Louisiana Real Estate Laws: What You Need to Know as a Landlord

State legal systems in the United States are based on one of two legal systems. Forty-nine states base their laws on the common law system, first used in England.

However, one state, Louisiana, uses the French Napoleonic Code as the basis for its legal system. While common law-based legal systems rely on judges’ rulings to set precedents that are used to make subsequent decisions, the Louisiana system does not.

The Napoleonic Code was intended to simplify laws at a time when many people were illiterate or had no access to printed information. Ironically, the effort to create a simpler, more understandable legal system has resulted in some of the most complex and least understood state law here in Louisiana.

There are many other distinctions between the two systems, but it is not as important to know all the distinctions as it is to understand that there are significant differences between the state laws of Louisiana and those of most other states.

Fundamentals of Real Estate Law

Real estate laws are the laws that address land and anything built on that land, including the ownership, use, and transfer of ownership of that land. As discussed above, Louisiana’s unique legal heritage has affected current laws in many ways. One of those forms is the term used to refer to real estate in this state. While the rest of the United States uses “real estate” in legal documents, in Louisiana real estate is known as “real estate.”

Inheritance and “forced heirs”

Another area that requires special attention is inheritance within Louisiana. Inheritance laws stemming from the Napoleonic Code were intended to ensure that assets remained in their family of origin, so while the other 49 states allow property to be transferred as the owner chooses after death, this is not always the case. it is so in louisiana.

Laws regarding inheritance of real estate may dictate that close relatives, including parents or children, inherit the property before anyone else.

Community property or separate property?

Real estate laws in Louisiana separate property ownership into two categories:

• community property
• separate property

While the difference between the two distinctions may initially seem obvious, upon closer inspection the line becomes less clear. For example, once a couple marries, all property does not automatically become community property, and in the event of a divorce, one spouse may not have any claim or rights to certain property. Some of the factors considered in this situation are when the property was purchased and what party funds were used, which can be a difficult fact to determine.