Louisiana Civil Code

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TITLE III - ABSENT PERSONS

 

CHAPTER 1 - CURATORSHIP OF THE PROPERTY OF ABSENT PERSONS

Art. 47. An absent person is one who has no representative in this state and whose whereabouts are not known and cannot be ascertained by diligent effort.
When an absent person owns property in this state, the court may, upon petition of any interested party and a showing of necessity, appoint a curator to manage the property of the absent person. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 48. The curator has power of administration and disposition over the property of the absent person as provided by legislation.
When the absent person is a spouse in community, the curatorship is limited to his separate property. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 49. The establishment of the curatorship does not deprive the absent person of his capacity to make juridical acts. Nevertheless, his acts of disposition of immovable property are not effective towards third persons and the curator unless filed for registry in the public records of the parish in which the immovable property is located. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 50. The curatorship of the property of the absent person terminates of right when he appoints a person to represent him in this state, when his whereabouts become known, or when he dies. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 51. The curatorship of the property of the absent person also terminates when a judgment of declaration of death is rendered.

When an absent person has no known heirs and is presumed dead, it shall be the duty of the curator to initiate proceedings for a declaration of death. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 52. Upon termination of the curatorship, the curator is bound to account for his management and to restore the property to the formerly absent person or to his successors. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 53. When the curator acquires knowledge of the termination of his curatorship, he is bound to file a notice in the curatorship proceeding that his authority to manage the property of the formerly absent person has ceased.

Acts of administration or disposition made by the curator after the curatorship has terminated are valid toward third persons unless notice of the termination of the curatorship has been filed in the curatorship proceeding. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

CHAPTER 2 - DECLARATION OF DEATH

Art. 54. One who has been an absent person for five years is presumed to be dead. If the absence commenced between August 26, 2005, and September 30, 2005, and was related to or caused by Hurricane Katrina or Rita, the absent person who is not currently charged with an offense that is defined as a felony under the laws of the state of Louisiana or the United States of America shall be presumed dead after the passage of two years. Upon petition by an interested party, the court shall render judgment declaring the death of the absent person and shall determine the date on which the absence commenced and the date of death. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 2006, No. 258, §1]

Art. 55. The succession of the person declared dead shall be opened as of the date of death fixed in the judgment, and his estate shall devolve in accordance with the law of successions. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 56. If there is clear and convincing new evidence establishing a date of death other than that determined in the judgment of declaration of death, the judgment shall be amended accordingly.
Persons previously recognized as successors are bound to restore the estate to the new successors but may keep the fruits they have gathered. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 57. If a person who has been declared dead reappears, he shall be entitled to recover his property that still exists in the condition in which it is found from those who took it as his successors or from their transferees by gratuitous title. He may also recover the net proceeds of things alienated and for the diminution of the value of things that has resulted from their encumbrance. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 58. A person who is presumed to be dead or who has been declared dead at a time a succession would have been opened in his favor cannot be a successor. The estate of the deceased devolves as if that person were dead at the time of the opening of the succession. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Art. 59. If the person who is presumed to be dead or who has been declared dead reappears, he shall be entitled to recover his inheritance in the condition in which it is found from those who succeeded in his default and from their transferees by gratuitous title. He may also recover the net proceeds of things alienated and for the diminution of the value of things that has resulted from their encumbrance. [Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991]

Arts. 60-85. [Repealed. Acts 1990, No. 989, §1, eff. January 1, 1991]




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