Can a Divorce Attorney Get an Involuntary Dismissal with Prejudice on Child Support in Louisiana?

A lot of times the difficulty in the law is understanding what happens when things go wrong and how it is that they can be corrected. For the most part, the principles of the law, and especially family law, are fairly clear; they need to be as this the legal process must generally be smooth in order that families can move on from a breakup in as smooth a way as possible.

Having said this, what happens when the evidence sufficient to support a ruling for child support is not presented to the court? The law essentially says that parents have a duty to support their children and shall pay child support pursuant to the mandatory guidelines established by the Louisiana legislature. But, what happens when at a court hearing, one divorce attorney forgets to establish that the two parties even have children together, and/or does not put on any information regarding the income of the parents from which a child support judgment is based upon? Most importantly, what happens when the other divorce attorney moves for a dismissal with prejudice barring the parent seeking child support from then obtaining it thereby making one parent not have to even pay child support?

Such a ruling is not in the best interests of the child and is against public policy, but an involuntary dismissal has the effect of making it so that the case cannot be brought back to the court for another hearing - in order words, it permanently bars another suit on the same grounds for child support being brought back up. In such a case, the law provides some reprieve to the divorce attorney that does not bring up these crucial elements. A case from Louisiana's Second Circuit Court of Appeal has stated that were a parent to be permanently barred from reurging a court to establish child support, that this would not be in the child's best interests and that this cannot be allowed.

Specifically, the court found that parents owe a duty of support for their children and that this is "firmly entrenched in Louisiana law and is matter of public policy" and also that in no event shall a court set an amount of support less than one hundred dollars. A ruling dismissing child support essentially has the effect of making the child support zero.

A divorce attorney should not rely on this ruling, however. Having to go to an appeals court in order to ensure that a parent receives what they are entitled to is not an efficient administration of justice. But, such a scenario does show that a trial court ruling is fixable, though it will likely require work to do so. For a divorce attorney, it can be possible to convince a court to grant an involuntary dismissal with prejudice if the other side does not present sufficient evidence to support their case. It will be questionable at best, however, if this will be upheld on appeal.

Will Beaumont is a lawyer in New Orleans. This article is strictly informational and not legal advice.