Skip to content

A Small Succession

La. C.C.P. art. 3421 — up to $200,000 in property can pass by sworn affidavit, without opening a succession in court

A small succession is that of a person who died domiciled in Louisiana leaving property worth $200,000 or less at death, or a death at least 20 years before the affidavit, whatever the value. It need not be opened in court when the person died without a will, or with a will and no Louisiana immovable property if everyone who would inherit agrees to waive probate.

Email
  • At least two people, including the surviving spouse and one or more heirs, sign a sworn affidavit.
  • It states the death, the heirs and their relationship, the property and its value, and each heir's share.
  • An heir not signing either cannot be found or was given thirty days' notice by mail and did not object.
  • Signing as an heir accepts the succession.
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3432

A bank or anyone else holding the deceased's property may pay or deliver it to the people named, in the shares listed, and is fully released by doing so. An affidavit covering land is recorded in the parish where the land is.

  • La. C.C.P. art. 3434
Sources for this section (4)
  1. La. C.C.P. art. 3421 — Small successions defined
  2. La. C.C.P. art. 3431 — Small successions; judicial opening unnecessary
  3. La. C.C.P. art. 3432 — Affidavit for small succession for a person who died intestate; contents
  4. La. C.C.P. art. 3434 — Endorsed copy of affidavit authority for delivery of property

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Louisiana attorney.

On the clock

One period on this page runs out. Each is stated above with its authority; this is the same thing with the date attached.

Every deadline in the file →

From here

Walked through

This section is the long version of a step in one walkthrough. Each one takes the same law one decision at a time, with both sides of the moment written out.