What happens to our property?

In Louisiana, property is considered to be either community or separate. Very generically, property acquired during a marriage is considered community; property owned before marriage, gifts, and inheritances are considered separate. However, separate and community property can become commingled so that separate property becomes community. Typically, when the divorce petition is filed, your attorney will request a restraining order from the court which prohibits your spouse from selling, giving away or mortgaging any community property.

When spouses seek a divorce, if property has been acquired during the marriage, then that property must be divided between them. The division of property is called partition. Litigating partition of property or having the court divide the property can be a very costly and lengthy process. One of the first steps in the process is a listing of the assets and debts. This document is called a Detailed Descriptive List*. You may find that your assistance in preparation of this first document is a larger homework assignment than you bargained for. If spouses can divide the property without the necessity of going to court, then much time and many dollars can be saved. For those with modest assets, a good rule of thumb is to remember when you are paying your attorney $150.00 to $200.00 per hour - how many (or few) hours does it take before you could have purchased new assets?



* For a sample 'Detailed Descriptive List' email our office