Louisiana Civil Law Flashcards
_________ ______ may be animate or inanimate, but they can be seen, felt or touched, such as land or buildings.
Corporeal things
___________ ______ may be understood or comprehended by the mind or thinking. Rights are always incorporeal and include rights of inheritance, servitudes, and obligations.
Incorporeal things
_______ ______ are owned by individuals, other private entities such as corporations, limited liability
companies, limited liability partnerships, or by the state or the government.
Private things
______ ______may not be owned by anyone. These include the air and the high seas.
Common things
______ ______ are those things owned by the state or the local government. Examples include running water, navigable waters, the seashore, streets, and parks. They are available to the public for use, such as fishing, boating, driving, etc. However public places may be
subject to the police powers of the municipality.
Public things
In Louisiana real property is divided into two categories: ________ and __________.
movables and immovables
__________ consist of land, and its component parts such as buildings, timber, and unharvested fruits and crops when they belong to the owner of the land.
Immovables
________ __________ include buildings and standing timber when they belong to a person other than the owner of the ground. Only buildings and standing timber may be ________ __________.
Separate immovables
________ by ____________ include unharvested fruits and crops when they belong to a person other
than the owner of the land.
Movables by anticipation
All rights and actions that apply to immovables are classified as
___________ __________. The right of ownership is an ___________ _________. Predial servitudes such as natural, legal, or conventional servitudes, are ___________ __________. Personal servitudes
established on the immovable, usufruct, habitation, and rights of use are ___________ __________. Also included in this classification are mineral servitudes, royalties, and mineral leases.
incorporeal immovables
_________ ________ are things, whether animate or inanimate, that move or
can be moved from one place to another. The classification of _________ _______ includes building materials gathered for the construction or the erection of a new building, even if they came from the
demolition of an old one. However, materials separated from a building for purposes of repair, with the intention of putting them back, remain immovables. Rights, obligations, and actions that apply
to a movable thing are incorporeal movables. The classification of incorporeal movables includes such items as stocks, bonds, and annuities.
Corporeal movables
_________ by _____________ includes things attached or incorporated into a building or other construction. They become component parts of the structure. This includes building materials. Once
incorporated into an immovable, the thing becomes an immovable.
Component by incorporation
_________ by __________ Things are considered permanently attached to a building or other construction if they cannot be removed without substantial damage to themselves or damage to the
immovable to which they are attached. Things that are considered permanently attached to a building include such things as plumbing, heating, cooling, electrical, or other installations. Accordingly, they constitute component parts of the building or construction.
Component by attachment
_________ by ___________ and ________ Things that would otherwise be classified as immovable may be classified as movable. The owner of an immovable may declare that machinery, appliances, and equipment owned by him and placed on the immovable, other than his private
residence, for its service and improvement are deemed to be its component parts. The declaration must be filed for registry in the conveyance records of the parish in which the immovable is located.
If the declaration is not so filed, the machinery, appliances, and equipment remain classified as movables.
Component by declaration and registry
In order for a ______ ____ to be considered an immovable, a declaration stating
that it will remain permanently attached to the land must be filed in the public records of the parish in which the land is located. The wheels must be removed, the tongue cut off, and it must be tied down.
Mobile Home
__________ ____ A manufactured home may be deimmobilized by detachment or removal. But, to affect third persons, an authentic act of sale or mortgage or sale with mortgage must be filed in the
appropriate mortgage and/or conveyance records.
Detachment Sale
An ______ is a French unit of measure about equal to 5/6 of an acre. It is also used as a linear measure about equal to 192 feet.
arpent
In Louisiana, there are two principal meridians, the 91st West of the
Mississippi River, called the _________ ________, and the 90th East of the Mississippi River, called the __ ______ ________. There is one base line which transects the State of Louisiana at its
center.
Louisiana Meridian
St Helena Meridian
_________ is the right that confers on a person direct, immediate, and exclusive authority over a thing. The owner of a thing may use, enjoy, and dispose of it within the limits and under the conditions
established by law.
Ownership
Louisiana law divides ownership into three categories:
1.
2.
3.
Usus
Fructus
Abusus
____ The right to use a thing, and to exclude others from using it.
Usus
_______ The owner of a thing owns the fruits produced by the thing that comes from exploiting and enjoying the thing, such as rents and royalties and natural fruits such as crops and timber.
Fructus
______ is the right to alienate or dispose of the thing. It includes consuming it, giving it
away, selling it, and encumbering it by mortgage or pledge.
Abusus
A person who owns both the usus and the fructus owns the ________.
usufruct
The owner of the remaining right, the abusus, is called _____ _________.
naked ownership
A servitude is a charge on a thing. There are two kinds of servitudes:
________ __________
_______ __________
personal servitudes
predial servitudes
A ________ _________ is a charge on a thing in favor of a person. There are three kinds: usufruct, habitation, and right of use. It can be compared to the Common Law easement in gross.
personal servitude
________ is a real right of limited duration on the property of another. The owner of
the ________ is called the ____________. The ___________ has the right to the use and the
fruits of the property for a limited period of time, usually for life.
Usufruct
usufructuary
If a thing cannot be used without being consumed or expended or its substance changed, such as money, food, beverage, it is a __________, and the usufructuary becomes the owner of the thing.
consumable
Things that can be enjoyed without altering their substance, such as land, houses, or livestock, are ______________. The usufructuary does not have the right to dispose of ______________, unless that express right was granted to him.
nonconsumables
A ________ may be established by an agreement between those living, by testament effective at death, or by operation of law (such as the ________ of the surviving spouse in an intestate
succession.)
usufruct
___________ ________: is one that is created by an act.
Conventional Usufruct
_____ ________: is one that is created by operation of law.
Legal Usufruct
Death of the usufructuary will terminate the ________. The ________ will also terminate, if the ________ is held by a legal entity which ceases to exist.
usufruct
The usufructuary may lease, alienate ,or encumber his right. This is called _________. Any contracts which alienate or encumber the usufruct will end when the usufruct is terminated. The usufructuary remains liable to the naked owner for any abuse by the assignee of the usufruct. The naked owner may dispose of the naked ownership and may alienate or encumber the property. Such action, however, will not affect the usufruct.
disposition
__________ is a nontransferable real right of a natural person to dwell in the house of another. It may be established in the same manner as a usufruct. It terminates with the term provided or death of the person having it. Moreover, the personal servitude of ________ may not be alienated, let, or encumbered.
Habitation
_____ of ___ is a personal servitude that confers in favor of another person a
specified use of an estate less than full enjoyment. The _____ of ___ is transferable and may be inherited, unless prohibited by law or contract. An example would be a hunting license.
Right of use
A _______ _________ is a charge on a servient estate for the benefit of a dominant
estate and is similar to easement appurtenant under the common law. The dominant estate is the one benefiting from the servitude. The servient estate is the one who gives the servitude. The two estates (land, usually) must belong to different owners and must be located in such a position that one benefits or it may be reasonably expected to benefit from the charge placed on the other.
predial servitude
The _______ _______ can only be terminated by the dominant estate, that is the landowner needing access. It is inseparable from the dominant estate and passes with it. The right cannot be sold or
encumbered separately from the dominant estate. If the servient estate is sold, the servitude continues even after the sale. The most common example is when one landowner obtains access across the property of the adjoining landowner to reach a public road or
a water source.
predial servitude
_______ _________ may be natural, legal, or voluntary or conventional
Predial servitude
_______ __________ A property which lies at a lower elevation will naturally receive surface waters flowing from an adjoining property which is at a higher elevation. This running water may be used, but
not stopped, nor diverted.
Natural servitudes
_____ ________ are limitations on ownership established by law for the benefit of the
general public or for the benefit of particular persons. An owner of a building must keep his building in repair so that neither it nor its materials will fall on or damage a neighbor or passerby. The owner of a building near a wall, whether or not a common or party wall, must protect his neighbor against injury. Neither projections over boundaries nor water falling from a roof onto the ground of a neighbor are allowed. An owner of property may do with his estate whatever he pleases; however, this right is limited by his responsibility to not damage
a neighbor.
Legal servitudes
A _____ ____ is one which rests half on one property and half on an adjoining property. The first person to build a wall may build half of the wall on a neighbor’s land, if the first story is constructed of masonry not over eighteen inches in width and three inches of plaster. To become a common wall, the neighboring
landowner must pay one-half (1/2) its current value.
party wall
An owner without access to a public road may claim a right of passage to the nearest public road; however, he must pay for the damage occasioned as a result. The owner of the ________ ______ may construct the type of road necessary, along the shortest route, generally at a location least injurious to intervening lands.
enclosed estate
A predial servitude may be created by contract, that is by agreement of the parties. Examples of ____________ __________ would be the rights of passage, projection, view, etc
Conventional Servitudes (Voluntary)
A servitude may be acquired by ___________ ____________, that is by peaceable and uninterrupted possession of the right for ten (10) years in good faith and with just title or by uninterrupted possession for thirty (30) years without good faith or just title. A predial servitude may be lost by nonuse for ten (10) years.
acquisitive prescription
When the same person acquires both the dominant the servient estates, the predial
servitude ceases to exist. The term for this is “_________” which is similar to the common law term “merger.”
Confusion
________ ____________ govern building standards, uses, and improvements. They are enforced landowner in the subdivision filing suit in court to obtain an injunction. The violator may also be sued for damages.
Building restrictions
If no termination date or other provision appears in the act creating the restrictions, ________ ____________ may be terminated or amended as follows:
1. After the restrictions have been in effect for fifteen (15) years, the agreement of owners representing more than one-half the land area (excluding streets and rights-of-ways); or
2. By the agreement of both (a) owners representing two-thirds (2/3) of the land area, and
(b) two-thirds (2/3) of the owners of the land (excluding streets and right-of-ways) affected by the restriction after the restrictions have been in effect for ten (10) years.
3. By abandonment of the whole plan or by the general abandonment of a particular restriction. If a particular restriction is abandoned, the affected area is freed of that restriction only.
building restrictions
If a homestead is sold at the sheriff’s sale, the homeowner is assured that his homestead will sell for more than $25,000.00 and that the owner may retain or receive the first $25,000.00. The right to a homestead may be waived. In any Voluntary Act of Mortgage, the act itself will invariably contain a clause in which homestead rights are waived. However, both spouses must sign if there is a waiver. By operation of law, the _________ _________ is waived, if the mortgagor is single.
This is not to be confused with the $7500 homestead exemption for property taxes.
homestead exemption
__-_________ is ownership by two or more persons, each having an undivided share, often called an undivided interest. The share or interest can be in any proportion, equal or unequal, as stated in the contract
and may be acquired at different times and by different methods. Each owner may exercise all rights of ownership of his undivided interest, subject to legal and conventional limitations, without consent or knowledge of his co-owners.
Co-Ownership (Undivided Interest)
_________ ________ or matrimonial regime is a system of principles and rules governing the ownership and management of the
property of a married person or between themselves and toward third persons. The matrimonial regime may be established by law or by contract, or a combination.
Community Property (Matrimonial Regime)
The spouses, before marriage if residents of Louisiana or within one year after acquiring a domicile in this state, may enter into a ___________ _______ or contract, without court approval, modifying or rejecting the legal matrimonial regime. Without such a ___________ ________, a legal
matrimonial regime exists in accordance with law, regardless of domicile at the time of or the place of the celebration of their marriage. The ___________ _________ must be made by authentic act or act under private signature. It is effective against third parties as to immovable property when filed in the conveyance records of the parish where the
immovable property is situated.
matrimonial agreement
If there is no matrimonial agreement to the contrary, then any property acquired during the marriage is considered to be _________ ________. Each spouse owns an undivided one-half interest in the property. Neither spouse may sell, encumber, or lease any immovable
community property to a third person without the agreement of the other spouse. Anything in the possession of a spouse during the existence of the community is presumed to be
________ ________, and anything acquired during the marriage through the effort, skill or industry of either spouse is _________ ________.
Community Property
The fruits and revenues of separate property, unless specifically reserved as separate property by the spouse are also community property. In order to reserve the ______ of ________ ________ as separate property, a declaration must be made by affidavit and recorded in the parish where the separate property is located. There must be no commingling of the fruits with community property, that is funds must be in a separate bank account.
fruits of separate property
________ ________ consists of property acquired prior to the marriage, inherited by a spouse, donated to a spouse individually, things bought with separate funds, etc., including things acquired by partition of the community.Because of the presumptions and possible challenges to the ownership of property, both
spouses should sign all documents.
Separate property
In Louisiana, a limited partnership is often called a ___________ in _________. A partnership is a legal entity distinct from its partners. Immovable property acquired in the name of the partnership is owned by the partnership, if at the time of the acquisition, the partnership agreement is in writing. If the partnership agreement was not in writing, the partners own the immovable individually. The partnership must be recorded with the Secretary of State in order to be effective against third
parties.
partnership in commendam
Louisiana ____________ and ______ _________ _________ may own and dispose of immovables, unless the articles provide otherwise.
corporations and limited liability companies
___________ and __________ The Louisiana Condominium Act sets forth numerous provisions affecting the acquisition,
ownership, alienation, and management of property which forms part of a condominium. Louisiana has no specific law on townhouses. It is widely understood that the owner of a unit in a townhouse project owns the land under the structure, while in a condominium the land is a common element and the owner only owns an undivided interest, however, this is not the law in Louisiana. Ownership
can only be determined by referring to the condominium declaration establishing the condominium regime. Some declarations make all land a common element, and some grant sole ownership to the
unit owners.
Condominiums and Townhouses
________ of _________Property may be transferred by sale, donation, succession, accession, prescription, and other operations of law.
Transfer of ownership
A person may dispose of or receive property by a ________. _________ take effect in two forms, namely, donations inter vivos and donations mortis causa.
Donations
_________ _____ _____ are donations between living persons. This donation is a
gift from one person to another.
Donations inter vivos
There are three types of inter vivos donations:
HInt: GOR
Gratuitous
Onerous
Remunerative
A __________ donation is a gift made without condition.
gratuitous
An ______ donation is burdened with charges imposed upon the donee, or
person receiving the donation.
onerous
A ____________ donation is made to repay the donee for services rendered. If the value of the donated thing must be substantially greater than the amount
of the remuneration, or it would be a sale rather than a donation.
remunerative
The donor of immovable property may _______ the usufruct to himself. Also, he may stipulate the _____ of _______ of the object given should he survive the donee.
reserve
right of return
A donor may ______ a donation for several reasons, including ingratitude by the donee, nonfulfillment or non-performance of conditions, or conventional return. A donation in the chain of title, then, is a potential title problem.
revoke
This is another name for a will. A ________ ______ _____ is an act by which an individual
disposes of his property with the actual donation to take effect upon the death of the _____. The act is usually called a last will and testament, but requires the same formalities as other donations. There are several kinds of wills, each having certain requirements.
donation mortis causa
donor
Effective July 1, 1999, Louisiana will recognize only two forms of testaments, __________ and ________ wills.
olographic
notarial
__________ ____ is one which is written dated, and signed by the testator or
testatrix in his or her own handwriting.
Olographic will
________ ____ is one which is written, usually typed, and signed by the testator in the presence of a notary and two witnesses. It is similar to what was previously known as the ________ ____.
Notarial will
statutory will
______ is the acquisition of the willed property, or succession by the legal heir or the testamentary heir, and it occurs immediately upon death, even if the heir does not know of the death.
Seizen
__________ is the process of transmission of the estate of a decedent to his successors. It also refers to the specific legal proceeding filed to recognize successors and place them in possession.
Succession
There are two types of successions: _______ and _________.
testate
intestate
_______ ________ occurs when there is a will.
Testate succession
_________ __________ occurs when there is no will.
Intestate succession
__________ are those who inherit.
Successors
There are two types of successors: ________ and _____.
legatees
heirs
________ are testate successors , (those named in a will to inherit).
Legatees
_____ are intestate successors, (those who inherit when there is no will.
Heirs
______ of a ________ means the property, rights, and obligations that a person leaves after his death and all that have accrued since his death.
Estate of a decedent