Louisiana Divorce Forms and Papers

If you meet the Louisiana State requirements for Divorce please proceed to order your divorce documents.

Louisiana Residency Requirements

A spouse filing for divorce must have been a resident for one year. Further there is a 180 day waiting period once a petition for divorce is filed before it can be finalized.

Grounds for Divorce In Louisiana

The no-fault grounds for divorce in Louisiana are:

living separate and apart for 180 days after the filing of petition;
living separate and apart without reconciliation, for six months prior to filing a petition for divorce.

The following are some of the fault grounds:

adultery
conviction of a felony

Louisiana Child Custody

The primary consideration in awarding custody is the best interest of the child. In Louisiana joint custody is rebuttabley presumed to be in the best interests of the child. Joint custody affords both parents the opportunity to participate in the process of making decisions pertaining to the child's development, but it does not necessarily mean that the child will spend 50% of his or her time with each parent. Any custody decision should take into account, among other factors, the following:

relationship between parents and child
age and gender of the child
parent's ability to encourage a continuing relationship between the child and the other parent
parent's moral fitness and the mental and physical health of the parties

Child Support

Louisiana has adopted child support guidelines which apply in virtually every case, unless special circumstances are present. The child support calculation takes into consideration the gross income of both parties, and certain child related expenses. Child support will generally continue until the child reaches the age of majority, or completes high school, whichever last occurs.

Mediation

When it appears issues regarding custody or visitation are contested, or when it appears to the court to be in the best interests of the child, the parties may be required to mediate their differences upon the motion of the court or upon motion of either party.

The purpose of such mediation proceeding shall be to reduce the acrimony which exists between the parties and to develop an agreement assuring the child close continuing contact with both parents after the marriage is dissolved.