Divorce Procedure Difference in Chalmette, Louisiana

Courts throughout Louisiana have different procedural and evidentiary requirements in how they deal with uncontested divorce cases. Understanding the differences can help attorneys and pro se litigants to be more efficient. Unfortunately, there is no one publication that one can turn to in order to understand the various idiosyncrasies of the individual courts of Louisiana, but rather must be learned through experience and practice.

The general procedure for getting an uncontested divorce is to file a petition in a district court, and then have your spouse sign a notarized waiver of service and citation, request that the court grant you a preliminary default, and two days after (exclusive of legal holidays and weekends) file for a confirmation of default. (This procedure is applicable, however, only if you have already lived separate and apart for the requisite period of time or you are otherwise entitled to an immediate divorce).

The way that this procedure is different in Chalmette, La. is that it is not allowed to skip any of the normal waiting periods. Under Louisiana law, a respondent in a suit generally has fifteen days to answer petitions filed against them. It is customary that when a respondent to a suit waives service for a divorce, that person is also waiving all of the legal delays, notices of trial, and any other notices required by law.

Divorces in other parishes, namely Jefferson and Orleans, generally allow for the legal paperwork to be done in around one week. This is because the waiver of service and citation can typically be signed just after the petition is filed and is assigned a docket number. As soon as the waiver is signed, and a preliminary default is entered, all that is required is waiting the two days, exclusive of holidays. Because of this difference in Chalmette, it will probably take about three weeks for all of the legal paperwork to go through.

Overall, this is probably a good policy decision because it is strange for a judgment of preliminary default to be entered so quickly after waiving service. For a respondent to waive service, this person is generally doing a favor to the petitioner. However, the vast majority of waivers of service also including additional language making it so that respondents who waive service are losing a tremendous number of their legal rights. Moreover, many people who are waiving their legal rights are doing so without an attorney to assist them or counsel them with how they should proceed. With Chalmette’s variation, it should be possible for a respondent to have the opportunity to find counsel prior to the legal papers being finalized.

In the end, all this is doing is adding an additional fifteen days to the time that it would normally take for you to end your marriage officially. While it is understandable that you probably want to get the legal paperwork over as soon as possible, waiting just over two weeks should not be that bad.

The above material is intended for information purposes only. It is not intended as professional legal advice and should not be construed as such. Attorney William H. Beaumont practices in New Orleans, La.