The tutorship does not devolve upon the undertutor when it is vacant. If a vacancy occurs, the undertutor shall apply to the court for the appointment of a new tutor.
Art. 4205.Vacancy In Tutorship, Duty of Undertutor
Book VII. Special Proceedings · Title VI. Tutorship · Chapter 6. Undertutor · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 4205 makes clear that an undertutor never becomes the tutor when the office falls vacant, and instead requires the undertutor to ask the court to appoint a new tutor whenever a vacancy occurs.
Full Text of Art. 4205
Plain-English Summary
Article 4205 forecloses a natural assumption: that the undertutor, having already been appointed and sworn in, steps up to run the tutorship on the spot if the tutor is gone. The tutorship does not devolve upon the undertutor when it is vacant. The undertutor remains a supervisory officer, never a substitute manager, keeping the two roles distinct even in the moment when a vacancy might otherwise tempt a court or family to treat the undertutor as the obvious stand-in.
What the undertutor must do instead is procedural: apply to the court for the appointment of a new tutor. That application sets Article 4237's successor-appointment process in motion, which routes the vacancy through the same appointment track that applied to the original tutor, starting with whether a natural tutor is available before turning to a legal or dative tutor.
In the interval between the vacancy and a successor's appointment, the minor's affairs are not left unattended. Article 4238 supplies the parallel answer on the tutor's side of a death-caused vacancy, placing responsibility for the minor's property on the deceased tutor's succession representative or accepting heirs until a new tutor takes over. The undertutor's obligation under Article 4205 is to make sure that gap does not last any longer than necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the undertutor take over as tutor if the tutorship becomes vacant?
No. Article 4205 expressly states the tutorship does not devolve upon the undertutor when it is vacant.
What must the undertutor do when a vacancy occurs?
Apply to the court for the appointment of a new tutor, rather than assume the tutor's role.
Who manages the minor's property while the tutorship is vacant?
If the vacancy arose from the tutor's death, Article 4238 places that responsibility on the deceased tutor's succession representative or accepting heirs until a new tutor is appointed.
How does a new tutor get appointed after a vacancy?
Through the same process used for an original appointment, as Article 4237 provides.
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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