Property Law Flashcards

Under Louisiana community property law, which of the following is classified as a spouse's separate property?

Answer: Property inherited by one spouse during the marriage

La. C.C. art. 2341 classifies property inherited by a spouse during the marriage as separate property, regardless of when the succession opens.

To alienate or encumber community immovable property in Louisiana, the transaction requires:

Answer: The joinder or written consent of both spouses

La. C.C. art. 2347 requires the joinder or written consent of both spouses to alienate, encumber, or lease community immovables.

Under Louisiana law, a valid act of sale for immovable property must ordinarily be:

Answer: Executed before a notary public and two witnesses as an authentic act

La. C.C. art. 1833 requires that transfers of immovable property be made by authentic act—executed before a notary and two witnesses—unless a private act under private signature is used.

Under Louisiana's public records doctrine, an unrecorded transfer of immovable property is:

Answer: Valid between the parties but unenforceable against third parties who later acquire rights in the same property without notice

La. R.S. 9:2756 and La. C.C. art. 1839 provide that unrecorded transfers are effective between the parties but cannot be set up against third parties who acquire rights by onerous title without notice.

A Louisiana 'bond for deed' contract is best described as:

Answer: A contract for the sale of immovable property where the seller retains title until the buyer completes installment payments

La. R.S. 9:2941 defines a bond for deed as a contract for the sale of immovable property in which the seller retains title until the purchaser pays the agreed price.

Under Louisiana law, a conventional mortgage on immovable property becomes effective against third parties when:

Answer: The mortgage is recorded in the mortgage records of the parish where the property is located

La. C.C. art. 3338 and R.S. 9:5552 provide that mortgages are effective against third parties only from the moment of recordation in the parish mortgage records.

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2589, 'lesion beyond moiety' in a sale of immovable property allows the seller to:

Answer: Rescind the sale when the price received was less than one-half the property's true value

La. C.C. art. 2589 permits a seller of an immovable to rescind the sale when the price received was less than one-half of the fair market value at the time of sale.