State legal systems in the United States are based on one of two legal systems. Forty-nine states base their laws on the common law system, first used in England.

However, one state, Louisiana, uses the French Napoleonic Code as the basis for its legal system. While common law-based legal systems rely on judges’ rulings to establish precedents that are used to make subsequent decisions, the Louisiana system does not.

The Napoleonic Code was intended to simplify the laws at a time when many people were illiterate or did not have access to printed information. Ironically, the effort to create a simpler, more easily understood legal system has resulted in some of the most complex and least understood state law here in Louisiana.

There are many other distinctions between the two systems, but it is not as important to know all the distinctions as it is to understand that there are significant differences between the state laws of Louisiana and those of most other states.

Fundamentals of Real Estate Law

Real estate laws are the laws that address land and anything built on that land, including the ownership, use, and transfer of ownership of that land. As discussed above, Louisiana’s unique legal heritage has affected current laws in many ways. One of those ways is the term used to refer to real estate in this state. While the rest of the United States uses “real property” in legal documents, in Louisiana real property is known as “immovable property.”

Inheritance and “forced heirs”

Another area that requires special attention is that of inheritance within Louisiana. Laws relating to inheritance derived from the Napoleonic Code were intended to ensure that assets remained in their family of origin, so while the other 49 states allow property to be transferred as the owner prefers after death, it is not always possible. So in Louisiana.

Laws regarding inheritance of real property may dictate that close relatives, including parents or children, inherit the property before anyone else.

Community property or separate property?

Real estate laws in Louisiana separate ownership of property into two categories:

• community property
• separate property

While the difference between two distinctions may initially seem apparent, upon closer inspection the line becomes less clear. For example, once a couple is married, all property does not automatically become community property, and in the event of a divorce, one spouse may not have any right or claim to certain property. Some of the factors considered in this situation are when the property was purchased and how much of the funds were used, which can be a difficult fact to determine.