Louisiana Civil Code

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TITLE VI - OF MASTER AND SERVANT

 

Arts. 162-177. [Repealed by Acts 1990, No. 705, §1]

 

TITLE VII - PARENT AND CHILD

 

CHAPTER 1 - FILIATION

Art. 178. Filiation is the legal relationship between a child and his parent. [Acts 2009, No. 3, §1, eff. June 9, 2009]

Art. 179. Filiation is established by proof of maternity or paternity or by adoption. [Acts 2009, No. 3, §1, eff. June 9, 2009]

CHAPTER 2 - FILIATION BY PROOF OF MATERNITY OR PATERNITY

SECTION 1 - PROOF OF MATERNITY

Art. 184. Maternity may be established by a preponderance of the evidence that the child was born of a particular woman, except as otherwise provided by law. [Amended by Acts 1976, No. 430, §1; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005; Acts 2009, No. 3, §3, eff. June 9, 2009]

SECTION 2 - PROOF OF PATERNITY

SUBSECTION A - THE PRESUMPTION OF PATERNITY OF HUSBAND; DISAVOWAL OF PATERNITY; CONTESTATION; ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY

Art. 185. The husband of the mother is presumed to be the father of a child born during the marriage or within three hundred days from the date of the termination of the marriage. [Amended by Acts 1976, No. 430, §1; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005; Acts 2009, No. 3, §3, eff. June 9, 2009]

Art. 186. If a child is born within three hundred days from the day of the termination of a marriage and his mother has married again before his birth, the first husband is presumed to be the father.

If the first husband, or his successor, obtains a judgment of disavowal of paternity of the child, the second husband is presumed to be the father. The second husband, or his successor, may disavow paternity if he institutes a disavowal action within a peremptive period of one year from the day that the judgment of disavowal obtained by the first husband is final and definitive. [Amended by Acts 1976, No. 430, §1; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005]

Art. 187. The husband may disavow paternity of the child by clear and convincing evidence that he is not the father. The testimony of the husband shall be corroborated by other evidence. [Amended by Acts 1976, No. 430, §1; Acts 1989, No. 790, §1; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005]

Art. 188. The husband of the mother may not disavow a child born to his wife as a result of an assisted conception to which he consented. [Amended by Acts 1976, No. 430, §1; Acts 1989, No. 790, §1; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005]

Art. 189. The action for disavowal of paternity is subject to a liberative prescription of one year. This prescription commences to run from the day of the birth of the child, or the day the husband knew or should have known that he may not be the biological father of the child, whichever occurs later.

Nevertheless, if the husband lived separate and apart from the mother continuously during the three hundred days immediately preceding the birth of the child, this prescription does not commence to run until the husband is notified in writing that a party in interest has asserted that the husband is the father of the child. [Amended by Acts 1976, No. 430, §1; Acts 1999, No. 790, §1; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005; Acts 2016, No. 309, §1, eff. Aug. 1, 2016]

Art. 190. If the prescription has commenced to run and the husband dies before the prescription has accrued, his successor whose interest is adversely affected may institute an action for disavowal of paternity. The action of the successor is subject to a liberative prescription of one year. This prescription commences to run from the day of the death of the husband.

If the prescription has not yet commenced to run, the action of the successor is subject to a liberative prescription of one year. This prescription commences to run from the day the successor is notified in writing that a party in interest has asserted that the husband is the father of the child. [Amended by Acts 1976, No. 430, §1; Acts 1999, No. 790, §1; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005]

Art. 190. 1. If blood or tissue sampling indicates by a ninety-nine and nine-tenths percentage point threshold probability that the biological father is the father of the child and he is not the husband or former husband presumed to be the father of the child, then the husband or former husband presumed to be the father of the child, the mother, and the biological father of the child may execute a three-party acknowledgment in authentic form declaring that the husband or former husband is not the father of the child and that the biological father is the father of the child. When a three-party acknowledgment is executed, the husband or former husband is not presumed to be the father of the child. The biological father who has acknowledged the child by three-party acknowledgment is presumed to be the father of the child.

To have effect, this acknowledgment shall be executed no later than ten years from the day of the birth of the child but never more than one year from the day of the death of the child. These time periods are preemptive. [Acts 2018, No. 21, §2, eff. Aug. 1, 2018]

Art. 191. The mother of a child may institute an action to establish both that her former husband is not the father of the child and that her present husband is the father. This action may be instituted only if the present husband has acknowledged the child by authentic act. [Acts 2004, No. 530, §1, eff. June 25, 2004; Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005; Acts 2016, No. 309, §1, eff. Aug. 1, 2016]

Art. 192. The mother shall prove by clear and convincing evidence both that her former husband is not the father and that her present husband is the father. The testimony of the mother shall be corroborated by other evidence. [Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005]

Art. 193. The action by the mother shall be instituted within a peremptive period of one hundred eighty days from the marriage to her present husband and also within two years from the day of the birth of the child, except as may otherwise be provided by law. [Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005]

Art. 194. A judgment shall not be rendered decreeing that the former husband is not the father of the child unless the judgment also decrees that the present husband is the father of the child. [Acts 2005, No. 192, §1, eff. June 29, 2005]




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