Art. 969.Judgment On Pleadings and Summary Judgment Not Permitted In Certain Cases; Exception

Some Louisiana cases are treated as too personal to a marriage to decide on paper alone. Article 969(A) bars both judgment on the pleadings and summary judgment in any divorce or marriage-annulment action, and in any case between spouses touching their community, paraphernal, or dotal property rights — the different categories Louisiana's civil-law property regime uses to describe what belongs to the marriage and what belongs to each spouse separately. These are matters the Code wants tested through the ordinary trial process, not resolved on undisputed facts alone.

Paragraph B carves out one narrow exception, and it applies only to a specific kind of divorce: one sought under Louisiana Civil Code Article 103(1), the no-fault ground based on the spouses having lived separately for the required period. If both spouses are represented by counsel, and their lawyers file a joint stipulation of facts, a request for judgment, and a sworn verification from each spouse after the answer is filed, along with a proposed judgment certifying that everyone agrees to its terms, the court can render and sign that judgment in chambers, without a hearing and without taking testimony.

The exception only works when every piece is in place — counsel on both sides, a joint stipulation, sworn verification, and an agreed judgment. Anything less, and the general bar in Paragraph A controls.