Articles801 through 804 apply to the substitution of a legal representative of any party other than a deceased person, and to the substitution of the successor of any legal representative appointed by a court of this state, except that the term "legal successor", as used therein shall be considered as referring to such legal representative, or successor, as the case may be. When an action has been commenced by a proper representative on behalf of an incompetent person and such person thereafter becomes competent, the authority of the representative shall continue until substitution is made in accordance with the provisions of this article.
Art. 805.Legal Representative; Successor
Title III. Parties · Chapter 5. Substitution of Parties · Last amended 1968 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 805 extends the substitution procedures of Articles 801 through 804 beyond death to cover changes in a party's legal representative, and lets a representative's authority continue past a party's regaining capacity until a proper substitution occurs.
Full Text of Art. 805
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 1968, No. 124, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Death is not the only reason a party's stand-in might need to change during a lawsuit. A minor represented by a tutor might get a new tutor appointed; an interdict represented by a curator might get a new curator; a court-appointed representative might resign, die, or be replaced. Article 805 extends the substitution framework in Articles 801 through 804 to these situations, reading legal representative or successor wherever those earlier articles say legal successor.
That means the same tools apply: a new representative can move to be substituted in voluntarily, another party can force the issue with a summons, and the same rules govern service and the consequences of a representative's failure to appear, all adapted to a change in representation rather than a death.
The article closes with a continuity rule for a different scenario: when someone without full capacity — a minor, an interdict — has a suit properly filed on their behalf by a representative, and that person later gains capacity (a minor turning eighteen, an interdict's interdiction being lifted), the representative does not lose authority to act in the case the moment capacity returns. The representative's authority continues until a substitution is made under this article, so the case is not left without anyone empowered to act in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Article 805 apply only when a party's legal representative dies?
No. Article 805 covers any substitution of a legal representative for a party other than a deceased person — for example, when a minor's tutor or an interdict's curator is replaced — and applies the same procedures set out in Articles 801 through 804.
What happens when a minor represented in a lawsuit turns eighteen during the case?
The representative's authority to act in the case continues even after the minor gains full capacity, until a substitution is properly made under Article 805. The case does not lose its representative the instant the minor becomes an adult.
How do the terms in Articles 801 through 804 apply under Article 805?
Wherever those articles refer to a legal successor, Article 805 directs that the term be read as referring to the legal representative, or the successor of a legal representative, whichever fits the situation at hand.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the vLex (Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, 2026 Edition). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: substituting a tutor or curator during lawsuit louisianalegal representative change during case louisianaminor turns eighteen during lawsuit louisianaarticle 805 louisiana civil procedureinterdict curator substitution louisiana