LOUISIANA SUCCESSION LAWS - WildApricot

LOUISIANA SUCCESSION LAWS

By

Paul A. Strickland

Hargrove, Smelley & Strickland

Shreveport, Louisiana

September 2021

I.

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

A.

Purpose of Paper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

B.

General Terms and Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II.

INTESTATE SUCCESSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

A.

General Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

B.

Devolution of Community Property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

C.

Devolution of Separate Property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

D.

The Usufruct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

E.

Children Born Outside the Marriage .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

F.

Biological Filiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

G.

Adopted Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

III.

TESTATE SUCCESSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A.

General Principles.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B.

Rules on the Form of Olographic and Notarial Testaments. . . . . . .

C.

Testamentary Dispositions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

D.

Substitutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

17

17

18

19

21

IV.

FORCED HEIRSHIP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A.

General Principles.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B.

The Forced Portion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C.

Calculation of the Forced Portion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

D.

Enforcement of Rights of Forced Heirs.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

E.

Collation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

21

22

25

26

27

V.

SUCCESSION PROCEDURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A.

Jurisdiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B.

Probate of Wills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C.

Simple Possession without Administration... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

D.

Administration of Successions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

E.

Judgments of Possession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F.

Ancillary Successions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

G.

Small Successions .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28

28

29

30

31

35

37

38

I.

INTRODUCTION

A.

B.

II.

Purpose of Paper

1.

General survey of law applicable to successions.

2.

Checklist of common problem areas for the division order analyst.

3.

Discuss major legislative revisions.

4.

Since the rights to a succession are generally fixed in accordance

with the law at the time of death of the deceased, a division order

analyst should be familiar with all laws, past and present, applicable

to successions.

General Terms and Definitions

1.

Succession - the transmission of the estate of the deceased to his

successors. La. C.C. art. 871.

2.

Estate - the property, rights and obligations a person leaves after his

death. La. C.C. art. 872.

3.

Testate Succession - results when the deceased leaves a will, and

the will is in proper form. La. C.C. art. 874.

4.

Intestate Succession - results when there is no will or the will is

invalid. La. C.C. art. 875.

5.

Legatees - successors under a testate succession.

art 876.

6.

Heirs - successors under an intestate succession. La. C.C. art. 876.

La. C.C.

INTESTATE SUCCESSION

A.

General Principles

1.

If a person dies without a will or the will is void, the person's estate

is distributed in accordance with the rules of intestate succession.

2.

In order to be called as an heir to an intestate succession, a person

must be a descendant, ascendant or collateral, by blood or

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adoption, or be a surviving spouse not judicially separated from the

deceased. La. C.C. art. 880.

3.

Descendants are children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.

Ascendants are parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.

Collaterals are relatives who do not descend from one another but

share a common ancestor, such as siblings, aunts and uncles,

cousins, etc.

4.

Generally, the most closely-related relative is called to the

succession. The unit of measurement used to determine how close

two people are related is the "generation," and each generation is

a degree. Thus, a father is related to his child in the first degree and

to his grandchild in the second degree. The line of relationship is

either direct or collateral. The direct line is either ascending or

descending. In the direct line, the number of degrees is equal to the

number of generations between the relative and the deceased. In

the collateral line, the number of degrees is equal to the number of

generations between the relative and the common ancestor, plus

the number of generations between the common ancestor and the

deceased. Thus, an uncle and nephew are related in the third

degree, while first cousins are related in the fourth degree.

5.

Doctrine of Representation

a.

Representation is defined as a fiction of law, the effect of

which is to put the representative in the place, degree and

rights of the person represented. La. C.C. art. 881.

b.

Representation takes place ad infinitum with respect to

descendants of the deceased. La. C.C. art. 882.

For example, a father of two children dies intestate, survived

by one child and predeceased by the other.

The

predeceased child is survived by two children. According to

the doctrine of representation, the two grandchildren

represent the predeceased child's share, and the estate is

inherited one-half by the surviving child and the other onehalf is inherited by the two grandchildren, in equal

proportions, through representation of the predeceased

child.

c.

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Representation also operates in favor of descendants of

predeceased brothers and sisters of the deceased. La. C.C.

art. 884.

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For example, a person dies intestate survived by no

descendants and no parents, but is survived by a brother

and two children of a predeceased sister. According to the

doctrine of representation, the two children of the

predeceased sister represent the predeceased sister's

share, and the estate is inherited one-half by the brother

and the other half is inherited by the two children of the

predeceased sister, in equal proportions, through

representation of the predeceased sister.

d.

B.

Representation never takes place in favor of ascendants.

La. C.C. art. 883.

Devolution of Community Property

1.

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Property acquired during a marriage is presumed to be community

property. La. C.C. art. 2340. Each spouse owns an undivided 1/2

interest in community property. La. C.C. art. 2336. Community

property comprises:

a.

Property acquired during the existence of the legal regime

through the effort, skill or industry of either spouse;

b.

Property acquired with community things, or with community

and separate things when the value of the separate things

is inconsequential in comparison with the value of the

community things used to acquire the thing;

c.

Property donated to the spouses jointly;

d.

Natural and civil fruits of community property;

e.

Damages awarded for loss or injury to a thing belonging to

the community;

f.

Natural and civil fruits of separate property, and minerals

produced from separate property, including bonuses, delay

rentals, shut-in payments and royalties from mineral leases,

unless spouse executes declaration reserving fruits as his

separate property; the declaration must be made in an

authentic act or in an act under private signature duly

acknowledged, and the declaration must be provided to the

other spouse prior to filing in the conveyance records;

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