How Probate Works in Louisiana

A succession is required for solely-titled property without a beneficiary designation or joint ownership, opened in the District Court for the parish where the decedent was domiciled. Louisiana has no separate dollar-gated "simplified" tier distinct from the small-succession affidavit below — whether a judicial proceeding is required instead of a pure affidavit depends on conditions (a will plus Louisiana real estate generally requires judicial opening, unless every heir unanimously waives it), not a second dollar figure.

Louisiana is a community property state — the only one grounded in civil law rather than common law. A surviving spouse keeps their own half of community property outright. The decedent's half passes to their heirs, but under intestacy the surviving spouse generally holds a legal usufruct over that half — the right to use, occupy, and draw income from it for life or until remarriage — while the heirs hold "naked ownership" until the usufruct ends.

Successions run through the District Court for the decedent's parish of domicile. A succession representative — an executor if named in a will, an administrator if not — is confirmed by the court for judicial successions.

Unlike most states, Louisiana has no fixed notice-and-bar deadline in days. Creditor claims run on ordinary Civil Code prescription (statute of limitations) periods — commonly 3 years for open accounts, 10 years for most contract obligations — independent of any notice publication. A creditor can submit a formal proof of claim to the succession representative at any time while the succession remains open, which suspends prescription for that claim.