How to Fill Out and File the Louisiana Tutorship Petition Form

To open a Louisiana tutorship, you file a petition in the district court for the correct parish identifying the minor, the legal basis for your appointment, the child’s property, and a proposed undertutor; once the judge signs the order and you take the oath and post any required security, the clerk issues Letters of Tutorship. Tutorship is Louisiana’s term for what most states call guardianship, and the petition is the document that gets the process started.1Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services. Kinship Navigator – Tutorship

Identify Which Type of Tutorship Applies

Louisiana Civil Code Article 247 recognizes four kinds of tutorship, and the petition has to state which one you’re relying on.2Justia. Louisiana Civil Code Article 247 – Kinds of Tutorships Picking the wrong category can get your filing dismissed.

A grandparent whose daughter has died, for example, files under tutorship by effect of law, not dative tutorship, because the statute puts certain relatives ahead of the court’s open-ended appointment power.

File in the Correct Parish

The right parish depends on the family situation, not just where the child sleeps at night. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4031 covers minors domiciled in the state:7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4031 – Minor Domiciled in the State

  • If one parent has died, file where the surviving parent is domiciled.
  • If the parents are divorced or legally separated, file where the custodial parent lives.
  • If joint custody was awarded, both parents petition together as cotutors in the parish where the divorce was granted, or in the parish of the child’s legal domicile if the custody order specifies one.
  • In any other situation, file in the parish where the minor resides.

File in the wrong parish and the court has no jurisdiction, so the petition goes nowhere. The Clerk of Court in the child’s home parish can usually confirm which parish is correct.

What the Petition Must Contain

The Petition for Tutorship is the central document. Most parishes make fill-in-the-blank templates available through the Clerk of Court or a self-help legal center. At a minimum, expect to provide:

  • The minor’s full name, date of birth, and current address.
  • The names of both parents and an explanation of why they cannot serve as tutor (death, incapacity, unfitness).
  • Your relationship to the child and the legal basis for your petition (natural right, will, statutory priority, or court appointment).
  • The name and contact information of a proposed undertutor.

The petition and the oath that goes with it typically require notarized signatures. Many Clerk of Court offices offer notary services for a small fee, with amounts varying by parish.

Inventory or Descriptive List of the Child’s Property

When anyone applies to become tutor, the court orders either a formal inventory with appraisal or a sworn detailed descriptive list of the minor’s property.8Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4101 – Inventory and Appraisement or Descriptive List List everything the child owns or is owed: bank accounts, insurance proceeds, real estate, personal property, and any debts. The court uses this filing to set the bond amount, so omitting an account or undervaluing property creates problems both at review and later when you try to manage the asset.

Proposing an Undertutor

Every tutorship requires an undertutor, a second person the court appoints to watch the tutor and protect the child’s interests.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4201 – Appointment and Oath The undertutor’s written concurrence is required before the tutor can take certain actions affecting the child’s property. Both the tutor and the undertutor take an oath to faithfully discharge their duties before they can begin serving.10Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4172 – Issuance of Letters

Bond or Legal Mortgage

Whether you post a bond depends on your type of tutorship and the value of the child’s property.

A natural tutor generally does not need to furnish a bond. Instead, the clerk records a certificate showing the value of the minor’s property, and that recording creates a legal mortgage on the tutor’s real estate in the parish as security.11Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4134 – Natural Tutor If the child has no assets, no certificate is needed until assets are acquired. If the child’s only asset is a pending lawsuit, the certificate can wait until the claim resolves.

Everyone else, meaning tutors by will, tutors by effect of law, and dative tutors, must furnish security equal to the total value of the minor’s movable property as shown in the inventory, plus any additional amount the court considers necessary to protect against mismanagement.12Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4131 – Amount The court can adjust the bond up or down later as the child’s assets change in value.

A natural tutor can be required to post a bond anyway if the court determines the legal mortgage alone won’t adequately protect the child.13Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4135 – Security When Legal Mortgage Insufficient It’s uncommon, but worth knowing if the child has significant assets.

Filing Fees and Letters of Tutorship

Once the petition, inventory, oath, and bond paperwork are complete, you file the full package with the Clerk of Court. Fees vary by parish and by the value of the child’s property. In Jefferson Parish, for example, a tutorship covering property worth less than $50,000 requires a $250 advance deposit, while a larger tutorship costs $400.14Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court. Fees Call your parish clerk before filing to confirm the current amount.

The clerk assigns the matter to a district judge, who reviews the documents. If everything is in order, the judge signs an order appointing the tutor and undertutor. After the tutor has posted any required security and taken the oath, the clerk issues Letters of Tutorship.10Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4172 – Issuance of Letters

Those letters are your proof of legal authority. You’ll need them to enroll the child in school, consent to medical care, access bank accounts, and deal with insurance companies. Request several certified copies when the letters are issued, because schools and financial institutions typically keep their own copy and each certified copy carries a small fee.15Clerk of Court. Civil Filing Fees

The Small Tutorship Shortcut

If the child’s total property in Louisiana is worth $50,000 or less, the matter qualifies as a small tutorship under a simplified procedure.16Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4461 – Small Tutorship The small tutorship procedure replaces the formal inventory with a sworn detailed descriptive list, which is cheaper and faster than hiring an appraiser, and filing fees tend to be lower. A grandparent trying to manage a modest insurance payout for a grandchild is usually steered here by the clerk.

What You’re Signing Up for After Appointment

Being appointed tutor does not give you a free hand with the child’s money. For any significant transaction affecting the child’s interests, you file a petition with the court explaining what you want to do and why, with the undertutor’s written agreement attached. If the undertutor objects, the court holds a hearing and decides.17FindLaw. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4271 – Court Approval of Action Affecting Minor’s Interest All deposits into and checks drawn on the child’s accounts must appear in the tutor’s annual accounting.18Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 4270

Tutors must file an annual account with the court showing how the child’s money was spent and what assets remain. Failing to file required reports or to account for the funds is grounds for removal.1Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services. Kinship Navigator – Tutorship Keep receipts, bank statements, and records of every expenditure made on the child’s behalf throughout the year, and expect the accounting to match those records.

One boundary worth knowing before you file: an ordinary tutorship ends automatically when the minor turns 18 or is emancipated. If you need an arrangement that continues past 18 because the minor has a significant intellectual or adaptive disability, that is a different filing (a continuing tutorship) with its own age and evidence requirements, and after majority the appropriate framework is interdiction rather than tutorship.1Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services. Kinship Navigator – Tutorship