How Do I File for Probate in Louisiana?
Louisiana does not use probate. Estates are settled as successions in the district court of the parish where the person was domiciled, and the fiduciary is a succession representative — an executor if there is a will, an administrator if there is not. Louisiana publishes no statewide succession petition form: the petition is a pleading drafted from scratch to the Code of Civil Procedure and shaped by each parish court’s local rules, so there is nothing for us to fill in for you. If the estate’s gross value is $125,000 or less, it may qualify as a small succession, which skips court entirely and transfers property by sworn affidavit.
Opening an estate in Louisiana
Louisiana is the hardest U.S. jurisdiction for a self-service appointment form-fill tool. It is a civil-law "succession" state with NO Uniform Probate Code, NO informal/registrar track, and NO statewide succession petition or Letters form of any kind. The petition to open a succession and probate the testament / confirm the executor (or appoint an administrator) is a pleading drafted from scratch to the Code of Civil Procedure and filed in the district court of the parish where the decedent was domiciled (CCP art. 2811). Re-verified 2026-07-13: the statewide Rules for Louisiana District Courts contain zero occurrences of the word "succession", and the Supreme Court publishes no succession form — a prior pass wrongly believed the statewide Civil Case Cover Sheet attached to a succession petition, but La. Dist. Ct. Rule 9.6 requires that sheet only for "an action for an offense or quasi-offense," which a succession is not. So there is not even a cover sheet to fill. Pro se filing IS permitted (Rule 9.7 lets a self-represented party sign the pleading) and e-filing exists in some parishes — the block is purely the absence of any form to populate, not a pro-se bar. A guided form-fill product cannot produce the operative document here; it could at most assemble a custom pleading to statute, which is the very thing that varies by parish local rule. The one tractable form-fill surface is the small succession affidavit (CCP arts. 3432/3432.1/3433; gross value $125,000 or less, or any value once 20 years have passed), which bypasses judicial opening and Letters entirely and is drafted to fixed statutory contents — but even that has no official statewide template.
A simpler path may apply
Louisiana offers a small-estate or summary procedure that can transfer property without a full grant of Letters when the estate qualifies. This is often the honest self-service path where full administration is not.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Louisiana permits a self-represented person to open an estate and apply for Letters. What we do not do is produce the document for you here: louisiana does not use probate. Estates are settled as successions in the district court of the parish where the person was domiciled, and the fiduciary is a succession representative — an executor if there is a will, an administrator if there is not. Louisiana publishes no statewide succession petition form: the petition is a pleading drafted from scratch to the Code of Civil Procedure and shaped by each parish court’s local rules, so there is nothing for us to fill in for you. If the estate’s gross value is $125,000 or less, it may qualify as a small succession, which skips court entirely and transfers property by sworn affidavit.
Louisiana offers a small-estate or summary procedure that can transfer property without a full grant of Letters when the estate qualifies. Civil-law terminology differs from common-law probate: estates are "successions," the fiduciary is a "succession representative" (CCP art. 2826(3)), and the parish — not the county — is the civil subdivision. Independent administration (CCP arts. 3396-3396.20) is NOT an automatic default, as an earlier pass stated: it is granted only when the testament provides for it (art. 3396.2 — a statement that the representative may act as "independent administrator" or "independent executor" suffices) or when all general/universal legatees agree and designate the person named in the testament (art. 3396.3). It yields Letters of Independent Administration, which have "the same force and effect as letters of administration or letters testamentary" but carry reduced court supervision (art. 3396(4)), and the court may withdraw them for good cause (art. 3396.20). The small succession threshold was raised to $125,000 gross value by Acts 2024, No. 90; a succession is also small where "the date of death occurred at least twenty years prior to the execution of a small succession affidavit," regardless of value (CCP art. 3421(3)) — which also confirms Louisiana sets NO deadline for OPENING a succession. One time bar does exist on the testate side: CCP art. 2893 — "No testament shall be admitted to probate unless a petition therefor has been filed in a court of competent jurisdiction within five years after the judicial opening of the succession of the deceased" (verified legis.la.gov d=111570, 2026-07-20) — a bar on probating the testament measured from the JUDICIAL OPENING of the succession, not from death, and not a bar on intestate administration; see appointmentTiming. Small successions get half the normal court costs and cap the representative’s compensation at 5% of gross assets (CCP art. 3422). Many uncontested estates close by a Petition for Possession without ever appointing a representative — not modeled here, which focuses on the appointment/Letters track.
District Court handles decedents' estates in Louisiana. Clerk of Court, after the district judge signs the order confirming the executor or appointing the administrator and the representative qualifies (oath, and security if required) issues the Letters after the court grants the petition.
Letters Testamentary are issued when there is a will (to the executor); Letters of Administration are issued when there is no will (to an administrator). They give the personal representative authority to act for the estate.
