. Code art. 535, a usufruct is a real right of limited duration on the property of another. It combines the first two elements of ownership, usus and fructus. The person who truly owns the property is known as the naked
Continuing Tutorships and Child Interdictions: A “Continuing Tutorship” is a legal proceeding for special needs children with intellectual disabilities who are age 15, 16, or 17. The legal standard states that when the child “possesses less than two-thirds of the intellectual functioning of a person of the same age with average intellectual functioning…” The parents or children usually do not have to make a court appearance. Based on the documentation given to the court to prove the intellectual disability of the child (usually IEP evaluations/IQ tests, medical and school records), and with the concurrence of the coroner (via a signed
Self Help Repossession Notices are Often Targeted: The Louisiana Additional Default Remedies Act provides the “self-help” laws permitting creditors to repossess motor vehicles and motorcycles directly. This is a form of non-judicial repossession that creditors can do themselves. It can certainly save a creditor some court and legal fees, but certain steps must be carefully followed, especially if the creditor wishes to later pursue a deficiency judgment. Basic Requirements of Repossession Notices: A number of notices or letters must be sent to the debtor in order to properly effect a “self-help” repossession and to later be able to sue the debtor
What is Child Support in Louisiana? Child support is a court-ordered amount that the non-custodial parent must pay to the custodial parent to cover a proportionate amount of the child’s expenses, including housing and utilities, food, clothing, and education expenses. Both parents have an obligation to support their children after a divorce. State laws differ greatly as to how courts calculate child support payments. Louisiana long has recognized and credited the custodial parent’s day-to-day care as a significant portion of the support obligation. Child support orders may be modified only by another court order and usually depend on the amount
Health Care Decisions without Medical Power of Attorney: If a person is unable to make decisions about personal medical care, some other person must provide direction in decision making. Many people create a medical power of attorney in advance of any anticipated physical problems. A power of attorney allows them to appoint an agent or representative to manage their affairs when they become unable to do so themselves. However, if there is no medical power of attorney in place and no judicially appointed tutor or curator, then health care professionals usually rely on the next of kin or even a close
How Attorneys Collect Foreign Judgments Across State Lines: Debtors often move across state lines. A judgment in one state is virtually unenforceable if the debtor does not hold property there or is not working there. When a debtor or assets are discovered in another state, collection attorneys must take extra steps to enforce a foreign judgment in that state. The United States Constitution requires that states give “full faith and credit” to the laws and court judgments of other states. Most states have therefore enacted laws that provide the procedure for enforcing an out-of-state judgment. However, the process varies widely
The Importance of Domiciliary Parent Status: Louisiana provides joint custody of children between the mother and father in most situations. Joint custody is presumed by the courts to be in the best interest of the children and is awarded regularly. Sole custody can be awarded but is much less common than joint custody in Louisiana unless there is an extenuating circumstance leading to the need for sole custody. While joint custody may be favored by the Louisiana court system, it does not mean, however, that both parents will exercise equal physical time with the children. In the majority of cases,