§ Art. 732 Unemancipated minor

Codes > Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure > Book I > Title III : Chapter 3 > Art. 732

Art. 732. Unemancipated minor

    A. An unemancipated minor has no procedural capacity to be sued.

    B. Except as otherwise provided in Article 4431, the tutor appointed by a court of this state is the proper defendant in an action to enforce an obligation against an unemancipated minor, when one or both of the parents are dead, the parents are divorced or judicially separated, or the minor is born outside of the marriage. If such a minor has no tutor, the action may be brought against the minor, but the court shall appoint an attorney at law to represent him.

    C. The father, as administrator of the estate of his minor child, is the proper defendant in an action to enforce an obligation against an unemancipated minor who is born of the marriage of parents who are living and not divorced or judicially separated. The mother, as the administratrix of the estate of her minor child, is the proper defendant in such an action, when the father is mentally incompetent, committed, interdicted, imprisoned, or an absentee. Moreover, with permission of the judge, the mother may represent the minor whenever the father fails or refuses to do so.

    D. Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraph A, B, or C, an attorney appointed by the court having jurisdiction over an unemancipated minor who is in the legal custody of the Department of Children and Family Services is the proper defendant in an action to enforce an obligation against an unemancipated minor. Upon application of the tutor or parent who would otherwise be the proper defendant to be sued pursuant to Paragraph B or C, the court shall appoint or substitute as the proper defendant the best qualified among the tutor, parent, or appointed attorney.