A. Except as provided in Paragraph B, a petition for the appointment of a tutor of a minor domiciled in the state shall be filed in the district court of the parish where:
Art. 4031.Minor Domiciled In the State
Book VII. Special Proceedings · Title VI. Tutorship · Chapter 1. Court Where Proceedings Are Brought · Last amended 1995 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 4031 opens Louisiana's tutorship rules by fixing where a case belongs when the minor lives in the state: the parish of a surviving parent's domicile, a custodial parent's domicile after divorce or separation, or the minor's own residence, with a separate rule for parents who share joint custody.
Full Text of Art. 4031
(1) The surviving parent is domiciled, if one parent is dead; or
(2) The parent or other person awarded custody of the minor is domiciled, if the parents are divorced or judicially separated; or
(3) The minor resides. B. If the parents who are divorced or judicially separated are awarded joint custody of a minor:
(1) They shall petition jointly for appointment as cotutors in the district court of the parish in which the proceedings for divorce or judicial separation were instituted, or if the award of joint custody has specified the legal domicile of the minor, in the district court of the parish of the legal domicile of the minor, or in the district court of the parish where the child resides.
(2) With the permission of the judge, either parent may file a petition in the same court as provided in Subparagraph (1) for appointment as tutor for the limited purpose of enforcing a particular right or compromising a particular claim of an unemancipated minor if the other parent fails or refuses to do so.
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 1981, No. 283, §2; Acts 1990, No. 764, §1; Acts 1995, No. 268, §1, eff. 6/14/1995.
Plain-English Summary
Tutorship is Louisiana's civil-law version of guardianship for a minor. A tutor manages the minor's person and property in place of, or alongside, a parent, and Title VI works through every stage of that arrangement: who qualifies, how a court confirms them, what property they must inventory, what security they must post, and how they answer for their conduct along the way. Article 4031 starts the title by answering a threshold question — which district court, in which parish, hears the case — for a minor domiciled in Louisiana.
The parish depends on the family situation. If one parent has died, venue lies where the surviving parent is domiciled. If the parents are divorced or judicially separated, venue lies where the parent or other person awarded custody is domiciled. And the minor's own parish of residence works as well, giving a petitioner more than one proper forum to choose among depending on the facts.
Joint custody gets its own rule. When divorced or separated parents share joint custody, they must petition together for appointment as cotutors, filed in the parish where the divorce or separation case was filed, in the parish of the minor's legal domicile if the custody award specified one, or in the parish where the child lives. If one parent will not join in that petition, the other may still ask the same court, with the judge's permission, for appointment limited to enforcing a specific right or settling a specific claim belonging to the minor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is tutorship under Louisiana law?
Tutorship is Louisiana's civil-law arrangement for managing a minor's person and property, roughly comparable to guardianship of a minor in other states. Title VI of the Code of Civil Procedure sets out how a tutor is chosen, confirmed, and supervised.
Which parish handles a tutorship case if one parent has died?
The district court of the parish where the surviving parent is domiciled, under Article 4031.
Where does a tutorship case get filed when parents are divorced?
In the parish where the parent or other person awarded custody is domiciled, or, if the parents share joint custody, according to the separate cotutorship rule in Paragraph B of Article 4031.
Can one parent open a tutorship proceeding without the other parent's participation?
Where parents share joint custody, they generally must petition jointly for appointment as cotutors. One parent may still ask the court, with the judge's permission, for appointment limited to enforcing a particular right or settling a particular claim if the other parent will not join in.
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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