Louisiana law inherited its structure from the French and Spanish colonial periods, and the state never adopted the English common-law system that governs everywhere else in the US. That means Louisiana’s civil code — the Napoleonic-derived Code Civil — controls inheritance, marital property, succession, and incapacity planning. The differences are not cosmetic.
The four documents to have in place this year
These apply to every Louisiana-resident parent regardless of wealth or family structure. Costs through a Louisiana-licensed attorney typically run $400–$1,500 for the package, with trust structures adding $1,500–$4,000.
1. Mandate / Procuration (La. C.C. arts. 2989–3034)
A Louisiana mandate names a person (called the “mandatary”) to act on behalf of your parent (the “principal” or “mandator”) for financial or other matters.1 A “procuration” is the underlying authority grant. Louisiana does not have a uniform statutory short-form POA the way Florida does — mandates are typically drafted by attorneys, and the document must be carefully tailored.
A few key points:
- Louisiana mandates can be general or special. A general mandate authorizes broad authority; a special mandate is limited to specific acts.
- The mandate should be durable— the authority survives the principal’s incapacity — which requires specific language. A non-durable mandate terminates the moment the principal becomes incapacitated.
- Out-of-state POAs are generally honored if valid where executed, but Louisiana banks may scrutinize them closely. A Louisiana-drafted mandate is typically smoother.
2. Health Care Mandate / Medical Power of Attorney
Louisiana treats medical decision-making separately from financial decision-making. The health-care mandate authorizes a designated person to make medical decisions when your parent cannot communicate their wishes. The document is often combined with the living will in a single instrument.
3. Living Will Declaration
Louisiana’s living-will statute — the Louisiana Natural Death Act, La. R.S. §40:1151 et seq. — allows your parent to declare in advance whether they want life-sustaining procedures withheld or withdrawn in defined terminal or end-stage conditions.2 It operates alongside the health-care mandate, not in place of it.
4. Last Will, Trust, or Donation Structure
Louisiana wills are governed by La. C.C. arts. 1570–1616 and must follow specific formalities. The two main forms are the notarial testament (executed before a notary and two witnesses) and the olographic testament (entirely handwritten, dated, and signed by the testator).
For estate planning beyond a simple will, Louisiana practitioners use trusts (governed by the Louisiana Trust Code, La. R.S. §9:1721 et seq.), usufructs (a civil-law concept allowing the use of property for a defined period), and inter vivos donations. Each has trade-offs that depend on the family’s composition and goals.
Forced heirship: Louisiana’s most distinctive rule
Under La. C.C. art. 1493, certain descendants — called forced heirs — are entitled by law to a guaranteed share of the parent’s estate, called the legitime, regardless of what the will says.3 A forced heir is a descendant who is:
- Under the age of 24 at the time of the parent’s death, OR
- Permanently incapacitated, of any age, due to mental or physical infirmity such that they are unable to take care of their person or administer their estate
The legitime is one-fourth of the estate if there is one forced heir, and one-half if there are two or more. A Louisiana will that disinherits a qualifying forced heir without proper just-cause grounds enumerated in La. C.C. art. 1621 will be partially set aside on the petition of the excluded heir.
For families with only adult children all over 24 and not incapacitated, forced heirship typically does not apply. But the analysis must always be done at planning time, and the rule comes back into play whenever a grandchild qualifies via representation when their parent has predeceased.
Community property: the marital-asset default
Louisiana is a community-property state. Under La. C.C. arts. 2334–2369.8, assets acquired during marriage are presumptively owned 50/50 by both spouses, regardless of whose name is on the title or who earned the income. Separate property — assets owned before marriage or acquired by inheritance or donation during marriage — remains the property of the spouse who owns it.4
For estate planning, this means:
- A surviving spouse automatically owns half of the community property regardless of the will’s instructions.
- The deceased spouse’s half can be devised by will, subject to forced-heirship rules.
- Couples who moved from common-law states often have years of mistakenly-titled assets that don’t match Louisiana’s community-property defaults; a Louisiana attorney can audit and recommend adjustments.
Successions: Louisiana’s probate process
Louisiana calls the post-death legal process a succession(La. C.C. arts. 871–1429). Two main paths:
- Small succession. Available when the gross estate is under approximately $125,000 under La. C.C.P. art. 3431. Resolved by affidavit, without full court proceedings, in a few weeks.
- Full judicial succession.Required for larger estates, contested estates, or estates involving real property that must be cleared from the decedent’s name. Typically takes 4–12 months and involves court filings, an inventory, and either testate (with will) or intestate (without will) procedure.5
Even with a will, court action is generally required to transfer real property out of the decedent’s name. This is why most Louisiana families benefit from probate-avoidance planning: usufruct arrangements, beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, and trust structures that pass property outside the succession.
No state estate tax, no state inheritance tax
Louisiana has neither a state estate tax nor a state inheritance tax. The inheritance tax was repealed in 2008 (effective for deaths after June 30, 2004). The federal estate tax still applies above ~$13.99M per individual in 2025 (subject to scheduled adjustments), so the vast majority of Louisiana families face no estate-level tax at all. Planning is about probate (succession) avoidance, forced-heirship coordination, and incapacity documents — not tax minimization.6
The Louisiana Homestead Exemption
Louisiana’s constitutional homestead exemption (La. Const. art. VII §20) exempts the first $75,000 of value of an owner-occupied primary residence from parish ad valorem property taxes. It is not a creditor-protection homestead like Florida’s — it’s a property-tax reduction. The benefit is meaningful for most Louisiana retirees; confirming the exemption is filed and current at the parish assessor is part of any annual financial review.
What to do this quarter
- Locate (or create) your parent’s four documents: mandate, health-care mandate, living will declaration, and will or trust.
- If documents exist but were drafted in another state, get them reviewed by a Louisiana attorney — forced heirship, community-property classification, and the succession process all require Louisiana-specific drafting.
- Confirm the homestead exemption is filed at the parish assessor.
- For our companion content on Louisiana Medicaid planning, long-term care funding, and the community-property analysis, see the Louisiana Medicaid guide.