Louisiana Divorce & Family Law Attorneys

Louisiana doesn't just have different divorce rules — it has a different legal system.

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How we match your Louisiana family law case

When you submit a Louisiana family law matter, we route it through a national network of independent partner firms and put it in front of the one that fits best — based on the kind of case it is, what it is likely to involve, where it has to be handled, and who has capacity to take it on now.

Case type

A family law matter needs someone who handles family law work day to day, not a generalist. Practice area is the first filter.

Size and complexity

Some firms are built for catastrophic injury and multi-party litigation; others resolve straightforward claims quickly. We weigh what your matter is likely to involve against how each firm actually works.

Jurisdiction and licensing

Your matter is decided under Louisiana law, so it goes to an attorney licensed in Louisiana who regularly appears where your case would be heard.

Capacity and fit

Availability, conflicts of interest and language all matter. If the best-fit firm cannot take your case, we route it to the next one that can — or tell you plainly when no one in the network is the right answer.

Every partner reviews your case for free. Injury and workers’ compensation matters are handled on contingency — no fee unless you win. Other matters are quoted upfront, before you commit to anything.

Get started How DearLegal works

DearLegal provides marketing and matching services and is not a law firm. Submitting a case does not create an attorney-client relationship. Matches depend on case type, jurisdiction and firm availability.

Exhibit A

What happens with a family law claim in Louisiana

Day 0
You decide to act.
Separation, custody, support or a modification. Gather financials, the children’s schedules and any agreements or orders that already exist.
Within 24 hours
Tell us what happened.
Two minutes on this page. A Louisiana family law attorney reviews it for free and, if it’s a fit, you’re matched within 24 hours.
Weeks 1–4
Filing and disclosures.
The petition is filed and both sides exchange financial disclosures. Temporary orders for custody or support can be requested early in Louisiana.
Months 1–6
Negotiation or mediation.
Most cases settle here — parenting plans, division of property, support. Your attorney negotiates from the disclosures, not from guesses.
If it doesn’t settle
Hearing or trial.
Contested issues go before a judge. Preparation matters more than argument; your attorney builds the file for it from day one.
Resolution
Final order.
Fees are quoted before you commit — hourly or a retainer, spelled out in writing at the free consultation.

Residency Requirement: 12 months
Domicile in Louisiana; 12 months for jurisdictional purposes (La. C.C.P. arts. 10, 3941); 180/365-day separation for no-fault divorce
Property Division System: Community property
Community property — equal partition (La. Civ. Code arts. 2336, 2369.4)
Custody Standard: Best interests
Best interests of the child under 12 factors (La. Civ. Code art. 134); joint custody favored (art. 132)
Child Support Guidelines: Income Shares
Income Shares model — La. R.S. § 9:315 et seq.
Spousal Support Framework: Interim periodic
Interim periodic and final periodic spousal support (La. Civ. Code arts. 111–118); fault bars final support
Typical attorney fee: Hourly
Hourly / Flat Fee

Start with the fork in the road: an Article 102 divorce means filing first and then living separate and apart for 180 days (no minor children) or 365 days (with minor children), while Article 103(1) means waiting out the same separation before you file at all. Which path you take affects timing, leverage, and when the community property regime terminates — and choosing wrong costs months. Then comes the property: under La. Civ. Code art. 2336, everything acquired during the marriage is presumptively community and partitioned equally, with classification fights over separate property (arts. 2341–2342), reimbursement claims, mineral interests, and family businesses. Fault still has teeth here — a spouse at fault in the breakup is barred from final periodic spousal support, and adultery or abuse under Article 103(2)–(5) can skip the waiting period altogether. Custody runs through the 12 factors of art. 134 with joint custody favored (art. 132), and once a court has made a considered custody decree, the Bergeron standard makes it brutally hard to change. None of this is intuitive, and the judge will hold a self-represented party to the same Code as the lawyers.

Exhibit B

When to call a family law attorney in Louisiana

Does any of this sound like you? Tap what applies.

0of 6 apply

Tick anything that applies. Even one is reason enough to talk to a Louisiana family law attorney before you talk to an insurer.

Talk to an attorney anyway

Meanwhile, don’t

Reconciling — even briefly — during the separation period, which can extinguish the divorce action under art. 104 and restart the 180/365-day clock
Starting a new relationship before the judgment: adultery is fault, and fault bars final spousal support
Treating Louisiana like a common-law state — the Civil Code, not out-of-state case law, controls, and terms like partition, filiation, and usufruct mean exactly what the Code says
Spending or moving community funds after separation without accounting for them — partition will surface every transaction, and concealment draws reimbursement claims and damages
Forgetting to check whether yours is a covenant marriage before planning a no-fault divorce
Filing custody claims in Louisiana when another state is the child's home state under the UCCJEA — the resulting order is unenforceable

Exhibit C

Family Law cases we take in Louisiana

Which one is closest to yours?

Article 102 divorce

File first, then prove 180 days (no minor children) or 365 days (with minor children) of living separate and apart after filing or service. The workhorse Louisiana divorce.

Sound like yours? A Louisiana attorney reviews it free — fees are quoted upfront, before you commit.

Start my free review

Exhibit D

How much do Louisiana family law attorneys cost?

Typical fee schedule

Louisiana · Family Law

Fee modelHourly / Flat Fee

Feequoted per petition or matter

Filing costsitemized upfront

Case reviewFree

Illustrative only. Your fee terms are set in a written agreement with your attorney and may include costs and expenses regardless of outcome.

Family Law matters in Louisiana are usually a flat fee per filing — quoted before you commit, not billed by the hour.

Louisiana lawyers cannot take a divorce on contingency — Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5(d)(1) bars fees contingent on securing a divorce or on the amount of support or property recovered. Plan on hourly billing against a retainer for contested matters; flat fees are common for uncontested Article 103(1) divorces where the separation period has already run. Where one spouse controls the community income, Louisiana courts can level the field with interim support and fee awards, so a lack of cash on hand shouldn't stop you from talking to counsel.

A good attorney walks through every number at your free consultation — before you sign anything.

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Exhibit E

What your Louisiana family law compensation can include

A Louisiana family law recovery is built from several parts. Tap one to see what it covers.

Property Division

Equal partition of the community estate under La. Civ. Code art. 2336 et seq., with separate property (arts. 2341–2342) excluded and reimbursement claims accounted for between the spouses.

DearLegal is a legal referral service, not a law firm. We connect individuals with licensed attorneys who can evaluate their case. Nothing on this page constitutes legal advice. Results vary based on individual circumstances.

Exhibit F

Louisiana family law questions, answered

Still unsure? Tell us what happened and a Louisiana attorney will review it for free.

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It mostly comes down to whether the separation clock has already run. If you and your spouse have already lived separate and apart for 180 days (365 with minor children), Article 103(1) lets you file and finish quickly. If you're still under the same roof or just separated, Article 102 lets you file now and serve your spouse, then come back for the divorce once the 180/365 days have elapsed. Filing the 102 petition matters for more than timing — it sets the framework for interim support, use of the family home, and custody while you wait, and it marks a key date for terminating the community property regime. This is the first strategic decision in every Louisiana divorce, and it's worth making with counsel.

Yes — fault. Article 103(2)–(5) allows an immediate divorce on proof of adultery, the other spouse's felony conviction with a sentence of death or hard labor, physical or sexual abuse, or a protective order issued against the other spouse. You have to actually prove the ground, which means evidence, not accusations. For everyone else, the separation period is mandatory, and Louisiana courts enforce it to the day.

In Louisiana, more than almost anywhere. A spouse seeking final periodic spousal support must be free from fault in the breakup of the marriage (La. Civ. Code arts. 111–112) — adultery, cruel treatment, and similar conduct can bar support completely, no matter how long the marriage lasted or how unequal the incomes are. Fault doesn't change the 50/50 community property split, but it can decide whether a dependent spouse receives anything after the divorce. Interim support during the proceedings (art. 113) is need-based and doesn't turn on fault. Final support, when awarded, is generally capped at one-third of the paying spouse's net income.

The presumption under art. 2336 is sweeping: property acquired during the marriage is community and gets partitioned equally — wages, the house, retirement contributions, the business you built. Separate property under arts. 2341–2342 is what you owned before the marriage, plus inheritances and donations made to you individually; but the fruits of separate property (rent, royalties, dividends) become community unless you reserved them by a recorded declaration. The hard fights are classification and reimbursement: a house bought before marriage but paid down with community wages, a separate business grown with marital effort, mineral and royalty interests straddling the line. Louisiana also lets couples alter the regime by matrimonial agreement (arts. 2325–2330) — though after the wedding, that generally requires court approval.

It changes the exit. Louisiana is one of only three states with covenant marriage (La. R.S. § 9:272 et seq.), and if you signed a covenant declaration, the easy no-fault routes narrow considerably — divorce generally requires proof of fault (adultery, felony, abuse, abandonment) or a substantially longer separation, plus the counseling you committed to. Many people don't remember whether they chose covenant marriage at the courthouse years ago. Check your marriage license before assuming Article 102 is available to you.

Legally risky on two fronts. First, you're still married until the judgment of divorce — a new sexual relationship is adultery, and adultery is fault that can bar you from final spousal support. Second, the flip side: getting back together with your spouse, even briefly, can constitute reconciliation under La. Civ. Code art. 104, which extinguishes the divorce action and resets the separation clock to zero. Plenty of Louisiana divorces have restarted from scratch over a weekend of reconciliation. Until the judgment is signed, conduct yourself like everything is evidence — because it is.

If the judge heard evidence and made a considered decree, very hard. Under Bergeron v. Bergeron, the parent seeking modification must show the present custody is so deleterious to the child as to justify the change, or prove by clear and convincing evidence that the benefit outweighs the harm of disruption — a far heavier burden than the ordinary material-change standard that applies to consent decrees. The practical lesson: treat the first custody trial as the one that counts. Child support is easier — modifications under La. R.S. § 9:315 require a material change in circumstances, and the Income Shares worksheet is recalculated with both parents' current gross incomes.

Family Law attorneys by city in Louisiana

Same Louisiana rules and the same attorneys — with what’s local to each city.

Other case types in Louisiana

All Louisiana practice areas →

Animal Incident attorneysLouisiana’s dog-bite rules are among the most plaintiff-friendly in the country — owners are strictly liable for the damage their dog causes.

Business Dispute attorneysLouisiana non-competes are only narrowly enforceable — up to two years, and only with specific geographic and business-area limits spelled out.

Car Accident attorneysLouisiana extended the filing window for injury claims from one year to two years effective July 2024 — a major shift for plaintiffs.

Consumer Protection attorneysThe Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act allows actual damages, triple damages for willful violations, and attorney fees.

Criminal Defense attorneysThe U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s split-jury verdicts in 2020 — and the state’s habitual-offender law makes sentencing high-stakes.

Defective Product attorneysThe Louisiana Products Liability Act is the only route for a defective-product claim — it replaced the older negligence theories entirely.

Employment attorneysLouisiana’s state employment-discrimination law tracks the federal protected categories — and the state workforce commission handles administrative charges.

Immigration attorneysLouisiana has immigration courts in New Orleans, Oakdale, and Jena — Oakdale is one of the country’s busiest immigration detention courts.

Lemon Law attorneysThe Louisiana Lemon Law covers new vehicles within one year or 12,000 miles — and the manufacturer pays attorney fees if you prevail.

Medical Malpractice attorneysLouisiana medical malpractice damages are capped at $500K against qualified providers — and the state Patient Compensation Fund pays the excess layer.

Personal Injury attorneysThe filing window for injury claims was extended to two years effective July 2024 — pre-reform claims still run on the old one-year clock.

Slip and Fall attorneysLouisiana slip-and-fall claims against merchants require proof the store knew or should have known about the hazard — one of the tougher states for these cases.

Social Security Disability attorneysLouisiana Social Security hearing offices in New Orleans, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge process moderate volumes — federal appeals precedent for the region shapes review.

Workers’ Compensation attorneysLouisiana workers’ comp runs through the state Office of Workers’ Compensation — and wage benefits are two-thirds of your average weekly wage.

Louisiana Divorce & Family Law Attorneys

How we match your Louisiana family law case

Case type

Size and complexity

Jurisdiction and licensing

Capacity and fit

What happens with a family law claim in Louisiana

You decide to act.

Tell us what happened.

Filing and disclosures.

Negotiation or mediation.

Hearing or trial.

Final order.

When to call a family law attorney in Louisiana

Family Law cases we take in Louisiana

Article 102 divorce

Article 103 divorce

Community property partition

Child custody

Child support

Interim and final spousal support

Matrimonial agreements

Filiation and paternity

Adoption

Protective orders

Covenant marriage dissolution

How much do Louisiana family law attorneys cost?

What your Louisiana family law compensation can include

Property Division

Spousal Support

Child Support

Custody and Parenting Time

Attorney's Fees

Protective Relief

Louisiana family law questions, answered

Family Law attorneys by city in Louisiana

Other case types in Louisiana

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