INTERDICTION. In Civil Law. A judicial decree, by which a person is de prived of the exercise of his civil rights.
The condition of the party who labors under this incapacity.
2. There can be no voluntary interdiction, as has been erroneously stated by some writers: the status of every person is regu lated by the law, and can in no case be affected by contract.
It is to be observed that interdiction is one of those beneficent measures devised by the law for the special protection of the rights and persons of those who are unable to ad minister them themselves, and that although the person interdicted is not permitted to exercise his legal rights, he is by no means deprived of their enjoyment. These rights are exercised for his benefit by a curator, who is held to a strict accountability, and the fidelity of whose administration is secured, in most cases, by a bond of security, and always by a tacit mortgage on all his property.
3. By the law of the twelve tables, prodi gals alone could be interdicted. Curators were appointed to those afflicted with mental aberration, idiocy, or incurable diseases, qui peipetuo morbo laborant ; but no decree of interdiction was pronounced against them. By the modern civil law, prodigality and pro fligacy are not sufficient reasons for inter diction ; but whenever a person is prostrated, either by mental or physical diseases, to such a degree as to be permanently disabled from administering his estate, he may be inter dieted.
No decree.of interdiction can be pronounced against a person except by a court whose jurisdiction extends over his domicil.
All the relations of the party are bound to apply for his interdiction when the exigency arises. The same duty is imposed on hus band and wife with regard to each other; and their failure to discharge it exposes them to all the damages which may result from such neglect. In the absence of relatives or spouse, or if they refuse to act, the law authorizes even a stranger to make the application.
4. The mode of proceeding is by a petition addressed to the court, in which the reasons which render the interdiction necessary are specifically and explicitly set forth. It is not sufficient to allege in vague and general terms that the party is rendered incapable of ad ministering his estate by mental or physical maladies ; but their nature, character, and symptcms must be stated with such legal ac curacy as to give the party or his representa tive notice of the real state of facts on which the application is based. A copy of this pe
tition is communicated to the person sought to be interdicted ; and if he fails to employ counsel the court appoints one to assist in the defence of the action. After the contes tatio litis has been formed by the answer of the defendant and his counsel, a careful in vestigation of the condition of the party is entered upon.
No decree of interdiction can he rendered unless it be conclusively proved that the party is subject to an habitual state of idiocy, madness, insanity, or bodily infirmi ties to such a degree as to disable him from administering his estate; but the mere fact that the person laboring under mental aber ration has lucid intervals is no objection to the interdiction.
5. With regard to the nature of the deuce, it consists chiefly in the report, under oath, of physicians who are appointed to examine into the condition of the party, his answers to such interrogatories as the judge propounds to him, and of his recent acts and conduct. Courts act with great caution and circumspection in applications for in terdiction, and will never render the decree unless it clearly appears to be absolutely necessary that it should be done for the pro tection of the interest of the party to be in terdicted.
During the pendency of the proceedings, the court will appoint a provisional admi nistrator if, in its discretion, such an ap pointment is deemed necessary.
Immediately after the interdiction has been decreed, the court proceeds to appoint a curator or permanent administrator to take care of the person and to administer the estate of the interdicted party. In the appointment of the curator, the nearest male relation is entitled to the preference, and is compelled to accept the trust, unless lie offers a legal excuse. When the wife is interdicted, the husband is entitled to the curatorship ; but a curator ad litem is appointed to act for her in suits where her interest comes in conflict with that of the husband. The wife has also the right of claiming the curatorship of her husband who has been interdicted. Neither the husband nor the wife is required to give security ; but a tacit mortgage exists on their property to secure the faithful execution of the trust. A judicial inventory is taken of all the property belonging to the interdicted person, which must ''be homologated and approved by the court, and forms a part of the record of the proceedings.