CHAPTER 6 - OF THE ORDER IN WHICH PRIVILEGED CREDITORS ARE TO BE PAID
Art. 3254. If the movable property, not subject to any special privilege, is sufficient to pay the debts which have a general privilege on the movables, those debts are paid in the following order:
Funeral charges are the first paid.
Law charges, the second.
Expenses of the last illness, the third.
The wages of servants, the fourth.
Supplies of provisions, the fifth.
The salaries of clerks, secretaries, and others of that nature, the sixth.
The thousand dollars secured by law to the surviving spouse or minor children, as set forth in Article 3252, shall be paid in preference to all other debts, except those for the vendor's privileges and expenses incurred in selling the property. [Amended by Acts 1979, No. 711, §1]
Art. 3255. But when part of the movables are subject to special privileges, and the remainder of the movables are not sufficient to discharge the debts having a privilege on the whole mass of movables, or if there be equality between the special privileges, the following rules shall direct the determination.
Art. 3256. Whatever may be the privilege of the lessor, charges for selling the movables subjected to it are paid before that which is due for the rent, because it is these charges which procure the payment of the rent.
Art. 3257. The case is the same with respect to the funeral expenses of the debtor and his family; when there is no other source from which they can be paid, they have a preference over the debt for rent or hire, on the price of the movables contained in the house or on the farm.
Art. 3258. But the lessor has a preference on the price of these movables, over all the other privileged debts of the deceased, such as expenses of the last illness, and others which have a general privilege on the movables.
Art. 3259. With regard to the crops which are subject to the lessor's privilege, the expenses for seed and labor, the wages of overseers and managers are to be paid out of the product of the year, in preference to the lessor's debt.
So, also, he who supplied the farming utensils, and who has not been paid, is paid in preference to the lessor out of the price of their sale.
Art. 3260. If, among the movables with which the house or farm, or any other thing subject to the lessor's privilege, is provided, there should be some which were deposited by a third person in the hands of the lessor or farmer, the lessor shall have a preference over the depositary on the things deposited for the payment of his rent, if there are no other movables subject to his privilege, or if they are not sufficient; unless it be proved that the lessor knew that the things deposited did not belong to his tenant or farmer. [Amended by Acts 1871, No. 87]
Art. 3261. With the exception stated in the foregoing article, the privilege of the depositor on the thing deposited is not preceded by any other privileged debt, even funeral expenses, unless it be that the depositor must contribute to the expense of sealing and making inventory, because this expense is necessary to the preservation of the deposit.
Art. 3262. The privilege of him who has taken care of the property of another, has a preference over that property, for the necessary expenses which he incurred, above all the other claims for expenses, even funeral charges; his privilege yields only to that for the charges on the sale of the thing preserved.
Art. 3263. The privilege of the vendor on movables sold by him, which are still in the possession of the vendee, yields to that of the owner of the house or farm which they serve to furnish or supply, for his rents. It yields also to the charges for affixing seals and making inventories, but not to the funeral or other expenses of the debtor.
Art. 3264. The privilege of innkeepers on the effects of travelers deceased in their house, is postponed to funeral and law charges, but is preferred to all the other privileged debts of the deceased.
Art. 3265. The privilege of carriers, for the cost of transportation and incidental expenses, yields only to the charges which would arise on the sale of the goods.
The case is the same respecting the freight of goods carried on board a ship or other vessels [vessel].
Art. 3266. If the movables of the debtor, by reason of the special privileges affecting them or for any other cause, are not sufficient to discharge the debts having a privilege on the whole movable property, the balance must be raised on the immovables of the debtor, as hereafter provided.
Art. 3267. If the immovables of the debtor are subject to the vendor's privilege or other special privileges, the vendors and creditors having other special privileges shall be paid from the price of the object affected in their favor, in preference to other privileged debts of the debtor, even funeral charges, except the charges for affixing seals, making inventories, and others which may have been necessary to procure the sale of the thing. [Amended by Acts 2019, No. 325, §2.]
Art. 3268. When the vendor of lands finds himself opposed by workmen seeking payment for a house or other work erected on the land, a separate appraisement is made of the ground and of the house, the vendor is paid to the amount of the appraisement on the land, and the other to the amount of the appraisement of the building.
Art. 3269. With the exception of special privileges, which exist on immovables in favor of the vendor, of workmen and furnishers of materials, as declared above, the debts privileged on the movables and immovables generally, ought to be paid, if the movables are insufficient, out of the product of the immovables belonging to the debtor, in preference to all other privileged and mortgage creditors.
The loss which may then result from their payment must be borne by the creditor whose mortgage is the least ancient, and so in succession, ascending according to the order of the mortgages, or by pro rata contributions where two or more mortgages have the same date.
Art. 3270. When the debts privileged on the movables and immovables can not be paid entirely, either because the movable effects are of small value, or subject to special privileges which claim a preference, or because the movables and immovables together do not suffice, the deficiency must not be borne proportionally among the debtors, but the debts must be paid according to the order established above, and the loss must fall on those which are of inferior dignity.