# Making a Texas judgment executory in Louisiana Source: https://www.jhenrylaw.com/mechanism/judgment-executory-in-louisiana/ Author: John P. Henry, John Henry & Associates, PLLC Reviewed: 2026-08-02 **La. R.S. 13:4241 et seq.; La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 2541** ## How do you enforce a Texas judgment against assets in Louisiana? Two routes, and they are not interchangeable. The Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act is an ex parte filing: annex an authenticated copy to a petition praying the judgment be made executory, file the creditor’s affidavit, and the Clerk of Court mails notice to the debtor. Article 2541 is an ordinary contradictory proceeding producing a new Louisiana judgment. Tell them apart by who mails. > No execution or other process for enforcement of a foreign judgment filed hereunder shall issue until thirty days after the mailing of the notice of the filing of the foreign judgment. — La. R.S. 13:4243(C) ## When it applies A Texas judgment and a debtor with a Louisiana clinic, warehouse, receivable or bank account. Louisiana is not a Uniform Act state in the way most of its neighbours are, and treating it like one is how the seizure gets dissolved. ## How it is proved up 1. Use the ex parte route unless something requires otherwise. It is faster, and for a sister-state money judgment both routes are open. 2. Annex a properly authenticated copy — see the entry on exemplification, which is where these fail. 3. File the affidavit of names and last known addresses under § 4243(A). The Clerk mails notice from it. 4. Calendar thirty days from the Clerk’s mailing before any writ of fieri facias, garnishment or seizure. The bar is on issuance of execution, not on the court signing an order recognising the judgment — but a seizure inside thirty days is the debtor’s best argument and it is a good one. 5. Write the instruction letter to the sheriff. It will be followed literally: identify the assets, state your position on payment, and give a defined window before seizure. ## What defeats it - A judgment authenticated as a mere certified copy. - Execution issued inside the thirty days. - The debtor’s contradictory hearing under § 4244, raising any ground that would defeat enforcement of a Louisiana judgment — including a genuine attack on the rendering court’s jurisdiction. - A foreign-country judgment, which cannot use the ex parte route at all and must proceed by ordinary action. ## Where I have used it A Bexar County default judgment of $26,482.38 plus interest, exemplified and filed in the 15th Judicial District Court, Lafayette Parish, as Cause No. 20154623L. The Clerk of Court mailed notice by certified mail on 28 September 2015; the signed return receipt came back on 12 October; and the court ordered the judgment recorded and made executory, with written instructions to the parish sheriff identifying the furniture, computers and office equipment to be seized if the debtor would not pay or agree to a plan within three days of service. ## The order Order to Make Judgment Executory — United Biologics, LLC d/b/a United Allergy Services v. Moss Street Medical Clinic, Inc., 15th Judicial District Court, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Cause No. 20154623L, signed 2016. ``` CAUSE NO. 20154623L UNITED BIOLOGICS, LLC d/b/a UNITED ALLERGY SERVICES, Plaintiff v. MOSS STREET MEDICAL CLINIC, INC., Defendant IN THE DISTRICT COURT 15TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT LAFAYETTE PARISH, LOUISIANA ORDER TO MAKE JUDGMENT EXECUTORY On September 18, 2015, Plaintiff, United Biologics, LLC d/b/a United Allergy Services filed its Petition to Make Foreign Judgment Executory. Notice was mailed to Defendant, Moss Street Medical Clinic, Inc. by certified mail, return receipt requested, on September 28, 2015 by Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court, and return receipt was received by the Clerk of Court on October 12, 2015, bearing signature. Twenty days have passed since notice was given to the Defendant, and no response or pleadings have been filed by Defendant. THE ABOVE AND FOREGOING CONSIDERED, Let the Judgment in the above numbered and styled cause be filed and recorded herein and let said Judgment become executory. This the ____ day of __________, 2016. _______________________________ PRESIDING JUDGE ``` ## Questions **How do you domesticate a Texas judgment in Louisiana?** By annexing an authenticated copy to an ex parte petition under La. R.S. 13:4242 praying that the judgment be made executory, together with the affidavit required by § 4243(A). The Clerk of Court then mails notice to the judgment debtor. **How long must you wait before executing in Louisiana?** Thirty days after the mailing of the notice of filing, under La. R.S. 13:4243(C). Note the clock runs from the Clerk's mailing, unlike Arizona, where it runs from the creditor's mailing and the filing of proof of it. **What is the difference between the Louisiana EFJA and article 2541?** The Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act is an ex parte filing in which the judgment is treated as a Louisiana judgment once filed. Article 2541 is an ordinary contradictory proceeding, with citation and service, producing a new Louisiana judgment. Foreign-country judgments must use the ordinary route. --- This page is an advertisement. Case results depend on the specific facts of each matter and do not predict a similar result in any other. Nothing here is legal advice.