Practice Area · Family Law
If you or your children are afraid of a spouse, partner, or family member, Louisiana law gives you more than one way to get help — sometimes the same day you ask for it. Here's how a divorce-court injunction differs from a standalone protective order, what happens once family violence enters a custody case, and how a finding of family violence can reshape who gets to raise your children.
Know Your Options
Louisiana actually gives you two different legal tools, and they aren't interchangeable. One only exists inside a pending divorce. The other exists on its own, whether or not a divorce has ever been filed.
Once a divorce is pending, a spouse may ask the court for an injunction prohibiting the other spouse from physically or sexually abusing the spouse or any child. Because this order is issued in connection with a divorce action, a Uniform Abuse Prevention Order must still be prepared, filed, and transmitted to the Louisiana Protective Order Registry.
Alongside — or instead of — an abuse injunction, a spouse in a pending divorce may seek an injunction prohibiting the other spouse from harassing them. Like the abuse injunction, it is ancillary to the divorce itself, and it likewise requires a Uniform Abuse Prevention Order to be transmitted to the registry.
Chapter 28 does not require a divorce at all. Any adult victim of domestic abuse — or an adult filing on behalf of a child, a person with a disability, or another household member — may petition for protection directly, whether or not there is ever a divorce case. Its protections also reach further: through related chapters, the same statewide framework extends to dating partners (La. R.S. 46:2151), victims of stalking by a stranger or acquaintance (La. R.S. 46:2171–46:2174), and victims of sexual assault (La. R.S. 46:2181–46:2188).
In short: R.S. 9:372 and 9:372.1 are narrower tools tied to a divorce that is already in front of the court. Chapter 28 is a freestanding remedy — broader in who can ask for it, who it protects, and what it can order, as the next section explains.
How The Process Works
A Chapter 28 case moves in stages — and the first stage can happen before the abuser ever knows a petition was filed.
A petition can be filed in any court with jurisdiction, describing the abuse and asking for relief. It can be filed confidentially, with no prepayment of court costs, and — where an immediate order is requested — is supported by a sworn affirmation made under penalty of perjury.
La. R.S. 46:2134
On a showing of good cause — immediate and present danger, considering any past history of abuse — a judge can issue a temporary restraining order the same day, without notice to the abuser. It can order no contact, award temporary use of the residence, temporary custody, and possession of personal property and pets, with a hearing on a final order set within 21 days.
La. R.S. 46:2135
A final protective order entitled to full faith and credit runs for a fixed period of at least 18 months, and can be extended. For the anti-abuse and anti-harassment provisions specifically, the court can instead make the order indefinite, with safeguards requiring notice to the victim before it can later be modified.
La. R.S. 46:2136Backed By Real Enforcement
A protective order is only as good as what stands behind it. Louisiana builds in cost-shifting, a statewide registry, firearm restrictions, and mandatory police response.
Filing fees, court costs, service fees, and related expenses are generally assessed against the perpetrator of the abuse, not the victim — with a narrow exception where the petition is found to be frivolous.
La. R.S. 46:2136.1Every order is prepared on a Uniform Abuse Prevention Order form and transmitted to a statewide registry on strict timelines, so that any court or officer in the state can immediately verify that an order exists. The statute also sets out how an order can later be expunged from the registry.
La. R.S. 46:2136.2Where the court finds the abuser poses a credible threat, it can prohibit firearm possession and must give notice of the federal and state consequences of that prohibition. Separately, an officer responding to a violation of an existing order must make an arrest; where no order yet exists, officers weigh a list of factors to determine the predominant aggressor, and are protected by immunity for good-faith enforcement.
La. R.S. 46:2136.3 · 46:2140 · 46:2142Not Just Spouses
Chapter 28's petition process, temporary restraining orders, protective order registry, and law enforcement duties aren't limited to married couples or people who share a household. Related statutes extend the same framework to:
A person in a dating relationship — current or former — can seek the same relief against dating violence, using the definitions and process set out for Chapter 28 generally.
La. R.S. 46:2151Someone stalked by a stranger or an acquaintance — not just a family or household member — can access the same protective services and orders, with trained advocates available to assist.
La. R.S. 46:2171–46:2174A victim of sexual assault can obtain a temporary restraining order on a good-cause showing, with the clerk of court and a sexual assault advocate available to assist, and with privileged, confidential communications with a sexual assault center.
La. R.S. 46:2181–46:2188When Violence Follows A Family Into Court
The legislature found that family violence often continues, or even escalates, after a couple separates — and that custody and visitation proceedings can become a new forum for continuing the abuse. The Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act builds specific safeguards into every custody case where family violence is present.
The Act defines "family violence" and related terms with specificity — including what a protective injunction must contain (such as a 50-yard or 50-foot no-contact zone, entered on the Uniform Abuse Prevention Order form), what counts as sexual abuse, and the detailed conditions required for any "supervised visitation." It also defines the court-monitored domestic abuse intervention program an abusive parent may be ordered into, which must run at least 26 sessions with a qualified provider.
Where a preponderance of the evidence shows a history of family violence, the court cannot order the parties into mediation of custody or visitation. Forcing an abuse victim into mediation with their abuser is exactly what this provision is designed to prevent.
Any mental health professional appointed to evaluate custody in a family-violence case must meet specific licensing and training qualifications set out in the statute. And every custody or visitation order rendered in a family-violence case must include an injunction against further abuse — violating that injunction is contempt of court, and it also terminates any visitation the violating parent had been granted.
As with a Chapter 28 protective order, the parent who committed the abuse — not the victim — generally bears the costs and fees connected with these proceedings.
This Changes Everything
The single most important provision in the Act is La. R.S. 9:364. It doesn't just let a judge consider family violence as one factor among many — it flips the presumption against the abusive parent from the start.
A parent with a history of perpetrating family violence, domestic abuse, or sexual abuse of a child, stepchild, or other household member — or who has willingly permitted such abuse by someone else — is presumed unfit to be awarded sole or joint custody. A "history" means either a single incident that resulted in serious bodily injury, or more than one incident of abuse.
The presumption can be rebutted only by a preponderance of the evidence establishing every one of: the abusive parent has completed a court-monitored domestic abuse intervention program since the last incident of abuse; that parent is not abusing drugs or alcohol; and, where the best-interest factors of La. C.C. art. 134 require that parent's participation because the other parent is absent, incapacitated, or otherwise unavailable, that participation is in the child's best interest. A parent's own trauma from having been abused is never itself a reason to deny that parent custody.
If both parents have a history of perpetrating family violence, custody is awarded instead to the parent less likely to reoffend — conditioned on that parent completing a treatment program — or, where appropriate, to a suitable third party under La. C.C. art. 133.
A finding of family violence limits the abusive parent to supervised visitation, under the specific conditions the Act requires. Where sexual abuse is established by clear and convincing evidence, all visitation and contact with the child is prohibited outright.
And under La. R.S. 9:366, any visitation the abusive parent is granted must be conditioned on a protective injunction — violating it is contempt of court and immediately terminates that parent's court-ordered visitation.
Scott Hawkins has helped Acadiana families move quickly to get protective orders in place, and to make sure a history of family violence is put in front of the court where custody is concerned. Let's talk about how to keep you and your children safe.