A. A court which is otherwise competent under the laws of this state has jurisdiction of the following actions or proceedings only under the following conditions:
Art. 10.Jurisdiction Over Status
Title I. Courts · Chapter 1. Jurisdiction · Last amended 2025 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 10 lists the specific conditions, generally tied to a party's domicile or presence in Louisiana, under which a Louisiana court has jurisdiction over status proceedings such as adoption, emancipation, interdiction, tutorship, custody, marriage annulment, divorce, filiation, and support of a disabled adult child.
Full Text of Art. 10
(1) An adoption proceeding in accordance with Title XII of the Children's Code, if the surrendering parent of the child, a prospective adoptive parent, the adoptive parent or parents, or any parent of the child has been domiciled in this state for at least eight months, or if the child is in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services; and an adoption proceeding in accordance with Civil Code Article 212, if either party to the adoption of an adult is domiciled in this state.
(2) An emancipation proceeding if the minor is domiciled in this state.
(3) An interdiction proceeding brought pursuant to the provisions of the Louisiana Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act.
(4) A tutorship or curatorship proceeding if the minor or absentee, as the case may be, is domiciled in this state or has property herein.
(5) A proceeding to obtain the legal custody of a minor if he is domiciled in, or is in, this state.
(6) An action to annul a marriage if one or both of the parties are domiciled in this state.
(7) An action of divorce, if, at the time of filing, one or both of the spouses are domiciled in this state.
(8) Unless otherwise provided by law, an action to establish parentage and support or to disavow parentage if the child is domiciled in or is in this state, and was either born in this state, born out of state while its mother was domiciled in this state, or acknowledged in this state. However, regardless of the location of the child or its place of birth, an action to disavow may be brought if the person seeking to disavow was domiciled in this state at the time of conception and birth and is presumed to be its parent under the laws of this state.
(9) A proceeding for support of an adult child with a disability, as provided in R.S.9:315.22.1, if he is domiciled in, or is in, this state.
B. For purposes of Subparagraphs (6) and (7) of Paragraph A of this Article, if a spouse has established and maintained a residence in a parish of this state for a period of six months, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that he has a domicile in this state in the parish of such residence.
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 2024, No. 448, §1, eff. 1/1/2025. Amended by Acts 2015, No. 379, §2, eff. 8/1/2016. Amended by Acts 1968, No. 172, §1; Acts 1980, No. 764, §1; Acts 1990, No. 1009, §4, eff. 1/1/1991; Acts 1999, No. 1243, §1, eff. 1/1/2000; Acts 1999, No. 1263, §1, eff. 1/1/2000; Acts 2001, No. 567, §2; Acts 2001, No. 1064, §1; Acts 2008, No. 351, §2, eff. 1/1/2009
Plain-English Summary
Status jurisdiction is Louisiana's own category, and it doesn't map onto the personal, subject-matter, or property jurisdiction described earlier in this chapter. It covers a court's power to decide questions about a person's civil status: whether someone is married or divorced, whose child a person is, who has custody, who is that child's legal parent, or whether an adult needs a curator. Because these questions touch the state's own interest in the people who live within it, Louisiana grounds this kind of jurisdiction in domicile rather than in reaching a particular defendant with process.
Article 10 works through the list article by article. Adoption requires the surrendering parent, a prospective adoptive parent, or the child to have been domiciled in Louisiana for a set period, or the child to be in state custody. Divorce and annulment require only that one spouse be domiciled in Louisiana at the time of filing — the other spouse can live anywhere and need not be reachable by service in the state, because the case is about the marriage's status, not a personal claim against the absent spouse. Custody, tutorship, curatorship, emancipation, and support of a disabled adult child each turn on where the minor, absentee, or child in question is domiciled or physically present.
Paragraph B adds a practical rule for divorce and annulment cases: maintaining a residence in a Louisiana parish for six months creates a rebuttable presumption of domicile there. That presumption can be challenged with evidence, but it spares a filing spouse from having to prove domiciliary intent from scratch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ‘jurisdiction over status’ and how is it different from personal jurisdiction?
Status jurisdiction is a court's power to decide questions about a person's civil status — marriage, parentage, custody, adoption, interdiction — and it generally depends on domicile in Louisiana rather than on reaching a defendant with service of process the way personal jurisdiction does.
Can I get divorced in Louisiana if my spouse lives in another state?
Yes, as long as you or your spouse were domiciled in Louisiana at the time of filing. Article 10 doesn't require the other spouse to be reachable in the state for the court to have jurisdiction over the divorce.
How long do I have to live in Louisiana before I'm presumed domiciled here for divorce purposes?
Maintaining a residence in a Louisiana parish for six months creates a rebuttable presumption of domicile in that parish, under Paragraph B of Article 10.
Does Louisiana have jurisdiction over an adoption if the child was born elsewhere?
It can, depending on which condition in Article 10(A)(1) is met — for example, if a parent involved has been domiciled in Louisiana for at least eight months, or the child is in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the vLex (Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, 2026 Edition). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
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