Child custody in Louisiana

What the law tells the judge to look at

In the order the law lists them.

1. The chance that the child could be abused. This is the most important factor.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(1)
2. The love, affection, and emotional ties between each party and the child.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(2)
3. Each party's ability and willingness to give the child love, affection, and spiritual guidance and to continue the child's education and upbringing.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(3)
4. Each party's ability and willingness to give the child food, clothing, medical care, and other material needs.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(4)
5. How long the child has lived in a stable, adequate home, and how important it is to keep it the same.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(5)
6. How permanent, as a family unit, the current or proposed home or homes are.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(6)
7. Each party's moral fitness, as far as it affects the child's welfare.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(7)
8. Any party's history of substance abuse, violence, or criminal activity.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(8)
9. Each party's mental and physical health. The effects of past abuse on a parent abused by the other parent are not a reason to deny that parent custody.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(9)
10. The child's history at home, at school, and in the community.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(10)
11. The child's reasonable preference, if the judge finds the child old enough to express one.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(11)
12. Each party's willingness and ability to support a close, continuing relationship between the child and the other party. This does not count against a party who has reasonable safety concerns based on strong evidence of the other party's abusive, reckless, or illegal conduct.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(12)
13. The distance between the parties' homes.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(13)
14. How much each party has cared for and raised the child in the past.La. Civ. Code art. 134(A)(14)

Other things the judge considers

• If there is a history of family violence or domestic abuse (including sexual abuse), the judge must decide custody and visitation under the family violence laws instead of the regular factors. A history means one incident that caused serious bodily injury, or more than one incident.La. Civ. Code art. 134(B); La. R.S. 9:341, 9:364
• If parents agree on custody, the court follows the agreement unless the family violence law applies or the child's best interest requires something else.La. Civ. Code art. 132
• A child has a right to time with both parents. Each parent must follow the court-ordered schedule, and neither parent may interfere with the other's time, unless there is good cause.La. Civ. Code art. 136.1
• A parent who committed a sex offense through which the child was conceived must be denied visitation and contact.La. Civ. Code art. 137(A)

What the judge may not consider

The fact that a parent suffers from the effects of past abuse by the other parent cannot be a reason to deny that parent custody.

Joint custody

Yes. If the parents do not agree, or their agreement is not in the child's best interest, the court must award joint custody unless clear and convincing evidence shows sole custody to one parent is in the child's best interest. In joint custody, physical custody must be shared equally unless the judge finds that is not feasible or not in the child's best interest (stronger rule in effect since August 1, 2026). This does not apply to a parent with a history of family violence.

The child's wishes

The judge considers the child's reasonable preference if the judge finds the child is old enough to express one. The law does not set an age.

Domestic violence

The law presumes that a parent with a history of family violence or domestic abuse, or who sexually abused a child, stepchild, or household member, or knowingly let someone abuse the children, should not get sole or joint custody. A history means one incident causing serious bodily injury or more than one incident. The parent can overcome this only by proving all of these:

• Completing a court-monitored domestic abuse intervention program (at least 26 sessions) or a sex-abuser treatment program after the last abuse
• Not abusing alcohol or using illegal drugs
• That the child needs that parent as a custodial parent because the other parent is absent, mentally ill, abusing substances, or similar.

That parent can get only supervised visits, and if sexual abuse of the child is proven by clear and convincing evidence, all visits and contact must be stopped until treatment is completed and other proof is made. If both parents have a history of family violence, custody goes to the parent less likely to continue it.

Who has custody before a court order

Louisiana law does not directly say who has custody of a child born to unmarried parents before a court order. The mother is the child's legal representative (natural tutrix) if the father has not acknowledged the child, or acknowledged the child without her agreement. A father who signs an acknowledgment of paternity can then ask the court for visitation or custody.

Establishing paternity

How

Both parents can sign a voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit in front of a notary. It is free at the hospital when the child is born. You can also sign it at the vital records office in New Orleans or by mail for a small fee, or at a local child support office (an application and fee are required for services). Before signing, the notary must tell you about your right to genetic testing, to talk to a lawyer, and what signing means. Either signer can cancel it without giving a reason within 60 days of signing by filing a Revocation of Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit with vital records, or in a court hearing. After 60 days, it can only be set aside in court for fraud, duress, material mistake of fact, or error, or if the man is not the biological father. A parent can also file a paternity case, or the child support office can help with genetic testing.

Form

Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit

Cancellation form

Revocation of Acknowledgment of Paternity Affidavit

Agency

Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, Paternity Establishment Program (with the Louisiana Department of Health, Vital Records)
https://dcfs.louisiana.gov/child-support-enforcement/louisiana-paternity-establishment-program/
1-877-752-3237

Changing an order

You can ask the court to change a custody order. The court decides based on the child's best interest, and you usually must show that circumstances have materially changed since the last order. If the last order was made after a full trial on the evidence, the burden to change it is heavier. A pattern of willfully violating the visitation or custody schedule without good cause can be grounds to change the order.

Law: La. Civ. Code art. 131; La. R.S. 9:346(H); Bergeron v. Bergeron, 492 So. 2d 1193 (La. 1986)

If the other parent does not follow the order

If a parent does not allow you your court-ordered time, you can file a rule to show cause why that parent should not be held in contempt. If you win, the court must hold the parent in contempt and award you your actual expenses from the lost time, extra time equal to the time lost, all attorney fees and court costs, and any counseling costs the child needs. If a parent fails to use their own time, the court can award expenses, caretaker costs, counseling costs, and fees. The court can add a penalty if the violation was meant to harass. It is a defense if the missed time was by agreement, beyond the parent's control, or for good cause. A pattern of willful violations can lead to a change of custody.

Law: La. Civ. Code art. 136.1; La. R.S. 9:346

Grandparent visitation

Yes, in several situations.

• If the parents are not married, are not living together as a married couple, or have filed for divorce, a grandparent can be granted visitation if it is in the child's best interest; other relatives, a former stepparent, or a former stepgrandparent can be granted visitation only in extraordinary circumstances (such as a court finding that a parent is abusing drugs).
• If one parent of a married couple has died, been interdicted, or is in jail, that parent's parents can get reasonable visitation if it is in the child's best interest; the same applies when unmarried parents lived together and one died or is in jail. If a married parent has died or is in jail, the child's brothers and sisters can also get reasonable visitation if it is in the child's best interest.
• If married parents have lived apart for 6 months, grandparents or siblings can get visitation in extraordinary circumstances.

In deciding best interest, the judge considers only:

• A fit parent's constitutional right to make decisions for the child and the presumption that a fit parent acts in the child's best interest
• The length and quality of the relationship
• Whether the child needs guidance the relative can best give
• The child's preference if mature enough
• The mental and physical health of the child and the relative.

The court must first hold a hearing on whether to appoint a lawyer for the child. A relative whose intentional crime caused a parent's death must be denied visitation.

Custody by someone who is not a parent

If joint custody or sole custody to either parent would cause substantial harm to the child, the court must give custody to another person the child has been living with in a wholesome and stable home, or otherwise to any other person who can provide an adequate and stable home.

Custody and visitation in the order

Yes. A temporary restraining order can award temporary custody of minor children, and a protective order can award temporary custody or set temporary visitation rights and conditions. You do not have to pay court costs in advance.

Military parents

If a parent on active military duty cannot use court-ordered visitation because of military obligations, that parent can ask for make-up (compensatory) visitation, day for day, if it is in the child's best interest. If the parents cannot agree on a schedule, the parent can ask the court. This does not apply if either parent has a history of physically or sexually abusing a child. Louisiana also has a Military Parent and Child Custody Protection Act.

Law: La. R.S. 9:348, 9:359 et seq.