Louisiana Estate Planning: Free Wills, Forms & Calculators

Louisiana operates under community property law, one of only nine states to do so. Most assets acquired during marriage belong equally to both spouses regardless of whose name is on the title or who earned the income. This fundamental difference from common law states shapes every aspect of estate planning here, from how property passes at death to what a surviving spouse automatically inherits.

Like all states, Louisiana recognizes formally executed wills and living trusts as valid estate planning tools. A standard will here requires 2 adult witnesses and must be notarized to be valid. However, the state also recognizes holographic (handwritten) wills, which require only your signature—no witnesses or notary—though these must be proved in court and are more vulnerable to challenges. The minimum age to create a will here is 16 years, younger than the 18 required in most states.

Smaller estates under $125,000 can use a simplified transfer process that avoids full probate proceedings.

Louisiana does not impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax, which means estates are only subject to the federal estate tax (currently exempting the first $15,000,000 per person, or $30,000,000 for married couples using portability). This is a meaningful advantage over the states that layer their own death taxes on top of the federal system.

Louisiana does not allow transfer-on-death deeds for real estate. Without this option, real property must pass through probate or be held in a trust to avoid court proceedings. Transferring a home into a revocable trust does not forfeit Louisiana's homestead exemption—the protection carries through to trust-held property. Transferring property into a revocable trust does not trigger a property tax reassessment in Louisiana, so property taxes remain at their current level.

Louisiana provides constitutional homestead protection up to $35,000 in home equity. This shields the family home from most creditors during the owner's lifetime. Executors must publish a notice to creditors, who then have 3 months to file claims against the estate.

Louisiana automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary on life insurance, retirement accounts, and similar designations upon divorce. However, these automatic revocations can be overridden by a divorce decree or by re-designating the ex-spouse after the divorce.

Louisiana authorizes remote online notarization (RON), allowing healthcare directives, powers of attorney to be notarized via video call from anywhere. However, wills are excluded from RON and still require in-person notarization.