Louisiana Real Estate Salesperson Exam — All Questions

The principle of contribution states that the value of a component or improvement is measured by:

• a.The raw number of square feet of floor area or land area that the improvement happens to occupy
• b.The owner's personal emotional attachment to and sentimental feelings about that improvement
• c.Its original construction or installation cost in every case, dollar for dollar, with no exception
• d.How much it adds to the overall value of the property, not its cost✓

Under contribution, an improvement is worth the amount it adds to the whole property's market value, which may be more or less than its cost. This principle explains why some renovations do not fully return their expense, a key point in over-improvement analysis.

Under Internal Revenue Code Section 121, a qualifying homeowner may generally EXCLUDE from taxable capital gain:

• a.Up to $250,000 of gain if single, or $500,000 if married filing jointly✓
• b.Up to a full one million dollars of gain on any property at all, at any time and any frequency
• c.All gain on any and every investment or rental property the taxpayer happens to own and sell
• d.Absolutely nothing, because gain on the sale of a home is always fully and entirely taxable

Section 121 lets homeowners who owned and used the home as their principal residence for at least two of the prior five years exclude up to $250,000 of gain (single) or $500,000 (married filing jointly). It applies to a primary residence, not to investment property.

Depreciation recapture on the sale of investment real estate means that:

• a.All of the depreciation deductions previously claimed are simply refunded to the investor in cash
• b.The investor is legally required to physically restore and rebuild the depreciated building itself
• c.Gain from prior depreciation may be taxed, often at a special rate✓
• d.No income tax is ever owed at all on the sale of a property that has previously been depreciated

When depreciated property is sold at a gain, the portion of gain due to depreciation deductions is 'recaptured' and taxed under special rules, reflecting the earlier tax benefit. It is a tax concept, not a requirement to rebuild, and it increases, not eliminates, tax on sale.

Which appraisal approach is generally MOST reliable for a special-purpose property, such as a church or public school, that rarely sells and earns no market income?

• a.The sales comparison approach, which depends on recent sales of similar comparable properties
• b.The income approach, which converts a property's market rental income into an indicated value
• c.The gross rent multiplier method, which relies on typical market rents that these lack entirely
• d.The cost approach✓

Special-purpose properties have few or no comparable sales and generate no market rent, so the cost approach (replacement cost new, less depreciation, plus land) is typically most reliable. Sales comparison lacks comparables and the income/GRM methods need market income these properties do not produce.

The four characteristics an item must have to possess value in the market, often remembered as DUST, are:

• a.Debt, Utility, Supply, and Taxes, a mix of unrelated financing and cost terms rather than value
• b.Demand, Utility, Scarcity, and Transferability✓
• c.Depreciation, Use, Sale, and Title, which describe stages of ownership rather than value itself
• d.Demand, Ownership, Scarcity, and Time, which swaps in two terms that are not part of the concept

For something to have market value it must have Demand (buyers who want it), Utility (usefulness), Scarcity (limited supply), and Transferability (the ability to convey it). The DUST acronym captures these four essentials of value.

Which body administers the real estate license law in Louisiana?

• a.The Louisiana Department of Revenue
• b.The Louisiana Association of Realtors
• c.The Louisiana Real Estate Commission✓
• d.The Louisiana Public Service Commission

The Louisiana Real Estate Commission (LREC) administers and enforces the Louisiana Real Estate License Law found in Title 37 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. It licenses salespersons and brokers, approves education, and imposes discipline.

In Louisiana, a licensed real estate salesperson must:

• a.Be sponsored by and work under a licensed Louisiana broker✓
• b.Operate independently once licensed
• c.Hold a separate notary commission
• d.Register directly with each parish clerk

A Louisiana salesperson must be sponsored by and licensed under a Louisiana broker. The sponsoring broker is responsible for the salesperson's activity and for the handling of client funds; a salesperson cannot practice independently.

Louisiana is notable among states for requiring which of the following of its active real estate licensees?

• a.Membership in the National Association of Realtors
• b.Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance coverage as a condition of active licensure✓
• c.A four-year college degree
• d.A separate appraisal license

Louisiana requires all active real estate licensees to carry errors and omissions (E&O) insurance. The Louisiana Real Estate Commission makes a group policy available, but licensees may obtain equivalent coverage independently; active licensure is contingent on maintaining this coverage.

Under Louisiana law, when must a licensee provide the Agency Disclosure Informational Pamphlet and disclose the agency relationship?

• a.Only at the closing table
• b.At the first contact concerning a specific property, before confidential information is disclosed✓
• c.Only if the client asks about representation
• d.Never, because agency disclosure is not required in Louisiana

Louisiana requires licensees to provide the Agency Disclosure Informational Pamphlet and disclose the agency relationship at the first contact regarding a specific property, before any confidential information is shared, so the consumer understands who the licensee represents.

In Louisiana, when a broker's firm represents both the buyer and the seller in one transaction, the broker may appoint different licensees within the firm to represent each client. This is known as:

• a.Subagency
• b.Universal agency
• c.Designated agency✓
• d.Open agency

Louisiana permits 'designated agency,' in which a broker whose firm represents both parties may appoint (designate) different affiliated licensees to represent the buyer and the seller separately. This allows each client to have an advocate within the same firm, subject to disclosure and consent.

In Louisiana, who is responsible for maintaining the sales escrow or trust account that holds client funds such as deposits?

• a.Each individual salesperson
• b.The parish clerk of court
• c.The sponsoring broker✓
• d.The Louisiana Real Estate Commission

The sponsoring broker is responsible for the brokerage's sales escrow or trust account in Louisiana. Client funds such as deposits must be placed in that account, kept separate from the broker's own funds, and accounted for. Commingling client funds violates Louisiana license law.

The Louisiana Real Estate Recovery Fund is designed to:

• a.Guarantee a minimum commission to licensees
• b.Reimburse members of the public who obtain an unpaid court judgment against a licensee for certain violations, up to statutory limits✓
• c.Cover the Commission's administrative salaries
• d.Provide down-payment assistance to buyers

The Louisiana Real Estate Recovery Fund reimburses members of the public who obtain a valid but unpaid court judgment against a licensee for certain violations of the license law, subject to statutory per-transaction and per-licensee caps. A licensee who triggers a payout may have their license suspended until the fund is repaid.

How many hours of approved pre-license education must a Louisiana salesperson applicant complete before the licensing exam?

• a.45 hours
• b.90 hours✓
• c.150 hours
• d.180 hours

Louisiana requires 90 clock hours of Commission-approved pre-license education to qualify for the salesperson examination. After initial licensure, Louisiana also requires a post-license education course to be completed within a set period following licensure.

Before appointment to the Louisiana Real Estate Commission, what does Louisiana law require of a member?

• a.Five years of continuous residency in the parish he will represent
• b.Active engagement as a real estate broker for at least five years✓
• c.A Louisiana appraiser certification in addition to a broker license
• d.Completion of the commission's forty-five-hour post-license course

Members of the commission must be citizens and qualified electors of this state, and each must have actively engaged in the real estate business as a broker for at least five years next preceding the date of appointment. Each appointment runs four years and no commissioner may serve more than two four-year terms consecutively. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1432(B) and (C).

What is the largest civil penalty the Louisiana Real Estate Commission itself may impose on a licensee for a violation of the license law?

• a.One thousand dollars
• b.Ten thousand dollars
• c.Twenty-five thousand dollars
• d.Five thousand dollars✓

The commission may censure a licensee, suspend or revoke a license, impose extra continuing education, and levy fines or civil penalties not to exceed five thousand dollars. That is an administrative penalty; a separate criminal penalty of a fine up to two thousand dollars, imprisonment up to five years, or both, applies to violations prosecuted in court. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1455(A); La. R.S. 37:1458.

A Louisiana seller refuses to pay the fee he promised an unlicensed person who found his buyer. What does the license law say about suing for that fee?

• a.No suit for the compensation may be brought in any Louisiana court✓
• b.He may sue if the seller's promise to pay the fee was in writing
• c.He may sue only in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court
• d.He may sue if a licensed broker afterward ratifies the transaction

No action or suit may be instituted, and no recovery had, in any court of this state for compensation for an act whose performance requires a license unless the person was duly licensed before offering to perform it. A person who engaged in real estate activity without a license has no right to receive compensation, and the commission may order any fees collected returned. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1445; La. R.S. 37:1459(D).

Two Louisiana licensees disagree over which of them earned the commission on a closed sale. What will the Louisiana Real Estate Commission do?

• a.Appoint a hearing officer to divide the commission between them
• b.Suspend both licenses until the dispute has been settled
• c.Nothing, because it is barred from entering that dispute✓
• d.Order the funds deposited into the registry of the district court

The license law provides that the commission shall not become involved in disputes between licensees or registrants in any matter regarding entitlement to or payment of commissions, fees, or compensation involving the sale or lease of real estate. The rules repeat this for broker-licensee disputes and for team or group disputes, which must be settled by the parties or by a court of competent jurisdiction. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1453(D); LAC 46:LXVII.1703(A) and 1911(A).

Payments from the Louisiana Real Estate Recovery Fund are capped at which amounts?

• a.Twenty thousand dollars per transaction and fifty thousand dollars per licensee✓
• b.Ten thousand dollars per transaction and twenty-five thousand per licensee
• c.Twenty thousand dollars per transaction and twenty thousand per licensee
• d.Fifty thousand dollars per transaction and one hundred thousand per licensee

A claimant may be paid the unsatisfied portion of his judgment or twenty thousand dollars, whichever is less, and claims arising out of the same transaction are limited in the aggregate to twenty thousand dollars regardless of how many claimants or parcels are involved. Claims based on judgments against any one broker or salesperson are capped in the aggregate at fifty thousand dollars, and only actual damages qualify, never attorney fees, court costs, or punitive damages. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1463(A), (C), and (D).

What happens to a Louisiana licensee's license when the Real Estate Recovery Fund pays a claim on a judgment against him?

• a.It is suspended for a year
• b.It is automatically revoked✓
• c.It is moved to inactive status until the fund is repaid
• d.It is unaffected, but he must double his errors and omissions limits

Upon payment of any amount from the recovery fund in settlement of a claim or in satisfaction of a judgment against a broker or salesperson, that person's license is automatically revoked, and a discharge in bankruptcy does not relieve him of that penalty. The commission is subrogated to the claimant's rights in the judgment to the extent of what it paid. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1463(B) and (G).

A Louisiana seller offers a broker everything above $250,000 as the broker's fee on the sale of her house. Under the license law this arrangement is:

• a.permitted if the seller initials the arrangement on the listing
• b.permitted for commercial property but never for residential
• c.permitted if the broker's total fee is disclosed before closing
• d.unlawful for residential property and for land✓

That is a net listing agreement: one that lets the broker take as his commission the difference between the higher price obtained and a stipulated net price agreed upon for the seller. Louisiana makes it unlawful for a broker to enter into, advise, or encourage a net listing for the sale of residential real estate property or land. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1448.3; La. R.S. 37:1431(19).

A Louisiana buyer learns a homicide once occurred in the house she is under contract on. Was that a material defect the seller or licensee had to disclose?

• a.No, Louisiana declares such an impact not to be a material fact✓
• b.Yes, it belongs on the property disclosure document
• c.Yes, but only for a death within the preceding three years
• d.Only if the buyer had asked the question in writing

Under Louisiana's psychologically impacted property statute, the fact or suspicion that a property was the site of a homicide, another felony, or a suicide, or that an occupant had HIV or AIDS, is not a material fact or material defect regarding the condition of real estate that must be disclosed. No cause of action arises against an owner or his agent for failing to disclose it. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1468.

Which purchase agreement must a Louisiana licensee use when writing an offer on a three-unit residential building?

• a.Any purchase agreement approved in writing by the sponsoring broker
• b.The standard contract published by the local Realtor association
• c.The Residential Agreement to Buy or Sell prescribed by the commission✓
• d.A form drafted by a Louisiana attorney for that particular sale

A licensee representing either the buyer or the seller of residential real property must complete the purchase agreement form prescribed by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission, the Residential Agreement to Buy or Sell, and no person may alter that form, although addenda and amendments may be used. Residential real property for this purpose means one to four dwelling units. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1449.1(A) and (C); LAC 46:LXVII.3900.

A Louisiana broker asks a sponsored salesperson to sign a two-year non-compete. What does the license law require for that clause to be enforceable?

• a.Registration of the agreement with the commission within five days
• b.A separate payment to the licensee in exchange for the covenant
• c.A right to rescind it until midnight of the third business day✓
• d.Approval by the Nineteenth Judicial District Court before signing

A broker-licensee non-compete of up to two years is unenforceable and an absolute nullity unless the licensee has the right to rescind it until midnight of the third business day following execution or delivery of the agreement, whichever is later. The clause must also be prominently displayed in bold-faced block lettering of not less than ten-point type. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1448.1(A).

A person contracts to buy a Louisiana house intending to assign the contract for a profit rather than close on it. What right must the seller be given?

• a.The right to a second appraisal paid for by the wholesaler
• b.The right to cancel without penalty for at least five calendar days✓
• c.The right to demand the assignment price before the closing
• d.The right to void the contract within seventy-two hours of signing

Louisiana's wholesaling law requires the wholesaler to disclose in writing, before each related contract is executed, that it intends to assign or market its contractual rights for a higher price, that the seller should seek legal advice, and that the seller may cancel any related contract for any reason and without penalty for at least five calendar days. A cancellation notice in prescribed language must sit next to the seller's signature, and the commission publishes the mandatory form. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1448.5(A) and (C), enacted by Acts 2026, No. 807, effective August 1, 2026.

When must a newly licensed Louisiana salesperson finish the forty-five hours of post-license education?

• a.Within one hundred eighty days after the initial license date✓
• b.Before the license itself is issued by the commission
• c.Within one calendar year of the initial license date
• d.Before the first annual renewal, whenever that happens to fall

Every person obtaining an initial salesperson or broker license must complete forty-five post-license education hours within one hundred eighty days after the initial license date, in subjects the commission requires such as law and rule changes, finance, and the handling of funds. Those hours may satisfy eight of the twelve annual continuing education hours but never the mandatory topics. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1437(C)(4)(b); LAC 46:LXVII.907(B).

How much continuing education must an active Louisiana licensee complete each year, and how much of it does the commission dictate?

• a.Twelve hours, all of which the licensee is free to choose
• b.Sixteen hours, at least eight of them in mandatory topics
• c.Eight hours, at least two of them in mandatory topics
• d.Twelve hours, at least four of them in mandatory topics✓

Regardless of initial license date, an individual broker or salesperson must furnish proof of twelve hours of continuing education per year, and a minimum of four of those hours must be in subjects specified by the commission. The commission may not allow a licensee to complete fewer than twelve hours, and failing to complete them on time is itself a violation of the license law. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1437(C)(5)(a); LAC 46:LXVII.907(A).

Apart from coursework, what licensing experience does Louisiana demand of an applicant for an initial individual broker license?

• a.Two years licensed, one of them immediately before applying
• b.Four years licensed, two of them immediately before applying✓
• c.Three years licensed at any point in the previous ten years
• d.Five years licensed, three of them immediately before applying

An applicant for an initial individual real estate broker license must have first been licensed for four years, with two of the four occurring immediately preceding submission of the broker application, and must show completion of at least one hundred fifty hours of approved real estate instruction, of which at least thirty hours emphasize broker responsibilities. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1437(C)(1)(a) and (b); LAC 46:LXVII.305(A)(5).

Louisiana requires that at least thirty of an applicant's pre-license classroom hours cover which subjects?

• a.Federal fair housing, RESPA, and Truth in Lending
• b.Appraisal method, real estate finance, and closing statements
• c.Louisiana license law, commission rules, and Louisiana civil law as it relates to real estate✓
• d.Property management, leasing, and trust account reconciliation

Every applicant for a Louisiana real estate license must provide proof of at least thirty classroom hours of pre-license instruction that includes the Louisiana Real Estate License Law, the rules and regulations of the commission, and Louisiana civil law as it relates to real estate, plus any other hours the commission deems necessary. Cite: LAC 46:LXVII.305(A)(1)(c).

A Louisiana real estate license runs for one year. When must it be renewed, and when does it expire?

• a.Renew by December 31; it expires the following March 31
• b.Renew by June 30; it expires the following September 30
• c.Renew on the anniversary of issuance; it expires that same day
• d.Renew by September 30; it expires December 31✓

Each license is effective for one year, must be renewed timely on or before September thirtieth annually, and expires on December thirty-first. A licensee who misses September thirtieth may still renew delinquently, with the delinquent fee, through December thirty-first; after that the renewal right is forfeited and the person must apply again as an initial applicant. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1442(A) and (B); LAC 46:LXVII.901(C).

A Louisiana salesperson applicant passes the examination but files no Affidavit of Sponsorship within ninety days. What does the commission do?

• a.Issue an inactive license✓
• b.Void the exam score
• c.Deny the application and keep the fees
• d.Give the applicant a further year to find a sponsoring broker

The Affidavit of Sponsorship Form (Part B) may accompany the initial application but must arrive no later than ninety days after the applicant passes the license examination. If it does not, an inactive license is issued and the applicant is then governed by the rules for inactive licensees; an active license follows only when the prescribed Transfer to Active Status Form is received. Cite: LAC 46:LXVII.303(B) and (C).

A Louisiana applicant passes the national portion of the license examination but fails the state portion. What is required of him?

• a.Retake both portions at the next available examination date
• b.Retake the state portion within thirty days or lose both scores
• c.Retake the state portion only; the passed score stands one year✓
• d.Submit an entirely new application before retaking either portion

An applicant who does not pass both portions of the examination retakes the failed portion only, and the score on the passed portion remains valid for one year, after which that portion must be retaken as well. A separate rule gives the examination authorization itself a one-year life. Cite: LAC 46:LXVII.507(A) and (B); LAC 46:LXVII.501(A).

What must a non-resident applying for a Louisiana license under a reciprocal agreement file with the commission?

• a.A surety bond made payable to the state of Louisiana
• b.An irrevocable appointment of the executive director as agent for service of process✓
• c.Proof of a Louisiana business address kept open year-round
• d.A certificate of good standing from every state where he has been licensed

A resident of a state that has a reciprocal agreement with the commission is granted an equivalent non-resident license on proof of licensure in his home state, payment of the fees charged for the equivalent Louisiana resident license, and the filing of an irrevocable appointment of the executive director as his agent for service of process in all matters arising out of his Louisiana real estate activity. Cite: LAC 46:LXVII.4903(A).

Louisiana mandates errors and omissions coverage for its licensees. Which licensees may renew without carrying it?

• a.Those whose broker carries a firm-wide policy
• b.Those in the first year after initial licensure
• c.Those who have never had a complaint filed against them
• d.Those renewing in the inactive status✓

All active licensees must carry errors and omissions insurance covering the activities contemplated by the license law. The commission makes a group policy available, but a licensee may obtain independent coverage that meets the commission's minimum requirements and file a verification form with the annual renewal. Active licensees applying for inactive status, and licensees renewing while inactive, may do so without the coverage. Cite: La. R.S. 37:1466(A), (D), (F), and (G).

A Louisiana licensee starts working with a buyer and nothing is signed about representation. What relationship does the statute presume?

• a.Designated agency, the licensee representing the buyer✓
• b.No relationship at all until an agency agreement is signed
• c.Subagency of the listing broker on any property shown
• d.Dual agency shared with the broker who listed the property

Notwithstanding the Civil Code's mandate articles, a licensee engaged in any real estate transaction is considered to represent the person he is working with as a designated agent, unless there is a written agreement between the broker and that person providing for a different relationship or the licensee is performing only ministerial acts. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3892; La. R.S. 9:3891(8).

What does Louisiana require before a licensee may act as a dual agent?

• a.Informed written consent from all clients✓
• b.Oral consent from each client, noted in the licensee's file
• c.Written approval from the commission
• d.An order from a court of competent jurisdiction and venue

A licensee may act as a dual agent only with the informed written consent of all clients, and that consent is presumed to have been given by a client who signs the dual agency disclosure form prepared by the commission. The consent must be obtained when the brokerage agreement is entered into or at any time before the licensee acts as a dual agent, and the signed form is kept for five years. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3897(A) and (C); LAC 46:LXVII.3705(C).

Acting as a dual agent in Louisiana, which of these may the licensee NOT pass along?

• a.Latent material defects in the property known to the licensee
• b.The prices at which comparable properties have recently sold
• c.The lowest price the seller would take✓
• d.The buyer's financial qualification to make the purchase

A dual agent must treat all clients honestly, disclose latent material defects known to him, disclose the buyer's or tenant's financial qualification to the seller or landlord, and supply comparable sales data. He may not reveal either client's confidential information, the price the seller or landlord will take other than the listing price, or the price the buyer or tenant is willing to pay, without that client's permission. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3897(A) and (B).

How is subagency created in a Louisiana real estate transaction?

• a.Through the MLS
• b.Only by a written agreement✓
• c.By a cooperating broker showing the property to a customer
• d.By the seller's consent recorded with the parish clerk of court

Subagency can only be created by a written agreement, and a licensee is not considered the subagent of a client or of another broker solely because of the broker's membership or affiliation in a multiple listing service or similar information source. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3898.

A Louisiana seller's designated agent misstates the square footage to a buyer. Is the seller liable for the agent's act?

• a.Yes, because the agent was acting on the seller's behalf
• b.Yes, unless the seller proves he gave no such instruction
• c.Yes, but only up to the amount of the commission paid
• d.No, Louisiana removes that vicarious liability by statute✓

A client is not liable for the acts or omissions of a licensee in providing brokerage services for or on behalf of the client. The statute does not change the licensee's own legal exposure for negligent or fraudulent misrepresentation of material information. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3899; La. R.S. 9:3893(E).

In Louisiana, what does the fact that the seller pays the buyer's broker tell you about whom that broker represents?

• a.That the broker is a subagent of the seller
• b.That the broker has become a dual agent
• c.Nothing; payment does not settle the agency question✓
• d.That the broker represents the seller unless the buyer objects

The payment or promise of payment of compensation to a broker is not determinative of whether an agency relationship has been created. A buyer's agent represents only the buyer regardless of whether the buyer pays directly or the seller pays through a commission split with the listing agent. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3896; La. R.S. 9:3891(7).

For which of these Louisiana transactions is agency disclosure not required?

• a.A lease of three years or less with no sale contemplated✓
• b.The sale of a vacant residential lot in a subdivision
• c.The lease of a warehouse for a term of ten years
• d.A bond for deed contract on a single-family house

Nothing in the agency chapter or in Chapter 17 of Title 37 requires agency disclosure for a lease that does not exceed a term of three years and under which no sale of the property to the lessee is contemplated. A parallel rule keeps a licensee who is the landlord out of dual agency on such a short lease. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3893(F); La. R.S. 9:3891(10).

A Louisiana buyer client mentions that the roof leaks and asks his agent to keep it quiet. Is that confidential information?

• a.Yes, a client's written request makes any information confidential
• b.Yes, but only until the purchase agreement has been signed
• c.Only if disclosing it would materially harm the client's position
• d.No; material information about physical condition is excluded✓

Confidential information is information a licensee obtains from a client that the client made confidential by written request or instruction, or whose disclosure could materially harm the client's position. The statute expressly provides that confidential information shall not be considered to include material information about the physical condition of the property, and confidentiality also yields where disclosure is required by law or would reveal a serious defect. Cite: La. R.S. 9:3891(6).

A Louisiana husband alone signs a purchase agreement selling the family home, which is community property. His wife never signs. What is the problem?

• a.Nothing, since either spouse may act alone for the community
• b.Both spouses must concur to alienate a community immovable✓
• c.Only the spouse named on the title had to sign the agreement
• d.The agreement had to be passed before a notary and two witnesses

Louisiana's community property regime requires the concurrence of both spouses for the alienation, encumbrance, or lease of community immovables, standing, cut, or fallen timber, furniture in the family home, all or substantially all of the assets of a community enterprise, and movables registered jointly. License law separately makes a listing agreement valid only if signed by all owners or their authorized attorney in fact. Cite: La. Civil Code art. 2347(A); La. R.S. 37:1431(17).

During her marriage a Louisiana woman inherits a camp from her father. How is that camp classified?

• a.Community property
• b.Community property unless she records a declaration
• c.Separate property✓
• d.Separate property only if the succession judgment says so

Separate property includes property acquired by a spouse by inheritance or by donation to him individually, property owned before the community regime began, and property bought with separate funds. Things in a spouse's possession during the community are presumed community, but either spouse may prove that a particular thing is separate. Cite: La. Civil Code arts. 2341 and 2340.

A Louisiana man dies intestate leaving children. What does his surviving spouse take in his half of the community?

• a.A usufruct ending at her death or her remarriage✓
• b.Full ownership of the decedent's half of the community
• c.A usufruct for her lifetime that nothing can terminate
• d.Nothing at all, because the children take it outright

If the deceased spouse is survived by descendants, the surviving spouse has a usufruct over the decedent's share of the community property to the extent he did not dispose of it by testament, and that usufruct terminates when the surviving spouse dies or remarries, whichever occurs first. A usufruct is a real right of limited duration on the property of another. Cite: La. Civil Code arts. 890 and 535.

A Louisiana spouse dies rich in comparison with the survivor. What may the survivor claim out of the succession?

• a.A homestead allowance fixed by the district court
• b.The marital portion✓
• c.Dower
• d.An elective share of one-third of the whole estate

Louisiana, a civil law jurisdiction, never adopted dower or curtesy. Instead, when a spouse dies rich in comparison with the surviving spouse, the survivor may claim the marital portion: one-fourth of the succession in ownership if the decedent left no children, the same fraction in usufruct for life if survived by three or fewer children, and a child's share in that usufruct if survived by more than three. The marital portion may not exceed one million dollars. Cite: La. Civil Code arts. 2432 and 2434.

Who are forced heirs in Louisiana?

• a.All of the decedent's children, whatever their ages
• b.The surviving spouse together with all descendants
• c.Any descendant who was living with the decedent at his death
• d.First-degree descendants twenty-three or younger, or permanently incapable at any age✓

Forced heirs are descendants of the first degree who at the decedent's death are twenty-three years of age or younger, or descendants of the first degree of any age who are permanently incapable of caring for their persons or administering their estates because of mental incapacity or physical infirmity. Donations may not exceed three-fourths of the donor's property if he leaves one forced heir, or one-half if he leaves two or more. Cite: La. Civil Code arts. 1493(A) and 1495.

A Louisiana owner sells a tract for eighty thousand dollars that was worth two hundred thousand. What remedy does the Civil Code give him?

• a.An action in redhibition for the inadequate price
• b.None, because the agreed price is the price owed
• c.Rescission for lesion beyond moiety✓
• d.Reformation of the act of sale by the parish clerk

The sale of an immovable may be rescinded for lesion when the price is less than one half of the fair market value of the immovable. Lesion may be claimed only by the seller, only in sales of corporeal immovables, and never in a sale made by order of the court, and the seller may invoke it even if he renounced the right. The action is subject to a one-year peremptive period running from the sale. Cite: La. Civil Code arts. 2589 and 2595.

Louisiana does not use the common law term easement. What is the civil law right charged on one tract for the benefit of another?

• a.A predial servitude✓
• b.A usufruct
• c.A predial lease of the servient tract
• d.A conventional mortgage on the servient tract

A predial servitude is a charge on a servient estate for the benefit of a dominant estate, and the two estates must belong to different owners. Some servitudes arise by operation of law: the estate situated below is bound to receive the surface waters that flow naturally from the estate above, unless an act of man created the flow. Cite: La. Civil Code arts. 646 and 655.

In Louisiana, when does ownership of an immovable pass between the buyer and the seller?

• a.When the act of sale is filed in the conveyance records
• b.As soon as they agree on the thing and the price is fixed✓
• c.When the purchase price has been paid in full to the seller
• d.When the buyer is put into physical possession of the property

Sale is a contract by which a person transfers ownership of a thing for a price in money, and the thing, the price, and the consent of the parties are required to perfect it. Ownership transfers between the parties as soon as there is agreement on the thing and the price is fixed, even though the thing is not yet delivered and the price is not yet paid. Recordation is what makes the transfer effective against third persons. Cite: La. Civil Code arts. 2439, 2456, and 3338.

A Louisiana lease of an immovable and an option to purchase it are signed but never recorded. What is the consequence?

• a.They are absolutely null between the parties
• b.They remain valid for no more than five years
• c.They are without effect as to third persons✓
• d.They bind third persons who knew of them in fact

The rights and obligations created by an instrument that transfers an immovable or establishes a real right in one, by the lease of an immovable, or by an option, right of first refusal, or contract to buy, sell, or lease an immovable are without effect as to a third person unless the instrument is recorded in the appropriate conveyance or mortgage records. Cite: La. Civil Code art. 3338.