Marriage Certificate Translation in Louisiana

Louisiana is the only state whose private law follows the civil-law tradition, and its law of marital property uses the same concept as French, Spanish and Latin American law: the matrimonial regime. When a foreign marriage record states a régime matrimonial or régimen patrimonial, the Louisiana term is an exact equivalent rather than an approximation, and the translation uses it.

The same care applies in reverse. A covenant marriage, or a matrimonial agreement a Louisiana couple filed, has to be rendered so that a French or Spanish reader recognises the institution it is.

New Orleans East has a Vietnamese community dating from the late 1970s, and the city's Honduran community grew sharply during the rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. Vietnamese marriages are registered with the local People's Committee, whose certificate is the record; Honduran marriage certifications come from the national registry, the RNP.