ACQUETS AND GAINS — Louisiana Civil Code terms for the community property owned jointly by husband and wife.
ADJUDICATE — to judge and make a decision.
AFFIANT — a person who makes an affidavit.
AFFIDAVIT — a voluntary declaration of facts, written down and sworn to by the affiant, and signed under oath, before witnesses and an officer authorized to administer oaths, such as a Notary Public or attorney.
AGREEMENT — a verbal or written mutual understanding, and a resolution of disputed issues.
ANSWER – response to a petition, which can include statements agreeing with and/or disputing the statements made in the petition.
ARTICLE 102 DIVORCE — a no-fault divorce under the Louisiana statute (La. C.C. Art. 102) requiring the spouses to live separate and apart continuously for one hundred eighty (180) days AFTER filing the divorce petition.
ARTICLE 103(1) DIVORCE – a no-fault divorce under the Louisiana statute (La. C.C. Art. 103(1)) requiring the spouses to have lived separate and apart continuously for at least six (6) months BEFORE filing the divorce Petition.
ATTEST — to bear witness, to authenticate by signing as a witness.
CAPTION – the introductory part of a court paper stating the names of the petitioner and respondent (or plaintiff and defendant), the name of the court in which the case will be heard, the docket or file number assigned to the case when it is filed with the Clerk of Court, the Clerk’s signature, et cetera.
CITATION — a court-issued writ commanding a person to appear at a certain time and place to do something demanded in the writ, or to show cause for not doing so.
CIVIL LAW — one of the prominent legal systems in the Western World, originating in the Roman Empire, and continuing today in continental Europe and Louisiana, and other places. The laws of the Civil Law are statutes, voted on by legislatures.
CLERK OF COURT — a court officer responsible for filing papers, issuing process, and keeping records of court proceedings as generally specified by rule or statute.
COMMON LAW – the laws made from judges’ decisions, rather than from statutes or constitutions. This legal system originated in England, and is the form of law most prominently used in the United States today. Only Louisiana uses a different legal system.
COMMON-LAW MARRIAGE — a marriage that takes legal effect without license or ceremony, when a couple lives together as husband and wife, intending to be married, and treats themselves as married in their dealings with other people. Louisiana does not recognize common-law marriage.
COMMUNITY PROPERTY — property owned in common by husband and wife as a result of its having been acquired during their marriage. In Louisiana, it is possible to exclude things acquired during the marriage from the marital regime, either by receiving it as an inheritance, or by agreeing in advance that a thing will be separate property.
COURT – a governmental body consisting of one or more judges who sit to adjudicate disputes and administer justice. In common usage, the “decision of the court” means the decision of the judge.
COVENANT MARRIAGE — a unique form of marriage in Louisiana requiring special marriage application forms, and requiring divorcing couples to fulfill additional legal obligations before a divorce will be granted.
DEFAULT JUDGMENT – a judgment against a defendant who has not responded to a lawsuit.
DEFENDANT – a person who is sued.
DIVORCE — legal dissolution of a marriage by a court.
DOCKET — a formal record in which a judge or court clerk briefly notes all the proceedings and filings in a court case.
EXECUTE — make a legal document valid, by signing, often in front of a Notary and witnesses.
FILING — giving the Clerk of Court the documents of your lawsuit.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE — the legal basis for a divorce. In Louisiana it is not necessary to ask for a divorce on specific grounds such as abandonment or adultery. A divorce can be granted just because one of the parties no longer wishes to be married.
INHERITANCE — property received from a relative after the relative’s death.
JUDGE — a public official appointed or elected to hear and decide legal matters in court; (to judge) hearing and deciding legal matters in court.
JUDGMENT — a court‘s (judge’s) ruling (decision).
JURISDICTION — the authority of the court to hear a case.
LIVING SEPARATE AND APART – the requirement for a divorce that you live physically separate. In both the Art. 102 and Art 103(1) divorces, you must live separate and apart for the required time. This means you may not continue to have (even one time) sexual relations with your spouse. If your spouse does not want to get divorced, s/he could prevent the divorce by proving that you are continuing to have sexual relations and therefore have not lived separate and apart continuously for the required time.
LONG-ARM SERVICE — service of legal papers to a person who is not resident in the state issuing the citation, but upon whom it is allowed to serve legal demands, because of that person’s connection to the state issuing the citation. In a Louisiana divorce action, an out-of-state party to a divorce is considered to have sufficient connection to Louisiana to be served with legal papers through her/his marriage to the spouse filing for divorce.
LOUISIANA CIVIL CODE — the statutes of Louisiana, which specify the rights and obligations of people in Louisiana. The divorce laws are found in the Louisiana Civil Code.
MARITAL REGIME — a Louisiana term for the rights and obligations of marriage, including joint ownership of property and joint financial obligations.
MARITAL PROPERTY — includes all property acquired during the marriage, even if the title is not listed both spouses names, with some exceptions.
MARRIAGE — the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. To be valid, the parties must be legally capable of contracting marriage (appropriate age and competent), the agreement must be by mutual consent, and an actual contract according to the laws of the state in which the union is made must be completed (filing forms, ceremony, et cetera).
MOTION — a request to the court for a specific ruling or order.
NO-FAULT – in Louisiana a divorce may be granted even if there is no specific reason (such as adultery) named by the petitioning party.
NOTARY PUBLIC — a person authorized by the state to administer oaths, certify documents, and attest to the authenticity of signatures. Often shortened to Notary.
NOTICE — legal notification required by law or agreement.
ORDER – a written command, direction or instruction delivered by a court or judge.
PARTY — one of the people involved in a lawsuit. It can refer to either the petitioner‘s or plaintiff‘s side or the respondent‘s or defendant‘s side.
PETITION — a formal written request presented to a court to start a case.
PETITIONER — the party who presents the formal written request to the court to start a case.
PLAINTIFF – the party who brings a lawsuit to a court of law.
PROCESS — a summons or writ to appear in court or to respond to the court.
PROPER PERSON — representing yourself in court without an attorney.
PRO SE – representing yourself in court without an attorney.
RECONCILIATION – voluntarily getting back together with your spouse, for example, moving back into the same home, resuming sexual relations, et cetera.
RESPONDENT — the person a case is brought against.
SEPARATE AND APART — husband and wife living away from each other, along with at least one spouse’s intention to dissolve the marriage.
SEPARATE PROPERTY — in a community property state, property that one spouse owned before the marriage, or acquired during the marriage by inheritance, or, in Louisiana, that the spouses agreed would be the property of only one of them.
SERVE — to make legal delivery of a notice or process.
SERVICE — the formal delivery of a writ, summons, or other legal process.
SPOUSE — husband or wife.
STATUTE — a law passed by a legislature, such as a congress, a senate, a police jury, et cetera.
SUBPOENA — a form issued by the court requiring a party to appear in court.
SUMMONS — a writ or process starting the plaintiff’s case, and requiring the defendant to respond by an appearance in court or by a written answer within a required time.
UNCONTESTED DIVORCE — a divorce in which neither party fights or objects to the divorce.
VERIFICATION – a formal statement made by a party in the presence of an authorized officer, such as a Notary Public, in which the party swears to the truth of the statements s/he is making, usually by writing the statement in a document.
VENUE — the specific court where the case is heard.
WAIVER OF CITATION AND SERVICE — a document signed by the respondent or defendant spouse which says s/he agrees not to have to be served by the Sheriff with the divorce petition.
WRIT – a court’s written order commanding the person addressed to do or avoid doing something specific.
* This KIT contains documents which are ONLY appropriate for filing for divorce in Louisiana, and may not be used in other States.