How to File a Petition for Custody in Louisiana

To file a petition for custody in Louisiana, you submit a Petition for Custody to the district court in the correct parish, attach the required sworn disclosures, pay the filing fee or request a waiver, and then arrange for the sheriff or a process server to formally deliver the papers to the other parent. From there the court sets a hearing and applies Louisiana’s best-interest-of-the-child standard. The steps are the same whether you are separating from a spouse, splitting from an unmarried co-parent, or seeking custody for the first time, though a few details shift depending on your situation.

Decide What Custody You’re Asking For

Your petition has to state the exact arrangement you want, so settle this before you draft anything. Louisiana separates legal custody (who decides on schooling, health care, and religion) from physical custody (where the child lives day to day). You can ask for either or both.

Louisiana law directs courts to award joint custody unless one parent proves by clear and convincing evidence that sole custody better serves the child.¹ Joint custody rarely means equal time. In most joint arrangements the court names one parent the “domiciliary parent,” meaning the child primarily lives with that parent and that parent makes day-to-day decisions when the parents disagree, unless the order says otherwise.² A parent not granted custody is still entitled to reasonable visitation unless the court finds visitation would harm the child.³

If you and the other parent were never married, paternity has to be established before the court can address custody. That can happen through a voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity signed by both parents and backed by DNA testing showing at least 99.9% probability of parentage, or through court-ordered genetic testing when paternity is disputed.⁴

Confirm the Court Can Hear Your Case

Two things have to line up before you file: jurisdiction (the state’s authority to decide custody) and venue (the right parish within Louisiana).

Jurisdiction

Louisiana follows the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.⁵ A Louisiana court can make an initial custody determination only if Louisiana is the child’s “home state,” meaning the child lived here for at least six consecutive months before the case was filed. If the child moved away recently but a parent still lives here, Louisiana keeps home-state jurisdiction for six months after the child left.⁶

When no state qualifies as the home state, Louisiana can take jurisdiction if the child and at least one parent have a significant connection to the state and substantial evidence about the child’s life is available here. Courts can also exercise emergency jurisdiction over a child present in Louisiana who has been abandoned or faces abuse.⁶ If another state has already issued a custody order, Louisiana generally cannot modify it unless the original state no longer has jurisdiction or has declined to exercise it.

Which Parish

For an initial custody case, file in the parish where either party is domiciled, or in the parish of the last matrimonial domicile. If custody is part of a divorce, it usually rides with the divorce case in the same court. For a change to an existing order, file in the parish where the custodial parent lives or in the parish that issued the original order. When the custodial parent has left Louisiana entirely, you can file where you live or where the decree was originally entered.⁷

Prepare the Petition and Attachments

The main document is the Petition for Custody. Louisiana’s Code of Civil Procedure requires it to identify both parents by name and domicile, lay out the facts supporting your custody request, and end with a specific request for relief — the exact arrangement you want the court to order.⁸ Include the child’s current living situation and disclose any prior custody orders.

Several attachments usually go with it:

A notarized verification swearing the information in your petition is accurate. Filing false information can trigger contempt-of-court proceedings.
A UCCJEA affidavit disclosing any prior custody proceedings in any state and confirming that Louisiana has jurisdiction. Leaving this out can delay or derail your case.
A proposed parenting plan setting out the physical custody schedule, holidays, and how major decisions will be made. Some courts require one; even when yours does not, filing one shows the judge you have thought through the practical side.

Filing Fees and Fee Waivers

You will pay a filing fee when you submit the petition, plus separate costs for serving the other parent and notarizing documents. The exact amounts vary by parish, and contested cases add up quickly through motions and hearings.

If you cannot afford the costs, ask to proceed without prepayment by filing an In Forma Pauperis affidavit under Code of Civil Procedure Article 5181. You disclose income, expenses, and assets under oath. If your income is at or below 125% of the federal poverty level and you are represented by a Legal Services Corporation program, a rebuttable presumption applies that you qualify. A judge reviews the affidavit and decides. One caveat worth knowing before you file: the waiver defers costs, it does not erase them. If you lose the case, you can still be ordered to pay.⁹

Serve the Other Parent

After filing, you have to formally deliver the court documents to the other parent. Without proper service, the case cannot move forward.¹⁰

The standard method is personal service: a proper officer physically hands the citation and petition to the other parent.¹¹ In practice this is usually the sheriff’s office in the parish where the other parent lives, for a fee that varies by parish. If the sheriff cannot complete service, a private process server is an option, generally faster and more expensive. Service can happen any time of day, including weekends and holidays.¹⁰

When the other parent cannot be located, Louisiana courts can appoint an attorney to represent the absent parent after you show real diligence in trying to find them: checking last known addresses, contacting relatives, searching public records.¹² Treat this as a last resort. Going forward against an absent parent through a court-appointed attorney limits the kinds of orders the court can enter, especially around enforcement.

What Happens After You File

Once the other parent has been served and the case is set, the judge decides custody by weighing what serves the child’s best interest. Louisiana Civil Code Article 134 lists fourteen specific factors — abuse potential first, then emotional bonds, stability, parenting capacity, substance abuse or violence, willingness to co-parent, the child’s preference if the child is old enough, mental and physical health of each parent, moral fitness as it affects the child, school and community ties, distance between homes, and who has been the primary caretaker — with no single factor controlling.¹³ A finding of family violence triggers additional protective statutes and makes it significantly harder for the abusive parent to obtain custody.

At the hearing, both sides can testify, call witnesses, and submit documents. School records, medical reports, text messages, and statements from teachers or family members are common. Specific and concrete evidence carries more weight than general character praise — a teacher who can describe the child’s routine tells the judge more than a relative vouching for you.

In heavily contested cases, the court may order or the parties may request a custody evaluation. A licensed mental health professional interviews both parents, observes each with the child, speaks with teachers and other caregivers, and may run psychological assessments before submitting a written recommendation. Judges are not bound by it, but they take it seriously.

Mediation

Many Louisiana judicial districts can require parents to try mediation before a contested hearing. This is not statewide; it depends on your court’s rules and the judge. A neutral mediator helps the parents negotiate an agreement; if it works, the agreement goes to the judge for approval, and if it fails, the case proceeds to hearing. Courts will not order mediation when a party shows that they or the children have been victims of family violence, and several districts explicitly prohibit court-ordered mediation in domestic abuse situations.¹⁴

Getting a Temporary Order While the Case Is Pending

Custody cases can take months. In the meantime, the court can issue temporary orders so nothing shifts underneath the child while everyone waits.

If the child is in immediate danger, you can file for an ex parte temporary custody order under Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3945. Ex parte means the judge can act without hearing from the other parent first. You have to file a verified petition or sworn affidavit showing specific facts that the child will suffer immediate and irreparable harm before the other parent can be notified and heard.¹⁵ The bar is high. An ex parte order lasts only a short time, until a full hearing can be held with both parents present.

When there is no emergency, either parent can ask for a temporary custody order through a contradictory hearing where both sides present their positions. The judge then sets a temporary schedule and decision-making authority that remains in effect until the final custody determination.¹⁵

If You Already Have a Custody Order

The process above is for opening a custody case. If a final custody order already exists and you want it changed, that is a modification proceeding, filed in the parish where the custodial parent lives or where the original order was issued.⁷ Modifying a final custody order issued after a trial on the merits carries a heavy burden of proof, deliberately, because repeated custody battles themselves harm children. Temporary or interim orders can be changed more easily.

1
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Art. 132 – Award of Custody to Parents
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:335 – Domiciliary Parent
3
Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Art. 136 – Award of Visitation Rights
4
Louisiana Department of Health. Paternity Information
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:1801 – Short Title
6
FindLaw. Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:1813 – Initial Child Custody Jurisdiction
7
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 74.2 – Custody Proceedings; Support; Forum Non Conveniens
8
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 891 – Form of Petition
9
Louisiana Supreme Court. In Forma Pauperis Affidavit
10
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 1231 – Types of Service; Time of Making
11
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 1232 – Personal Service
12
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 5091 – Appointment of Attorney for Unrepresented Party
13
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Art. 134 – Factors in Determining Child’s Best Interest
14
Louisiana Supreme Court. Custody and Visitation Orders Rule 29.4
15
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Art. 3945 – Incidental Order of Temporary Child Custody