Art. 1109 Domiciliary requirements

Before a parent can legally give up their child for adoption in Louisiana, someone involved usually needs to have lived in the state for a while. Specifically, the parent who is giving up their parental rights must have lived in Louisiana for at least eight months before doing so.

There are two exceptions to this rule. First, if the family hoping to adopt the child has lived in Louisiana for at least eight months, the birth parent does not need to meet this residency requirement themselves. Second, if the child is already in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services, the eight month residency rule does not apply at all.

This rule exists to make sure Louisiana courts have a real connection to the adoption case before handling it. It helps prevent people from moving to the state briefly just to take advantage of its adoption laws.