Property Division

Community Property & Separate Property

Community property refers to properties and assets accrued over the course of the marriage. Since Louisiana is a community property state, the court will seek to divide marital and community property as equally as possible. However, separate property is not eligible for division.

Separate property includes the following:

• Property owned by a spouse before the marriage

• Property was given to a spouse through inheritance or donation

• Damages resulting from one spouse’s separate property

• Property attained by one spouse due to a voluntary asset division during marriage

There are only a few situations in which a deviation from the 50/50 rule would be acceptable. If the couple had a valid prenuptial agreement, the court would defer to the agreement. If the divorce happened way before the property is divided, payments made and debts acquired post-divorce should be included in the proceedings.