Successions & Probate

A valid will is only the beginning — it still must be proved and executed.La. C.C. arts. 1575 & 1577

When the decedent left a valid will — whether an olographic testament, entirely handwritten, dated, and signed, or a notarial testament executed before a notary and witnesses — the succession proceeds to probate the will and carry out its terms. Louisiana’s 2025 reforms refined the formalities for valid testaments and streamlined the handling of uncontested successions, changes the firm applies in every matter.

Aertker Legal probates testaments, qualifies executors, and moves the succession efficiently from filing to the judgment placing the legatees in possession.

• Probate of olographic and notarial testaments
• Qualification of executors and letters testamentary
• Uncontested probate (streamlined under 2025 Act 34)
• Petitions for possession under a will
• Ancillary probate of out-of-state wills

No will does not mean no plan — the Civil Code supplies one.La. C.C. art. 880 et seq.

When there is no will, Louisiana’s intestate-succession rules determine who inherits and in what proportions, beginning with the decedent’s descendants and moving outward through the legal order of heirs. A surviving spouse’s rights — including the community-property share and a usufruct over the decedent’s share of the community — add a layer that surprises many families.

The firm establishes heirship, navigates the spousal and ascendant/collateral rules, and secures a judgment of possession that vests ownership in the rightful heirs.

• Determination of legal heirs
• Surviving-spouse usufruct (C.C. art. 890)
• Affidavits of death, domicile, and heirship
• Representation and collateral succession
• Partition among co-heirs

This is the document that finally lets the family move on.La. C.C.P. art. 3136

The judgment of possession is the goal of most successions: the court decree that recognizes the heirs or legatees and places them in possession of the estate, clearing title to real estate, accounts, and other assets. It rests on a sworn detailed descriptive list of the estate’s assets and liabilities, prepared with care to value the estate correctly and support the petition.

Aertker Legal prepares the descriptive list, the petition, and the judgment so that banks, title companies, and the public records will honor the heirs’ ownership without question.

When the estate is complex or contested, someone must be in charge.La. C.C.P. art. 3396 et seq.

Not every succession can pass directly to possession. Where debts must be paid, assets sold, a business continued, or disputes resolved, the succession requires administration — the appointment of an executor or administrator, armed with letters and the authority to act. Louisiana’s independent administration lets a qualified representative manage the estate efficiently, with reduced court supervision, when the will allows or the heirs agree.

The firm qualifies succession representatives, advises them on their fiduciary duties, and handles the inventory, debt payment, and accounting an administered succession requires.

Modest estates should not require a full court proceeding.La. C.C.P. art. 3421 et seq.

Louisiana’s small-succession procedure allows certain estates — those below the statutory value threshold, or where the death occurred many years ago — to be settled by a sworn affidavit rather than a full succession proceeding, transferring property far more quickly and affordably. A 2025 reform now authorizes notaries to obtain the certified death certificates these matters require, removing a common bottleneck.

The firm determines whether a small-succession affidavit is available and prepares it to clear title efficiently.

Louisiana protects certain heirs in ways no other state does.La. C.C. art. 1493

Louisiana is the only state that retains forced heirship: children who are 23 or younger at the decedent’s death, or who are permanently incapable of caring for themselves due to mental or physical infirmity, are forced heirs entitled to a protected share of the estate — one-fourth where there is a single forced heir, one-half where there are two or more. That framework, rooted in the 1995–96 constitutional amendments, remains in force and unchanged.

The firm asserts and defends forced-heirship rights, pursues and resists reduction of excessive donations, and litigates the validity of testaments — including challenges under the limits a recent reform placed on no-contest clauses.

• Forced-heirship claims and the legitime
• Reduction of excessive donations
• Will nullity and capacity challenges
• Disinherison and its requirements
• No-contest-clause enforceability (C.C. art. 1519.1)