Louisiana route screening

Louisiana small-estate limit: $200,000

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised October 17, 2026.

1. Where and when

StateLouisianaFixed to this page. Open the navigator to compare another state.Date of deathRequired. Without it no waiting period can be tested and the route stays undecided.

2. What they left

Asset 1

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real property

Asset 2

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real propertyWill it be sold during administration?Some court charges are assessed on sale proceeds and exclude real property that is kept, so this changes the amount.

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

amount of the inventory$Use the inventory amount stated by art. 3351; do not substitute gross assets, net estate, receipts, or distributions. Leaving it blank keeps the compensation undecided rather than assuming a number.

Private by design: entries stay in this browser.

Your working estimate

Louisiana estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted

Court chargeSet locallyFor a judicial small succession, court costs are one-half of those in a comparable non-small succession. District-court clerk fees may be lower than statutory ceilings and depend on initialization, pages, exhibits, indexing, issuance, service, and parish-specific authority, so confirm the advance deposit with the parish clerk.

Scheduled executor compensationCase accounting neededEnter the compensable value above and this schedule is applied to it, band by band.Absent a testamentary provision or agreement with the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees, an administrator or executor receives 2.5% of the amount of the inventory. The court may increase it on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate. A judicial small succession separately caps its succession representative at 5% of gross assets.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

A small succession is generally $200,000 or less in gross value at death for a decedent domiciled in Louisiana ($125,000 for an ancillary succession of a non-domiciliary); a succession whose death occurred at least 20 years before the affidavit may qualify regardless of value. Judicial opening may be unnecessary for listed intestate cases and limited testate cases. Louisiana immovables may be described in an intestate affidavit, while the testate no-opening route requires no Louisiana immovable property and waiver of probate of the testament.

Where the limit comes from

Is this the limit that applies?

$200,000 is the limit in La. C.C.P. art. 3421 as it read on October 3, 2026; confirm it with the probate court before you file.

Controlling citation: La. C.C.P. art. 3421, Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Successions Defined (Louisiana State Legislature; Acts 2026, No. 293, §1.).

The section’s own words

Art. 3421. Small successions defined A small succession, within the meaning of this Title, is any of the following: (1) The succession of a person who died domiciled in Louisiana and who died leaving property with a gross value of two hundred thousand dollars or less valued as of the date of death. (2) The ancillary succession of a person who died domiciled outside of Louisiana and who died leaving property in Louisiana with a gross value of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars or less valued as of the date of death. (3) The succession of a person whose date of death occurred at least twenty years prior to the execution of a small succession affidavit and who died leaving property in Louisiana of any value. Amended by Acts 1976, No. 187, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1977; Acts 1979, No. 71, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980; Acts 1980, No. 582, §1; Acts 2009, No. 81, §1, eff.

How the Louisiana screen is measured

Procedure	Small succession affidavit
What counts	The probate estate within the statute’s scope, so solely owned real property can count
Value basis	Gross value; liens are not subtracted
Waiting period	Confirm the filing date with the District Court
Alternate route	More than 20 years after death, regardless of value

No universal death-based waiting period appears in arts. 3421, 3431, or 3432. Article 3432 instead requires 30 days’ mailed notice to a nonsigning heir who can be located; encoding 30 as a universal wait would be wrong. Before submitting the paperwork, confirm whether a waiting period applies and which event starts it. Check: La. C.C.P. arts. 3421 and 3431-3432

The Louisiana caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Louisiana overview.

The official Louisiana path

Louisiana court structure — Louisiana Supreme Court
Louisiana district courts — Louisiana Supreme Court

What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.

Controlling source

Statute

La. C.C.P. art. 3421

Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Successions Defined

The section’s own words

Art. 3421. Small successions defined A small succession, within the meaning of this Title, is any of the following: (1) The succession of a person who died domiciled in Louisiana and who died leaving property with a gross value of two hundred thousand dollars or less valued as of the date of death. (2) The ancillary succession of a person who died domiciled outside of Louisiana and who died leaving property in Louisiana with a gross value of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars or less valued as of the date of death. (3) The succession of a person whose date of death occurred at least twenty years prior to the execution of a small succession affidavit and who died leaving property in Louisiana of any value. Amended by Acts 1976, No. 187, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1977; Acts 1979, No. 71, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980; Acts 1980, No. 582, §1; Acts 2009, No. 81, §1, eff.

What this means: Acts 2026, No. 293 raised the art. 3421(1) ceiling for a decedent domiciled in Louisiana from $125,000 to $200,000. As the article read on August 11, 2026, the ancillary ceiling in clause (2) remains $125,000 and the twenty-year route in clause (3) is unchanged, so the $200,000 limit shown is the one in clause (1), for a decedent domiciled in Louisiana.

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 2026, No. 293, §1. · Rechecked October 3, 2026

Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Louisiana source list · how sources are checked · report a correction

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