3.3 Civil-Law Terminology Crosswalk
Key Takeaways
- The Louisiana exam tests civil-law vocabulary directly; learn each term and its common-law equivalent as a pair
- Immovables are land and things attached; movables are everything else - the civil-law split parallels real vs. personal property
- Authentic acts (notary + witnesses) carry self-proving weight; acts under private signature are signed by parties only
- Prescription (acquisitive and liberative) replaces adverse possession and statutes of limitation
- Key one-word swaps: cause/consideration, servitude/easement, usufruct/life estate, indivision/tenancy in common, Act of Sale/deed
Roughly a third of state-portion difficulty is vocabulary: the test gives a civil-law term and asks for its meaning or common-law equivalent. This section turns that into rote recall.
Master Crosswalk
| Louisiana (Civil Law) | Common-Law Equivalent | One-line meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Immovable property | Real property | Land and things attached |
| Movable property | Personal property | Things not permanently attached |
| Act of Sale | Deed | Instrument transferring ownership |
| Cause | Consideration | Reason a party obligates itself |
| Servitude | Easement | Right to use another's land/person's right |
| Usufruct | Life estate | Right to use + take fruits |
| Naked owner | Remainderman | Owner awaiting the usufruct's end |
| Indivision | Tenancy in common | Co-ownership without partition |
| Redhibition | Breach of warranty | Hidden-defect rescission/price cut |
| Lesion beyond moiety | (no clean analog) | Seller relief for grossly low price |
| Succession | Probate estate | Transfer of a decedent's estate |
| Forced heir / legitime | (no analog) | Reserved share for children |
| Prescription | Adverse possession / statute of limitations | Acquiring or losing rights by time |
Study method: Drill these as flashcards in both directions - given the Louisiana term, state the equivalent; given the equivalent, state the Louisiana term.
Immovables vs. Movables
The civil law divides things into immovables and movables, paralleling real vs. personal property.
| Category | Includes |
|---|---|
| Immovables | Land (tracts), buildings, standing timber, their integral parts and certain components |
| Movables | Furniture, vehicles, money, and things that can be moved without injury |
| Component parts | Things so attached they become part of the immovable (analogous to fixtures) |
When a movable becomes permanently incorporated into an immovable, it becomes a component part (the civil-law version of a fixture analysis). Conversely, the right to remove certain items can be reserved by agreement.
Authentic Acts vs. Acts Under Private Signature
| Instrument | How executed | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Authentic act | Before a notary and two witnesses, signed by all | Self-proving; strong evidence; required form for some transactions |
| Act under private signature | Signed by the parties (may be later acknowledged) | Valid but must be proven if challenged |
A document executed as an authentic act proves itself in court without further evidence, which is why the Act of Sale is typically passed this way. An act under private signature can be acknowledged before a notary to gain similar effect.
Prescription - Two Flavors
Common-law "adverse possession" and "statutes of limitation" both map to the single civil-law concept of prescription, but in two forms.
| Type | What it does | Key periods |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisitive prescription | Gains ownership through possession | 10 years (good faith + just title); 30 years (without title) |
| Liberative prescription | Extinguishes a claim by the passage of time | Varies by claim (e.g., redhibition ~1 year from discovery; mineral servitude ~10 years nonuse) |
Exam framing: If the question is about gaining title by long possession, that is acquisitive prescription (10/30 years). If it is about a deadline to sue or a right expiring, that is liberative prescription.
How These Show Up in Practice
| Scenario | Civil-law lens |
|---|---|
| Neighbor's fence has encroached for 12 years in good faith | Possible acquisitive prescription (10-year, good faith + title) |
| Buyer finds a hidden defect 8 months after closing | Redhibition - act within ~1 year of discovery |
| Mineral rights sold off, no drilling for 10 years | Mineral servitude prescribes back to landowner |
| Married couple sells the family home | Community property - both spouses must sign |
| Owner grants neighbor a driveway right | Predial servitude (right of passage) |
Bottom line: Treat the state portion as a translation exercise. If you can convert each civil-law term to its common-law meaning instantly, the unfamiliar wording stops being a barrier and most state questions become straightforward applications of concepts you already know from the national material.
High-Frequency Terminology Traps
A handful of pairs cause most missed questions. Lock these in:
| Trap | The fix |
|---|---|
| Confusing lesion (low price, protects seller) with redhibition (hidden defect, protects buyer) | Lesion = price; redhibition = defect |
| Thinking usufruct is ownership | Usufruct is use + fruits; the naked owner holds ownership |
| Treating a personal servitude like a predial servitude | Personal benefits a person; predial benefits a dominant estate and runs with the land |
| Assuming cause means a lawsuit | Cause = the reason for the obligation (like consideration) |
| Mixing up acquisitive vs liberative prescription | Acquisitive gains rights; liberative extinguishes them |
| Forgetting the forced heir age | 23 or younger (not yet 24), or any age if permanently incapacitated |
Putting It Together: A Worked Scenario
A married couple owns their family home, purchased during the marriage. The husband dies, leaving two children, ages 19 and 27, the 27-year-old being permanently disabled. Translate the facts:
- The home is community property, so the wife already owns an undivided one-half.
- The husband's half passes by succession; the wife typically takes a usufruct over it while the children are naked owners.
- Both children are forced heirs - the 19-year-old by age, the 27-year-old by permanent incapacity - so the legitime (1/2, since there are two forced heirs) is reserved for them.
- To later sell, the usufructuary (wife) and the naked owners (children) must join.
Takeaway: Convert each civil-law label to its plain meaning, identify who must sign, and the transaction logic mirrors the national material - just with Louisiana's vocabulary on top.
Which Louisiana term is the equivalent of 'real property'?
Gaining ownership of land through 10 years of good-faith possession with just title is an example of:
What distinguishes an 'authentic act' from an 'act under private signature'?
A deadline to file a redhibition claim is an example of which civil-law concept?