The parent of a minor who owns property in common with him may obtain a judgment adjudicating the share of the minor either in all of the property or any part thereof to the parent at a price fixed under oath by experts appointed by the court. The adjudication may be made even though there are other co-owners. The proposed adjudication must be approved by the court after compliance with Article 4271.
Art. 4361.Adjudication of Minor's Interest to Parent Co-Owner
Book VII. Special Proceedings · Title VI. Tutorship · Chapter 9. Alienation of Minor's Property · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 4361 lets a parent who co-owns property with a minor child obtain a judgment adjudicating the minor's share to the parent at a price set under oath by court-appointed experts, even if other co-owners hold interests in the same property, once the court approves under Article 4271.
Full Text of Art. 4361
Plain-English Summary
Section 4 of Chapter 9 addresses a narrower situation than a sale to a stranger: the buyer is the minor's own parent, and the parent already owns an interest in the same property. A parent and child might hold undivided shares in property together after an inheritance, for example, and the parent wants to consolidate ownership by acquiring the child's share outright.
Rather than routing that transaction through the full public- or private-sale machinery of Sections 2 and 3, Article 4361 supplies a more targeted procedure: adjudication. The parent obtains a judgment adjudicating the minor's share -- in all of the property or any part of it -- to the parent, at a price fixed under oath by experts the court appoints. Expert appraisal replaces both the competitive-bidding safeguard of a public sale and the negotiated-price safeguard of a private sale, since the buyer and one interested party are the same person and cannot bargain against each other at arm's length.
The article confirms this remains available even when the property has other co-owners beyond the parent and the minor; the presence of additional owners does not block a parent from acquiring the minor's specific share. As with every method in Chapter 9, the proposed adjudication still needs court approval after compliance with Article 4271 before it can go forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a parent buy out their minor child's share of jointly owned property in Louisiana?
Yes. Article 4361 lets a parent who co-owns property with a minor obtain a judgment adjudicating the minor's share to the parent, subject to court approval under Article 4271.
How is the price set when a parent acquires a minor's interest under Article 4361?
By experts the court appoints, who fix the price under oath, rather than through public bidding or private negotiation.
Does it matter if other people also own a share of the property?
No. Article 4361 allows the adjudication even when there are other co-owners besides the parent and the minor.
Why use adjudication to a parent instead of a regular public or private sale?
Because the buyer is the minor's own parent, an arm's-length negotiation or competitive auction is not a realistic safeguard. Court-appointed expert appraisal substitutes for those market-based protections.
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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