How Do I Get Appointed as Executor in Louisiana?

In Louisiana, the District Court appoints the personal representative and the Clerk of Court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration; every appointment goes through the court.

State

Document Type

Getting appointed in Louisiana

Succession representative (executor if testate, administrator if intestate; independent administrator/executor under independent administration)

The form that opens the estate

No statewide fill-in form

Attorney-drafted pleading

Where you file

District Court (succession proceedings) of the parish of the decedent’s domicile

What the court issues (with a will)

Letters Testamentary

issued by Clerk of Court

Letters are an output — the court issues them after granting the petition.

At a glance

UPC adoptedInformal trackE-filing (self-represented)Self-represented filingLocal/county forms

E-filing availability is set per judicial district / parish clerk of court, not statewide, and where it exists it is gated to holders of a Louisiana Bar Roll number — Orleans CDC requires the subscriber to have "[r]egistered an active Louisiana Bar Roll number" and the 24th JDC logs filers in "using your attorney bar roll number," so a self-represented succession filer files on paper with the parish clerk. Rule 9.7 expressly lets a self-represented party sign the pleading, so pro se filing itself is permitted. But there is no fillable petition to file: the petition must be drafted from scratch to the Code of Civil Procedure. The Civil Case Cover Sheet (Appendix 9.6) is NOT required for a succession — Rule 9.6 attaches it only to actions for an offense or quasi-offense.

No statewide succession petition form exists — of any kind — so practice is driven entirely by each judicial district court’s local rules (Appendices to the Rules for Louisiana District Courts) and the parish clerk of court’s filing/recording requirements. CORRECTION (2026-07-13): a previous pass claimed the Louisiana Supreme Court Civil Case Cover Sheet accompanies the succession petition. It does not. La. Dist. Ct. Rule 9.6 (NOT 9.4 — 9.4 is "Pleadings To Be Filed with Clerk") requires the cover sheet only "[a]t the commencement of any litigation involving an action for an offense or quasi-offense" — i.e. a delict/tort action, for the clerk’s La. R.S. 13:4688 reporting duty. A succession is neither, so no statewide form attaches to a Louisiana succession filing at all.

Bond

Required before Letters: No
Waivable by will: Yes
Waivable by beneficiaries: No

What to file with the petition

Proof of the decedent’s death and of the heirs’ relationship — EITHER an official certificate issued by the proper public officer (a certified death certificate) OR an affidavit executed by two persons having knowledge of the facts, filed in the record of the succession proceeding (CCP arts. 2821-2822). The affidavit route — the customary "Affidavit of Death, Domicile and Heirship" — is what Louisiana practice actually files; no article requires a death certificate.
Original testament (will), if any, for probate (CCP art. 2851: "any person who considers that he has an interest in opening the succession may petition a court of competent jurisdiction for the probate and execution of the testament")
Petition (drafted to the CCP) to open the succession and for probate/confirmation of the executor (CCP arts. 2851, 3081-3082) or for appointment of an administrator (CCP arts. 3091-3098)
Sworn descriptive list of assets and liabilities, or inventory (CCP art. 3136; the court orders one upon the filing of an application for appointment — CCP art. 3094)
Oath of office of the succession representative (CCP art. 3158)
Security/bond unless dispensed with (administrator: CCP art. 3151; testator-named executor exempt unless the testament requires it or security is compelled under arts. 3154-3155)

Small-estate alternative

Bypasses full Letters: Yes
Form name: Affidavit of Small Succession

State-specific notes

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 for a Louisiana domiciliary was raised to $200,000 gross value by Acts 2026, No. 293 (HB 215), effective August 1, 2026 (prior law: $125,000); the ANCILLARY succession of a person domiciled outside Louisiana stays at $125,000 (CCP art. 3421(2)); 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, 2026-08-24) — 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.

General information about how a personal representative is appointed, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions. Data verified Aug 24, 2026

Louisiana has no single statewide fill-in petition; the opening document is prepared to statute and filed with the District Court. Clerk of Court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration after the court grants the petition.

Along with the petition, Louisiana generally requires: Proof of the decedent’s death and of the heirs’ relationship — EITHER an official certificate issued by the proper public officer (a certified death certificate) OR an affidavit executed by two persons having knowledge of the facts, filed in the record of the succession proceeding (CCP arts. 2821-2822). The affidavit route — the customary "Affidavit of Death, Domicile and Heirship" — is what Louisiana practice actually files; no article requires a death certificate.

Louisiana does not require a bond by default before Letters issue, though the court can order one.

Louisiana permits a self-represented person to open an estate. E-filing is attorneys only. The Louisiana self-file probate assessment sets self-filing against attorney costs.

Yes. A revocable living trust passes its assets to the beneficiaries without a court appointment in Louisiana: no petition, no Letters, no bond. A revocable trust built with SimplyTrust takes about fifteen minutes.

Getting Appointed in Louisiana

In Louisiana, a personal representative is appointed by the District Court. Clerk of Court issues the Letters that prove authority over the estate — Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (no will). Louisiana has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code.

Louisiana publishes no single statewide fill-in petition; the opening document is prepared to statute and filed with the court. The court filing fee runs $300 - $400 (based on estate value), and Louisiana has no informal (registrar) appointment track, so every appointment goes through the court.

Louisiana does not require a bond by default before Letters issue, though the court can order one where it is needed to protect creditors or heirs.

Estates under $200,000 in Louisiana may qualify for a simplified procedure that avoids a full appointment entirely. The self-file probate assessment carries a Louisiana cost comparison.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated September 8, 2026

Legal Sources

Data sourced from Louisiana statutes and official state code. How we research.

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