Short answer. Civil interdiction strips the convict, for the length of his sentence, of parental authority, of guardianship over the person or property of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his own property, and of the right to dispose of that property by any act between living persons.
What the law says
Civil interdiction shall deprive the offender during the time of his sentence of the rights of parental authority, or guardianship, either as to the person or property of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his property and of the right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos.
Revised Penal Code, Article 34 — Civil Interdiction Explained. Read the full provision →
It is a penalty, not a side effect
Civil interdiction is one of the penalties in the Revised Penal Code. It is not something a prison administrator decides; it attaches because the law makes it an accessory to certain serious principal penalties, so a convict can be under it without the judgment spelling out every consequence. That is precisely why families are caught off guard. The relative is in prison, a deed needs signing or a child needs a parent's consent, and only then does anyone discover that the signature is legally powerless. If a member of your family is serving a long sentence, find out early whether civil interdiction applies to the penalty imposed.
Family rights suspended
Three of the five deprivations are about family. Parental authority over the convict's own children is suspended, so consents, decisions on schooling or travel, and administration of a child's property no longer rest with him. Guardianship — over the person or the property of any ward — likewise stops, whether the wardship was court-appointed or arose by law. Marital authority is removed as well. The practical consequence is that someone else must act: the other parent, or a guardian appointed through the proper court proceeding. The rights are suspended for the duration of the sentence, not permanently forfeited, but the gap must be filled while it lasts.
Property: he keeps it but cannot move it
The convict does not lose ownership. What he loses is control. He cannot manage his property, and he cannot dispose of it by any act or conveyance inter vivos — that is, between living persons. Sales, donations, mortgages and similar transfers signed during the interdiction are open to serious challenge. The important carve-out is that the prohibition is limited to acts among the living, so testamentary disposition is a different question: making a will operates at death, not between living persons. Buyers should be wary of any deed signed by a person serving a sentence, and should ask who is legally administering that person's property.
Duration and what it does not touch
The deprivation runs during the time of his sentence and no longer. When the sentence is served, or the penalty is otherwise ended, the rights revive going forward — though transactions attempted during the interdiction are not cured retroactively by that. Article 34 also does not address the separate political disqualifications, the civil liability owed to the offended party, or how an administrator for the property is appointed; those come from other provisions and from court procedure. Because the article bites only when the principal penalty carries it, working out whether a particular sentence triggers civil interdiction is a job for counsel reading the actual judgment.