If a judgment orders the delivery of a thing and the sheriff cannot seize it because the defendant has concealed or removed it from the jurisdiction of the court, or when the judgment orders a defendant to do or refrain from doing an act other than the delivery of a thing, and he refuses or neglects to comply with the order, the party entitled to performance may obtain by contradictory motion the following remedies:
Art. 2502.Writ of Distringas; Contempt; Damages
Book IV. Execution of Judgments · Title III. Judgments Other Than Money Judgments · Chapter 1. Judgments Other Than Money Judgments · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 2502 gives a party owed performance under a judgment three remedies by contradictory motion -- a writ of distringas seizing the disobedient party's property, a contempt order, or a damages judgment -- usable when the sheriff cannot seize a thing the judgment ordered delivered, or when a party refuses to do or refrain from an ordered act.
Full Text of Art. 2502
(1) A writ to distrain the property of the defendant;
(2) An order adjudging the disobedient party in contempt; or
(3) A judgment for any damages he may have sustained. He may likewise sue for damages in a separate action.
Plain-English Summary
Some Louisiana judgments cannot be enforced just by having the sheriff take property and hand it over, because the property has vanished, or because the judgment never ordered the transfer of property at all -- it ordered a party to do something, or to stop doing something. Article 2502 addresses both situations.
The first is a delivery judgment gone wrong: the judgment orders the defendant to deliver a specific thing, but the sheriff cannot seize it because the defendant has hidden it or moved it outside the court's jurisdiction. The second is a judgment that never involved delivering property in the first place -- an order that the defendant do a specific act, or refrain from one -- and the defendant ignores it.
For either situation, Article 2502 offers the writ of distringas. Distringas is an old term for a writ that distrains, meaning seizes and holds, a disobedient party's property, not to satisfy the judgment through a sale, but as pressure: the property stays in the sheriff's hands until the party complies. It works through the loss of the use of one's own property, not through transferring that property to the other side.
The moving party is not limited to that one option. Article 2502 also allows a contempt order against the disobedient party, or a judgment for whatever damages the noncompliance caused, and the article makes plain that a separate damages suit remains available too. All of this proceeds by contradictory motion -- a motion decided after notice to the other side and a hearing, rather than the ex parte process used to start a debtor examination.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a writ of distringas?
An old civil-law writ that distrains -- seizes and holds -- the property of a party who has disobeyed a judgment, using the loss of that property's use as pressure to force compliance, rather than selling it to satisfy a debt.
When can a party seek a writ of distringas in Louisiana?
When the sheriff cannot seize a thing a judgment ordered delivered because the defendant hid or removed it from the court's jurisdiction, or when a judgment ordered a party to do or refrain from an act and that party refuses to comply.
Can a party seek more than one remedy under Article 2502?
Yes. The article offers a writ of distringas, a contempt order, and a damages judgment, and separately preserves the option of a separate damages suit.
Is a motion for a writ of distringas filed without notice to the other side?
No. It proceeds by contradictory motion, meaning the other side gets notice and a hearing, unlike the ex parte motion used to open a judgment-debtor examination.
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
Also known as: writ of distringas LouisianaArticle 2502 Louisianawhat is a distringasenforcing a non-money judgment Louisianacontempt for refusing to comply with a judgment