Louisiana source record

Every source behind the Louisiana guide

10 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 32 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch September 15, 2026

What each source establishes

The Louisiana guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and the statutory creditor-deadline clocks the official text states.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3421

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 2026, No. 293, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

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. Re-verified against the live text on 2026-08-11: the ancillary ceiling in (2) remains $125,000 and the twenty-year route in (3) is unchanged. The prior assertion matched clause (2)'s unchanged figure, so the text check passed while the published number had gone stale; it is now pinned to clause (1) by its domiciliary wording.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3421

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • small-succession threshold and old-death routematched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Simplified-procedure rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3431

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 2024, No. 90, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3431. Small successions; judicial opening unnecessary A. It shall not be necessary to open judicially the small succession of any of the following persons: (1) A person domiciled in Louisiana who died intestate. (2) A person domiciled in Louisiana who died testate leaving no immovable property in Louisiana, if the surviving spouse, all persons who would inherit under the testament, and all other persons who would inherit in the absence of a testament agree to waive probate of the testament. (3) A person domiciled outside of Louisiana who died intestate or whose testament has been probated by court order of another state. B.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3431

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • affidavit route disqualifiersmatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Simplified-procedure rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3432

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 2024, No. 90, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3432. Affidavit for small succession for a person who died intestate; contents A. When it is not necessary in accordance with the provisions of Article 3431 to open judicially a small succession, at least two persons, including the surviving spouse, if any, and one or more heirs of the deceased, may execute one or more multiple originals of an affidavit, duly sworn before any officer or person authorized to administer oaths in the place where the affidavit is executed, setting forth all of the following: (1) The date of death of the deceased, and his domicile at the time thereof. (2) The fact that the deceased died intestate. (3) The marital status of the deceased, the location of the last residence of the deceased, and the name of the surviving spouse, if any, and the surviving spouse's address, domicile, and location of last residence.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3432

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • affidavit signers notice and immovable propertymatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Court cost rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3422

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 2024, No. 90, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3422. Court costs; compensation In judicial proceedings under this Title, the following schedule of costs, compensation, and fees shall prevail: (1) Court costs shall be one-half of the court costs in similar proceedings in successions that are not small successions. (2) The compensation of the succession representative shall be not more than five percent of the gross assets of the succession. Acts 2017, No. 96, §1; Acts 2018, No. 422, §1; Acts 2024, No. 90, §1.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3422

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • small-succession relative costs and compensation capmatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Executor compensation rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3351

Louisiana State Legislature · Amended by Acts 1982, No. 281, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3351. Amount of compensation; when due An executor shall be allowed as compensation for his services such reasonable amount as is provided in the testament in which he is appointed. An administrator for his services in administering a succession shall be allowed such reasonable amount as is provided by the agreement between the administrator and the surviving spouse, and all competent heirs or legatees of the deceased. In the absence of a provision in the testament or an agreement between the parties, the administrator or executor shall be allowed a sum equal to two and one-half percent of the amount of the inventory as compensation for his services in administering the succession. The court may increase the compensation upon a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3351

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • inventory-based default commissionmatched
  • testament agreement and court increasematched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Court cost rule

La. R.S. 13:841

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 2014, No. 596, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

§841. Enumeration of fees in civil matters; miscellaneous A. The clerks of the several district courts may be entitled to demand and receive fees of office, which fees may be less than, but shall not exceed, the amounts set forth in this Section. Any clerk of court that establishes procedures for the filing, receipt, or issuance of any of the following documents by electronic means shall establish fees for the filing, receipt, or issuance of electronic documents that shall not exceed the fee that would apply if the document was received, filed, or issued in paper. (1) Initialization fee, twenty dollars. (2) Filing document: (a) First page, six dollars. (b) Each subsequent page, four dollars. (c) Exhibits up to eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, including but not limited to attachments, transcripts, and depositions, two dollars per page.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. R.S. 13:841

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • local clerk fee ceilingsmatched
  • filing componentsmatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Creditor deadline rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3242

Louisiana State Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3242. Acknowledgment or rejection of claim by representative The succession representative to whom a claim against the succession has been submitted, within thirty days thereof, shall either acknowledge or reject the claim, in whole or in part. This acknowledgment or express rejection shall be in writing, dated, and signed by the succession representative, who shall notify the claimant of his action. Failure of the succession representative either to acknowledge or reject a claim within thirty days of the date it was submitted to him shall be considered a rejection thereof.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3242

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • representative response periodmatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Creditor deadline rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3241

Louisiana State Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3241. Presenting claim against succession A creditor of a succession under administration may submit his claim to the succession representative for acknowledgment and payment in due course of administration. Except for the purposes of Article 3245, no particular form is required for the submission of a claim by a creditor of the succession other than that it be in writing.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3241

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • written claim presentationmatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Creditor deadline rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3245

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 1993, No. 481, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3245. Submission of formal proof of claim to suspend prescription A. A creditor may suspend the running of prescription against his claim for up to ten years: (1) By delivering personally or by certified or registered mail to the succession representative, or his attorney of record, a formal written proof of the claim. (2) By filing a formal written proof of the claim in the record of the succession proceeding, if the succession has been opened and no person has been appointed or confirmed as succession representative and no judgment of possession has been signed. (3) By filing a formal written proof of the claim in the mortgage records of the appropriate parish as provided in Article 2811, in the absence of a proceeding to open the succession. B.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3245

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • claim prescription suspensionmatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Simplified-procedure rule

La. C.C.P. art. 3396

Louisiana State Legislature · Acts 2001, No. 974, §1. · Verified August 9, 2026

Art. 3396. Definitions In this Chapter: (1) "Independent administration" means the administration of an estate in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. (2) "Independent administrator" means the succession representative authorized by the court to administer a succession in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. The term "independent administrator" means and includes "independent executor". (3) "Independent executor" means and includes an independent administrator. (4) "Letters of independent administration" means letters testamentary or letters of administration that signify that the administration of a succession by the designated succession representative is authorized pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter.

What was published from this source

  • LA La. C.C.P. art. 3396

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • independent-administration vocabularymatched
  • section identitymatched
  • section identitymatched

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Louisiana source decision map

How the Louisiana records fit together

The source record is most useful when each citation has a job. This map links the Louisiana procedure, cost, compensation, and deadline records to the decision each one can and cannot answer.

Louisiana estate administration decision map
QuestionRecorded Louisiana answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Small succession affidavitConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$200,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No waiting-period number verified; Louisiana uses ordinary prescription plus succession claim-presentation and suspension rules rather than a single common-law probate nonclaim period. Articles 3241, 3242, and 3245 do not establish one publication/appointment/outer deadline that can be reduced to days.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule.Ask the District Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?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. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Decision boundary

What the Louisiana source set does not silently decide

The Louisiana records establish the rules listed above, but they do not turn a source citation into advice about title, family priority, tax filing, contested proceedings, or the exact clerk practice in every county. Those questions stay with the official court or a qualified adviser. The useful next step is to match the question to the citation rather than treating the longest quote as the answer to every estate problem.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Louisiana amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Louisiana ceiling is $200,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $150,000 sits below the Louisiana figure and $250,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Louisiana counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Louisiana ceilingWhat it does not decide
$150,000Below $200,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$250,000Above $200,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Open the quoted record for the row you rely on and check the publisher's current text before filing.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

No statewide small-succession affidavit or statewide probate opening-fee total was located on the Louisiana Supreme Court site; parish clerks provide filing requirements and advance-cost deposits.

Louisiana terminology is succession, succession representative, testament, independent administration, and judgment of possession—not a forced common-law executor/probate model.

Source trail

Records used by this Louisiana map

  • La. C.C.P. art. 3421Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Successions Defined; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3431Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Judicial Opening Unnecessary; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3432Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Succession Affidavit Contents; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3422Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Succession Costs and Compensation; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3351Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Succession Representative Compensation; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. R.S. 13:841Louisiana Revised Statutes, District Court Clerk Fees; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3242Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Response to Submitted Claim; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3241Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Presenting Claim Against Succession; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3245Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Formal Proof and Prescription; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3396Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Independent Administration Definitions; reviewed August 9, 2026

What Louisiana courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

Limits on court material

  • No statewide small-succession affidavit or statewide probate opening-fee total was located on the Louisiana Supreme Court site; parish clerks provide filing requirements and advance-cost deposits.
  • Louisiana terminology is succession, succession representative, testament, independent administration, and judgment of possession—not a forced common-law executor/probate model.

Checking these Louisiana records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the254 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for Louisiana. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the Louisiana estate guide ·All 254 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected