After years of trying to make the divorce process easier for litigants, the Louisiana Legislature and its advisors decided that we needed to do more to preserve marriages. Thus, was created the covenant marriage, which, among other things, raises additional impediments to a relatively quick dissolution of a marriage.1 By statute, a covenant marriage is “a marriage entered into by one male and one female who understand and agree that the marriage between them is a lifelong relationship.”2 However, Louisiana couples have not embraced the concept of covenant marriage with much enthusiasm. In fact, in this writer’s experience, they are few and far between. 

Always ask clients whether they have contracted a covenant marriage. Proof that your client has contracted such a marriage can be established by obtaining a copy of the marriage license which will contain a declaration of their intent to enter into a covenant marriage pursuant to La. R.S. 9:273. If previously married parties have opted into a covenant marriage, this fact can be determined from the marriage certificate. La. R.S. 9:275 requires a notation of the parties’ intent to enter into a covenant marriage on the marriage certificate. A copy of the parties’ signed declaration of intent is attached to the marriage certificate.

In order to obtain a divorce, the spouses must first undergo counseling.3 After counseling has failed, the parties to a covenant marriage may obtain a judgment of divorce on specified grounds; a divorce on the grounds of living separate and apart is available, but requires a longer period of separation than in a non-covenant marriage.4 The Covenant Marriage Act also resurrected the legal regime known as separation from bed and board.5 La. R.S 9:307(B)(1)–(6) lists all the grounds for obtaining a judgment of separation from bed and board available after the parties undergo the mandated marital counseling. 

• 1See La. R.S. 9:272–298. For statutes regulating divorce in a covenant marriage, see La. R.S. 9:307–309.
• 2La. R.S. 9:272.
• 3La. R.S. 9:307
• 4La. R.S. 9:307(A).
• 5La. R.S. 9:307(B).

A marriage contracted in the absence of a marriage ceremony or in the presence of an impediment (e.g., a previous undissolved marriage or consanguinity) is absolutely null.1  Such a marriage has no civil legal effects and need not be declared null by a court.2  Nevertheless, any interested person may bring an action for a judicial declaration of nullity.3  A petition for divorce cannot substitute for an action seeking a declaration of nullity.

Marriages that are absolutely null may still give rise to certain civil effects as to parties who entered into the marriage in good faith.4  Such putative marriages cannot be dissolved by a petition for divorce; dissolution must be obtained by a petition for a declaration of nullity of the marriage. In an action for a declaration of nullity of a putative marriage, the petitioner can be awarded the incidental relief available in a proceeding for divorce.5

• 1La. C.C. art. 94.
• 2See id.
• 3Id.
• 4La. C.C. art. 96.
• 5La. C.C. arts. 151–152.

In Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court held that state bans on same-sex marriage violate both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.1  Following Obergefell, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion confirming that Louisiana statutes in violation of Obergefell are unconstitutional.2  Accordingly, La. C.C. art. 86, which defines marriage as a legal relationship between a man and a woman, and La. C.C. art. 3520(B), which prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states, are unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the Louisiana Law Institute has noted that there appears little motivation on the part of the Louisiana Legislature to amend the language of Louisiana statutes to conform to federal law in this area.3

• 1576 U.S. 644 (2015).
• 2Constanza v, Caldwell, 2014-CA-2090 (La. 7/7/15), 167 So. 3d 619.
• 3See, e.g., Marriage-Persons Comm., La. State L. Inst., Annual Report to the Legislature in Response to SR 143 of the 2016 Regular Session: Relative to State Law post-Obergefell v. Hodges.

Marriage does not change the legal name of either spouse. However, a married person may use the surname of either or both spouses.1  If, post-divorce, a woman seeks to return to the use of her maiden name, she may do so. To expedite the process, the divorce judgment can specifically contain language wherein the ex-spouse can declare her desire to return to her maiden name and the court can so order that she is permitted to do the same. Obtaining an order permitting a spouse to return to her family name can expedite the ex-spouse in changing legal documents such as a driver’s license or a Social Security card.2

• 1La. C.C. art. 100.
• 2See, e.g., La. OMV, § 1, Policy 22.00; How Do I Change or Correct My Name on May Social Security Number Card?, U.S. Social Security Admin.