If petitions for the appointment of a tutor are filed in two or more competent courts, the court in which a petition was first filed shall proceed to a determination of the issues and the proceedings in the other courts shall be stayed. However, the first court may adopt as its own any of the proceedings taken in the other courts.
Art. 4033.Petitions Filed In Two Or More Courts; Stay of Proceedings In Second and Subsequent Courts; Adoption of Proceedings By First Court
Book VII. Special Proceedings · Title VI. Tutorship · Chapter 1. Court Where Proceedings Are Brought · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 4033 resolves competing tutorship filings by letting the court where a petition was filed first decide the case while later-filed petitions in other courts are stayed, though the first court may adopt proceedings already taken elsewhere.
Full Text of Art. 4033
Plain-English Summary
Because Articles 4031 and 4032 can leave more than one parish technically proper, two petitions for the same minor sometimes land in different courts around the same time. Article 4033 keeps that from turning into a race or a conflict between judgments: the court where a petition was filed first gets to decide the case, and any later-filed proceedings in other courts are stayed.
The rule does not throw away work already done in the other courts. The first court may adopt, as its own, any of the proceedings already taken in a later-filed court, so a hearing, an inventory, or another step completed elsewhere before the stay does not have to be repeated from scratch.
This mirrors the first-filed principle used elsewhere in Louisiana practice to avoid duplicate litigation over the same subject matter, applied here to make sure a minor ends up with one tutorship proceeding, in one court, rather than parallel cases moving at cross purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a tutorship petition is filed in two different parishes?
Under Article 4033, the court where the petition was filed first proceeds to decide the case, and proceedings in any court where a later petition was filed are stayed.
Does the first court have to redo everything already done in the second court?
No. Article 4033 lets the first court adopt as its own any proceedings already taken in the other courts.
Why does Louisiana use a first-filed rule for tutorship petitions?
To prevent duplicate or conflicting tutorship proceedings over the same minor from moving forward in more than one court at once.
Can the losing court's proceedings still count for anything?
Yes, if the first court chooses to adopt them. Article 4033 gives the first court that option rather than requiring it to start over.
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: competing tutorship petitions LouisianaArticle 4033 Louisianapetitions filed in two courts tutorshipfirst filed court tutorship Louisianastay of tutorship proceedings