Venue for divorce is jurisdictional and may not be waived.1 A divorce obtained in a court of improper venue is an absolute nullity.2 An absolutely null divorce can render a second marriage invalid and affect community property and inheritance rights. An action for nullity based on a lack of jurisdictional venue may be brought at any time unless the defendant has acquiesced in the judgment.3
During intake, be sure to ask how long your client has lived in their current parish of residence. It is wise to double check your client’s domicile—especially in those parishes that overlap or zig- zag. An example in Acadiana is the town of Delcambre, which is in both Vermilion and Iberia parishes. One’s parish of residence there depends on one’s specific address.
Venue should be pleaded in the petition. Venue is proper in the parish where plaintiff is domiciled, the parish where defendant is domiciled, or the parish of last matrimonial domicile.4 A verification of the venue allegations in an affidavit from the client affidavit will help protect you against malpractice for filing a divorce in a court of improper venue.
- 1La. C.C.P. arts. 44, 3941.
- 2La. C.C.P. arts. 44, 3941(B); In re Succession of Jones, 2008-1088 (La. App. 3 Cir. 3/4/09), 6 So. 3d 331.
- 3La. C.C.P. art. 2002. A spouse acquiesces in the null divorce judgment if he remarries. Glover v. Glover, 09-1529 (La. App. 3 Cir. 5/5/10), 38 So. 3d 541.
- 4La. C.C.P. art. 3941(A).