Probate in Louisiana: do you need a lawyer, and what it costs

Settling an estate in Louisiana

What an executor deals with after the funeral: the will, the court, creditors, tax and closing the estate. Each fact links to the statute it comes from and shows the date we last read it.

Filing the original will

In Louisiana, a will is called a testament. If you hold a document that may be the testament of the person who died, you must present it to the court with a petition asking that it be filed in the succession (probate) record, even if you doubt it is valid. The law sets no fixed number of days for this.

La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 2853, 2893Read the statute · legis.la.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

In Louisiana, probate is called opening the succession, and it is handled by the district court of the parish (county) where the person who died lived. If they lived out of state, it can be opened in a parish where they owned real estate, or where they had other property if they owned no real estate in Louisiana.

La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 2811Read the statute · legis.la.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

Louisiana has no general notice to creditors with a cutoff date like most states. Creditors give their claim in writing to the executor or administrator (called the succession representative), who starts paying debts three months after the death. To pay them, the representative files a list called a tableau of distribution, publishes notice of it once, and the court can approve it seven days after publication if no one objects.

La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3241, 3302, 3303, 3304, 3307Read the statute · legis.la.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

In Louisiana, the property of the person who died must be listed either in a formal inventory taken by a notary or in a sworn detailed descriptive list filed in the succession case, with each item's value at the date of death. The law sets no fixed deadline for filing it.

La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 2952, 3113, 3136Read the statute · legis.la.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

In Louisiana, if the succession cannot pay everything, debts are paid by rank. Charges that arise after the death, such as funeral and court costs and the lawyer's fee for settling the succession, come before the debts of the person who died. Among those older debts, ones with a general privilege (funeral, court charges, last illness) come first, and ordinary debts come last.

La. Civ. Code arts. 3191, 3252, 3276; La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3303Read the statute · legis.la.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

Louisiana has no inheritance tax and no estate tax due for current deaths. Its estate transfer tax law is still on the books but applies only when a federal state death tax credit is allowed, and that credit ended for deaths after 2004.

La. R.S. 47:2432, 47:2436Read the statute · revenue.louisiana.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Closing an estate

In Louisiana, the executor or administrator (called the succession representative) closes the succession by filing a final account after the debts and legacies on the approved tableau are paid, serving it on the heirs, and having the court approve it if no one objects within ten days. The court then signs a judgment of possession putting the heirs in charge of their property and, once receipts show creditors were paid and property was handed out, discharges the representative.

La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3197, 3332, 3335, 3336, 3381, 3391Read the statute · legis.la.govchecked Oct 5, 2026