When a petition for appointment as legal or dative tutor is filed, the applicant shall annex an affidavit listing to the best of his knowledge the minor's ascendants and collaterals by blood within the third degree and the surviving spouse of the minor's mother or father dying last who reside in the state. A copy of the petition for appointment shall be mailed by registered or certified mail to each person listed in the affidavit. Notice of the application shall be published once in the parish where the petition was filed, in the manner provided by law.
Art. 4065.Legal Or Dative Tutor; Petition For Appointment; Publication of Notice
Book VII. Special Proceedings · Title VI. Tutorship · Chapter 2. Appointment of Particular Tutors · Last amended 1976 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 4065 requires an applicant for appointment as legal or dative tutor to file an affidavit listing the minor's known in-state relatives within the third degree and the surviving spouse of the minor's deceased parent, mail each of them a copy of the petition, and publish notice of the application in the filing parish.
Full Text of Art. 4065
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 1976, No. 429, §3.
Plain-English Summary
A natural tutor's authority arises automatically from the parent-child relationship. A legal or dative tutor's authority does not, so before the court appoints one, the minor's family gets a chance to know about the application and weigh in. Article 4065 is the notice mechanism that makes that possible.
The applicant must file an affidavit listing, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, the minor's ascendants and collaterals by blood within the third degree, along with the surviving spouse of whichever of the minor's parents died last, limited to those who reside in Louisiana. Each person on that list gets a copy of the petition by registered or certified mail.
Beyond that direct mailing, the applicant must also publish notice of the application once in the parish where the petition was filed, following the manner Louisiana law prescribes for such publications. Between the mailed notice and the published notice, the article aims to reach both the people close enough to the minor to have a personal stake in who serves as tutor and the broader public record.
Frequently Asked Questions
What must someone applying to be a legal or dative tutor file with the petition?
An affidavit listing, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, the minor's ascendants and collaterals by blood within the third degree, and the surviving spouse of the minor's parent who died last, limited to those residing in Louisiana.
How does the minor's family learn about a tutorship application?
Each person listed in the affidavit receives a copy of the petition by registered or certified mail, and notice of the application is also published once in the parish where the petition was filed.
Does this notice requirement apply to a natural tutor?
No. Article 4065 applies to applications for appointment as legal or dative tutor, not to a natural tutor, whose authority arises from the parental relationship itself.
What is the third degree of relationship for purposes of this notice?
It covers the minor's blood ascendants and collaterals within that degree, a family-relationship measure used elsewhere in Louisiana law to define who counts as close enough kin to be notified.
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: notice of tutorship application LouisianaArticle 4065 Louisianaaffidavit of relatives tutorship petitionpublication of tutor appointment noticelegal or dative tutor petition requirements