Louisiana Divorce Law: Community Regime Examples

In Louisiana, courts may rule on a variety of family law issues.  One frequent topic of dispute between spouses who plan to get a divorce is what is known as “community property.”  In Louisiana, community property is the property which the two spouses will share equally upon divorce; it is generally property which was earned during and over the course of their marriage.  As one can probably imagine, sometimes deciding what is community property and what is not can be a tricky proposition for a court.  A good example of the complexity at work can be seen by using examples.

Let’s say that Trish and Terry were married for ten years.  Before they got married, Terry had a very successful business.  He worked hard at it for many years, and by the time he sold the business it was worth nearly one million and a half dollars.  When Terry started dating Trish however, he had just sold the business.  Terry and Trish really hit it off well, and they decided to get married.  Ten years later, their relationship ended in divorce.  Afterwards, things get a little messy.  Trish thinks that she should be entitled to more of Terry’s wealth.  After he sold the business, Terry simply put the money he made in a non-interest bearing checking bank account, and did not touch it.  Trish thinks that she should get half of that money.

Now let’s say we have another couple, Chris and Katy.  Chris and Katy were also married for ten years.  The day after they got married, Chris had started up his own internet business.  During the course of his marriage to Katy, the business thrived.  By the time the two spouses had gotten a divorce, Chris’s internet business was worth the same as Terry’s business from the previous example: one and half million dollars.  Similar to our previous example as well, Katy thinks that she should get one half of Chris’s business.

Finally, let’s use one last example, Pat and Patty also had a marriage that lasted ten years.  Like Terry, Pat had a business before he got married to Patty.  It was very successful.  Unlike Terry however, Pat entered into his marriage with Patty while still owning the business.  Over the course of his marriage, Pat’s business continued to do very well.   Patty’s attorney argued that she should get half of the value of Pat’s business.

One can probably see there are three main differences between the above three examples.  In one example, the spouse’s business was created and sold before the marriage, in another example the business was created after the marriage, and in the final example it was created before the marriage, but not sold.  Generally, if a spouse creates wealth before the marriage is formed, that wealth is theirs, and theirs alone (in Terry’s example.)  If the spouse earns money after the marriage is formed, it is more probably part of the “community property” that is to be shared between the spouses (in Chris’s example.)  Finally, if the wealth is created before the marriage, and is “carried” into the marriage, as in Pat’s example, we are talking about much more of a grey area upon divorce.

Will Beaumont provides this article as general information on the law, not legal advice.  His office is in New Orleans and Metairie.