Aertker Legal LLC

08/27/2026

Louisiana law update — public records

On August 20, 2026, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, decided Archote v. Tate, No. 2025 CA 0542.

The court reversed and remanded a trial-court denial of a public-records mandamus seeking internal investigation materials concerning alleged workplace misconduct by a former public employee. It held the records custodian did not establish a reasonable expectation of privacy in those investigative materials under the Louisiana Public Records Law, and that an agency policy statement cannot expand the statute’s personnel-records exemption. This is a disclosure and procedure ruling—not a determination of the underlying allegations.

Aertker Legal, LLC — Covington, Louisiana — Stephen C. Aertker, Jr.

This post is general information about Louisiana law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different. Consult a licensed attorney about your specific circumstances.

08/26/2026

Mississippi law update — estates

On August 18, 2026, the Mississippi Court of Appeals issued an en banc decision in Estate of Thompson (Heirs of Thompson v. Bird), No. 2024-CA-01414-COA.

The trial court had dismissed a petition to reopen a closed estate as time-barred. The appellate court reversed and remanded. At the motion-to-dismiss stage, it held that the heirs adequately pled concealed fraud under Mississippi Code Annotated section 91-7-23, which can extend the time to contest a will in cases of concealed fraud. The opinion does not decide whether fraud occurred on the merits.

This is general information about Mississippi law—not legal advice—and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different. Consult a licensed attorney about your specific circumstances.

Aertker Legal, LLC is licensed in Louisiana and Mississippi. Laws differ by state. Office: Covington, Louisiana. Stephen C. Aertker, Jr.

08/25/2026

Aertker Legal, LLC represents clients in personal injury matters arising from another’s negligence, including roadway crashes and other serious injuries, for people in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Personal injury work is handled directly by Stephen C. Aertker, Jr. Fee arrangements in contingency matters are discussed at engagement; many personal injury representations are handled on a contingency basis.

Office: Covington, Louisiana. Craft-Driven. Technology-Powered.

Aertker Legal, LLC is licensed in Louisiana and Mississippi. Laws differ by state.

This post is general information about Louisiana law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different. Consult a licensed attorney about your specific circumstances.

08/24/2026

Aertker Legal, LLC handles business transactions and business litigation for owners and managers in Louisiana and Mississippi.

That work includes LLCs, contracts, and operating agreements; commercial leases and non-competes; and partnership disputes, collections, and breach-of-contract claims. Matters are handled directly by Stephen C. Aertker, Jr., from the first call through resolution.

Office: Covington, Louisiana. Craft-Driven. Technology-Powered.

Aertker Legal, LLC is licensed in Louisiana and Mississippi. Laws differ by state.

This post is general information about Louisiana law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different. Consult a licensed attorney about your specific circumstances.

08/22/2026

Starting a company, signing a lease, or stuck in a contract fight? That’s business law — and it’s a big part of what I do at Aertker Legal, L.L.C.

I work directly with owners and managers on:
• LLCs, contracts, and operating agreements
• Commercial leases and non-competes
• Partnership disputes, collections, and breach-of-contract claims

No hand-offs to a junior associate. When your business is on the line, you get me — Stephen “Curt” Aertker, Jr. — from the first call through the finish.

If something’s coming up for your company (or already landed on your desk), reach out. Happy to talk it through.

aertkerlegal.com

08/19/2026

IN MISSISSIPPI, INHERITANCE BETWEEN A PARENT AND CHILD CAN RUN ONLY ONE WAY.

Last week we wrote about a Mississippi deadline that can cut off a child's right to inherit from a father. That same statute has a second half — and it points the other direction.

Miss. Code Ann. § 91-1-15(3)(d)(i) provides that the natural father of a child born outside marriage "shall not inherit ... [f]rom or through the child unless the father has openly treated the child as his, and has not refused or neglected to support the child."

Read that carefully. A biological connection is not enough. For a father to inherit from his child, two things have to be true: he openly treated the child as his, and he did not refuse or neglect to support the child.

The question is live right now. A Mississippi appeal decided July 28, 2026 involved a father whose claim to inherit from his deceased daughter was contested on exactly these grounds. The Court of Appeals did not reach the merits — it dismissed the appeal on a procedural point about which court's ruling was being appealed — so the statute's application in that case remains unresolved.

What does this mean for you?

Most families never think about inheritance running upward, from a child to a parent, until someone dies young. In Mississippi it is not automatic, and the conduct that matters happened years earlier.

If you have questions, we're here.

This is general information, not legal advice. Contact an attorney for advice on your specific situation.

AERTKER LEGAL, L.L.C. — Covington, Louisiana
985-612-7220 | www.aertkerlegal.com

Aertker Legal, LLC is a Covington, Louisiana law firm serving the Northshore and Mississippi — personal injury, family law, business, estate planning, successions, and more. Work directly with attorney Stephen C. Aertker, Jr. Call 985-612-7220.

08/13/2026

A HOME CAN BE SOLD FOR UNPAID TAXES. MISSISSIPPI JUST CLARIFIED WHO GETS TO FIGHT BACK.

On August 6, 2026, the Mississippi Supreme Court decided Johnson v. Cleveland (No. 2023-CT-01011-SCT).

A woman had lived in her Harrison County home since the 1980s. The property was sold at a tax sale. She went to court to void the sale, arguing she never received proper notice.

The buyer's response was that she had no business being in court at all — she was not the record owner.

The Court disagreed. Her claim of adverse possession gave her a real interest in the land, because under Mississippi law title vests by operation of law once the ten-year period runs, even before a court has said so. That interest was enough to give her standing to challenge the sale.

What does this mean for you?

Notice in a tax sale is not a formality. And "my name isn't on the deed" is not automatically the end of the conversation — long-term possession can carry legal weight.

Tax sale problems run on short clocks. If you have received a notice, or believe you should have received one and did not, it is worth looking at early.

This is general information, not legal advice. Contact an attorney about your specific situation.

AERTKER LEGAL, L.L.C. — Covington, Louisiana
985-612-7220 | www.aertkerlegal.com

08/12/2026

LOUISIANA'S CUSTODY DEFAULT CHANGED ON AUGUST 1.

Act 605 of the 2026 Regular Session took effect August 1, 2026. It rewrites one subsection of Louisiana's joint custody statute — La. R.S. 9:335(A)(2)(b) — and the change is small on paper and significant in practice.

The old version said physical custody "should" be shared equally to the extent it is feasible and in the best interest of the child. The new version says physical custody "shall" be shared equally unless the court determines it is not feasible or not in the child's best interest.

What does this mean for you?

The starting point moved. Equal physical custody is now the position the court works from in a joint custody implementation order, and a departure from it comes from the court's own determination.

Three things it does not do: it does not automatically change an existing custody order, it does not govern whether joint custody is awarded in the first place, and it does not remove the best-interest analysis. Existing orders stay in place until a court modifies them.

If you're weighing whether your situation is worth a second look, we're here.

This is general information, not legal advice. Contact an attorney about your specific situation.

AERTKER LEGAL, L.L.C. — Covington, Louisiana
985-612-7220 | www.aertkerlegal.com

08/11/2026

YOUR WORKERS' COMP CHECK IS BUILT FROM FOUR WEEKS OF PAY. WHAT IF TWO OF THEM WERE HOLIDAYS?

Louisiana's First Circuit took that up on August 6, 2026, in Ory v. HKA Enterprises Industrial Solutions (No. 2025 CA 0430).

An injured hourly worker's benefits are based on his "average weekly wage." Under La. R.S. 23:1021(13)(a)(i), that is his hourly rate times the average hours actually worked in the four full weeks before the accident — or forty hours, whichever is greater.

His accident came right after the holidays. Two of those four weeks were largely vacation and holiday time, so his hours were low. He argued those weeks should not count, because they made his average look smaller than what he normally earned.

The court applied the statute's forty-hour floor to the light weeks rather than discarding them. One judge dissented, and would have excluded a week with no actual work at all and reached further back for a replacement.

What does this mean for you?

If you were hurt shortly after a holiday stretch, a slow season, or time off, the four weeks used to set your benefit rate may be worth a closer look.

This is general information, not legal advice. Contact an attorney about your specific situation.

AERTKER LEGAL, L.L.C. — Covington, Louisiana
985-612-7220 | www.aertkerlegal.com

08/03/2026

"I'VE ALWAYS BEEN THE ONE TAKING CARE OF THEM." DOES THAT DECIDE CUSTODY IN LOUISIANA?

It matters. It doesn't automatically decide.

Louisiana courts decide custody on one standard: the best interest of the child. La. C.C. art. 131. To get there, a judge weighs the factors in La. C.C. art. 134 — emotional ties, the stability of each home, moral fitness, mental and physical health, the child's school and community history, and how willing each parent is to support the child's relationship with the other parent.

Being the day-to-day caregiver is on that list. But a Louisiana appellate court said it directly this month: primary caregiver status is not the only factor.

In a July 15, 2026 decision, the Second Circuit affirmed a trial court that named the father domiciliary parent even though the mother had been the child's primary caregiver for most of her life. The court pointed to instability, frequent out-of-state travel, keeping the child during the father's weekends and then refusing his requests for make-up time, and — with kindergarten four months away — not knowing which school district the family lived in.

What does this mean for you?

Judges look at the whole picture. They pay particular attention to which parent supports the child's relationship with the other one. If custody is on the horizon, how you conduct yourself now becomes part of the record later.

This decision is recent and not yet final.

If you have questions, we're here.

This is general information, not legal advice. Contact an attorney for advice on your specific situation.

AERTKER LEGAL, L.L.C. — Covington, Louisiana
985-612-7220 | www.aertkerlegal.com

Aertker Legal, LLC is a Covington, Louisiana law firm serving the Northshore and Mississippi — personal injury, family law, business, estate planning, successions, and more. Work directly with attorney Stephen C. Aertker, Jr. Call 985-612-7220.