Civil Code, Article 386 — Declaration Effective After Six Months

What this article means

A judicial declaration of absence does not take effect until six months after it is published in a newspaper of general circulation. The waiting period runs from publication, not from the date of the order.

Requiring publication, and then a further six-month wait before the declaration takes effect, gives the absentee — or anyone with an interest in contesting the finding — a real window to come forward before the declaration produces its legal consequences, such as the appointment of an administrator over the absentee’s estate. During those six months the order exists but is not yet operative; it is a deliberate pause built into the process, since the effects of a declaration of absence extend beyond the absentee to third parties who may later deal with the estate.

Questions about this provision

• Once a court declares a person legally absent, when does that declaration actually take effect?

Related provisions

• Article 385 — Who May Ask for Declaration.
• Article 387 — Administrator of Absentee’s Property.

Cases interpreting this article

• Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.