A plaintiff may amend his petition without leave of court at any time before the answer thereto is served. He may be ordered to amend his petition under Articles 932 through 934. A defendant may amend his answer once without leave of court at any time within ten days after it has been served. Otherwise, the petition and answer may be amended only by leave of court or by written consent of the adverse party. A defendant shall plead in response to an amended petition within the time remaining for pleading to the original pleading or within ten days after service of the amended petition, whichever period is longer, unless the time is extended under Article 1001.
Art. 1151.Amendment of Petition and Answer; Answer to Amended Petition
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title I. Pleading · Chapter 7. Amended and Supplemental Pleadings · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1151 sets the deadlines for amending a petition or answer, letting a plaintiff amend once without leave of court before the answer is served and a defendant amend once without leave within ten days after serving the answer, with later amendments requiring the court's leave or the opposing party's written consent.
Full Text of Art. 1151
Plain-English Summary
Louisiana lets both sides fix their pleadings, but only within limits. A plaintiff can amend the petition without asking the court, at any point before the defendant serves an answer. A defendant gets the same one-time freedom to revise the answer, but only within ten days of first serving it. Once those windows close, the door to amendment doesn't shut — it just requires either the court's permission or the other side's written consent.
Article 1151 also fixes what happens after a plaintiff amends the petition. The defendant doesn't automatically get a fresh full period to respond. Instead, the defendant must plead to the amended petition within whichever is longer: the time still remaining to answer the original petition, or ten days after being served with the amendment. That keeps a late-stage amendment from resetting the clock indefinitely while still giving the defendant a chance to respond to new allegations.
The article also cross-references Articles 932 through 934, which let a court order a plaintiff to amend a petition that has a curable defect, rather than dismissing the suit outright. Read together, these rules favor deciding cases on their merits over dismissing them for pleading defects a party could fix with a short amendment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a plaintiff amend a petition without asking the court's permission?
Yes, but only before the defendant serves an answer. After that, the plaintiff needs either the court's leave or the defendant's written consent to amend.
How much time does a defendant have to amend an answer without leave of court?
Ten days after the answer is served. After that window closes, amending the answer requires the court's permission or the plaintiff's written consent.
Does an amended petition give the defendant an entirely new period to respond?
Not automatically. The defendant must respond within whichever is longer: the time left to answer the original petition, or ten days from being served with the amendment.
What if a petition has a defect the plaintiff could fix with a small change?
Articles 932 through 934 let the court order the plaintiff to amend rather than dismissing the suit, so a curable pleading defect doesn't necessarily end the case.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
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