- 27 - A. General Rules; Statutes Louisiana law provides that “A matrimonial regime[15] may be legal, contractual, or partly legal and partly contractual.” Art. 2326. Under Louisiana law, “The legal regime of community of acquets and gains applies to spouses domiciled in this state” (art. 2334), and “Each spouse owns a present undivided one-half interest in the community property”, art. 2336. As a result, a Louisiana married person under the legal regime is taxable under Federal law on one-half the earnings of his or her spouse. United States v. Mitchell, 403 U.S. 190 (1971); see Case of Hamner, 411 So.2d 567, 568-569 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1982), revd. on a different issue 427 So.2d 1188 (La. 1983). The “legal” regime is commonly referred to as “community property”. The “contractual” regime alternative referred to in article 2326, is authorized in article 2328, as follows: A matrimonial agreement is a contract establishing a regime of separation of property or modifying or terminating the legal regime. Spouses are free to establish by matrimonial agreement a regime of separation of property or modify the legal regime as provided by law. The provisions of the legal regime that have not been excluded or modified by agreement retain their force and effect. Under article 2331-- 15 Art. 2325 provides the following definition: A matrimonial regime is a system of principles and rules governing the ownership and management of the property of married persons as between themselves and toward third persons.Page: Previous 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011