Louisiana Revised Statutes & Codes

La. Rev. Stat. § 9:306 (2026)

A. Upon an affirmative showing that the facts and circumstances of the particular case before the court warrant such an order, a court exercising jurisdiction over family matters may require the parties in a custody or visitation proceeding to attend and complete a court-approved seminar designed to educate and inform the parties of the needs of the children.

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section LA-LEGlegis.la.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§306. Seminar for divorcing parents

A. Upon an affirmative showing that the facts and circumstances of the particular case before the court warrant such an order, a court exercising jurisdiction over family matters may require the parties in a custody or visitation proceeding to attend and complete a court-approved seminar designed to educate and inform the parties of the needs of the children.

B. If the court chooses to require participation in such a seminar, it shall adopt rules to accomplish the goals of Subsection A of this Section, which rules shall include but not be limited to the following:

(1) Criteria for evaluating a seminar provider and its instructors.

(2) Criteria to assure selected programs provide and incorporate into the provider's fee structure the cost of services to indigents.

(3) The amount of time a participant must take part in the program, which shall be a minimum of three hours but not exceed four hours nor shall the costs exceed twenty-five dollars per person.

(4) The time within which a party must complete the program.

C. For purposes of this Section, "instructor" means any psychiatrist, psychologist, professional counselor, social worker licensed under state law, or in any parish other than Orleans, means a person working with a court-approved, nonprofit program of an accredited university created for educating divorcing parents with children. All instructors must have received advanced training in instructing co-parenting or similar seminars.

D. The seminar shall focus on the developmental needs of children, with emphasis on fostering the child's emotional health. The seminar shall be informative and supportive and shall direct people desiring additional information or help to appropriate resources. The course content shall contain but not be limited to the following subjects:

(1) The developmental stages of childhood, the needs of children at different ages, and age appropriate expectations of children.

(2) Stress indicators in children adjusting to divorce, the grief process, and avoiding delinquency.

(3) The possible enduring emotional effects of divorce on the child.

(4) Changing parental and marital roles.

(5) Recommendations with respect to visitation designed to enhance the child's relationship with both parents.

(6) Financial obligations of child rearing.

(7) Conflict management and dispute resolution.

E. Nonviolent acts or communications made during the seminar, which are otherwise relevant to the subject matter of a divorce, custody, or visitation proceeding, are confidential, not subject to disclosure, and may not be used as evidence in favor of or against a participant in the pending proceeding. This rule does not require the exclusion of any evidence otherwise discoverable merely because it is presented or otherwise made during the seminar.

Acts 1995, No. 766, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 1999, No. 276, §1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 10 cases, 1980–2011 · leading case: Walters v. Walters, 540 So. 2d 1026 (La. Ct. App. 1989).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Walters v. Walters, 540 So. 2d 1026 (La. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 6× “Overruling the husband's exception of no cause of action, the trial court enforced the injunction against the husband and held him in contempt for conduct that occurred six months after the divorce judgment became final.”

Steele v. Steele, 591 So. 2d 810 (La. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 4× “The two sources of authority derive from LRS 9:306 and from LRS 46:2134-2136.” The court further noted that under La.”

Lawrence v. Lawrence, 839 So. 2d 1201 (La. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 3× “We affirmed, quoting with approval Walters , stating: Unlike the provisions in Title 46, LRS 9:306 1 does not specify or limit the duration of the injunction prohibiting physical or sexual abuse of a “petitioning spouse.”

Ardoin v. City of Mamou, 685 So. 2d 294 (La. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “a temporary restraining order or any ex parte protective order issued pursuant to R.S. 9:306 (see, now, R.S. 9:372), R.S. 46:2131 et seq.”

Khaled v. Khaled, 424 So. 2d 370 (La. Ct. App. 1982). “3605 and 3610; 2) failing to dissolve a temporary restraining order which went beyond the scope of R.S. 9:306; 3) failing to dissolve a temporary restraining order which infringed on his constitutional freedoms of speech and travel; 4) failing to award damages for the wrongful…”

Harper v. Harper, 537 So. 2d 282 (La. Ct. App. 1988). “The injunction against harassing and threatening each other is supported by R.S. 9:306. The injunction against alienation of community property is authorized by C.”

Dove v. Dove, 386 So. 2d 127 (La. Ct. App. 1980). “The unfortunate frequency of violent or abusive acts by one spouse against the other petitioning spouse in a separation or divorce proceeding prompted the legislature to enact LSA-R.S. 9:306 by Acts 1979, No. 643, § 1, which went into effect September 7, 1979, and provides as…”

Bonnecarrere v. Bonnecarrere, 69 So. 3d 1225 (La. Ct. App. 2011). “In addition, the following remedies are available to a court to investigate/address an inability to co-parent: requiring attendance at parenting seminars (authorized by LSA-R.S. 9:306); appointment of a mental health professional to evaluate the parties and/or give an opinion as…”

State v. Kumar, 58 So. 3d 544 (La. Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 4× “R.S. 9:306 or La. 46:2131 et seq. after a contradictory court hearing.”

Rigdon v. Rigdon, 743 So. 2d 713 (La. Ct. App. 1999). “R.S. 9:306 allows the court to adopt rules to require the parties in a custody or visitation proceeding to attend and complete a court-approved seminar designed to educate and inform the parties of the *716 needs of the children.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.