Louisiana Estate Planning & Probate/Succession Services

A will is the cornerstone of any estate plan. It allows you to name who receives your property, appoint a trusted executor to carry out your wishes, and — critically in Louisiana — designate a guardian for your minor children. Without a valid will, Louisiana's forced heirship and intestacy laws decide who inherits your estate, which may not reflect your true intentions.

Trusts offer an even more powerful layer of planning. A revocable living trust lets you maintain full control of your assets during your lifetime while allowing property to pass to your loved ones privately and efficiently — without the time, cost, and public exposure of a succession proceeding. Irrevocable trusts can also provide significant asset protection and tax advantages. At Legacy Estate & Elder Law, we craft wills and trusts tailored to the unique civil law framework of Louisiana, ensuring your documents are valid and enforceable.

A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that authorizes a trusted person — your agent or "mandatary" under Louisiana law — to act on your behalf in financial, legal, or business matters if you become incapacitated or simply unavailable to act for yourself. Without a properly drafted POA, your family may be forced to seek a costly and time-consuming court-supervised interdiction proceeding just to manage your affairs.

Louisiana has specific requirements for powers of attorney that differ from other states. Our attorneys at Legacy Estate & Elder Law draft durable powers of attorney that comply with Louisiana's mandate law, clearly defining the scope of your agent's authority and protecting you from potential abuse. Whether you need a broad general POA or a limited one for a specific transaction, we ensure the document reflects your exact wishes and holds up when your family needs it most.

Healthcare directives ensure that your medical wishes are honored even when you cannot speak for yourself. Louisiana law provides for two essential documents in this area: the Declaration (commonly called a living will), which outlines your preferences regarding life-sustaining treatment in end-of-life situations, and the healthcare Power of Attorney, which designates a trusted person to make medical decisions on your behalf.

These documents give your family clarity and relieve them of the burden of making agonizing decisions without guidance during already difficult moments. At Legacy Estate & Elder Law, we take the time to understand your values and priorities so that your healthcare directives truly reflect what you would want — and so that your doctors and loved ones have the legal authority to act accordingly. Proper execution under Louisiana law is essential, and our attorneys ensure every document is prepared correctly.

For Louisiana business owners, estate planning goes beyond personal assets — it must address what happens to your business when you retire, become incapacitated, or pass away. Without a clear business succession plan, your company could face operational disruption, forced liquidation, or family conflict at exactly the wrong moment.

At Legacy Estate & Elder Law, we help business owners develop comprehensive succession strategies that may include buy-sell agreements, transfer of ownership through trusts or gifting programs, key-person planning, and coordination with your personal estate plan. We understand the nuances of Louisiana partnership and LLC law and work closely with your financial and tax advisors to create a plan that protects the value you've built and ensures a smooth transition — whether to family members, partners, or a third-party buyer.

While Louisiana does not impose a state estate tax, larger estates may still be subject to federal estate tax. With federal exemptions subject to change by Congress, proactive planning is essential to ensure that more of your wealth passes to the people you love — and less to the government. The difference between a thoughtful estate tax plan and no plan at all can be millions of dollars for your heirs.

Our attorneys at Legacy Estate & Elder Law work with families to implement strategies that minimize estate tax exposure, including irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), charitable giving techniques, family limited partnerships, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), and annual gifting programs. We stay current on changing federal tax law and coordinate with your CPA and financial advisors to build a plan that maximizes your family's legacy for generations to come.

LGBTQ+ individuals and couples face unique estate planning challenges that require careful, knowledgeable legal guidance. Even with federal marriage equality protections in place, Louisiana's default inheritance laws and community property rules may not automatically protect your partner or reflect the family structure you have built — particularly in blended families or when biological relatives are estranged. Without a proper estate plan, your wishes may be overridden and your partner left without protection.

At Legacy Estate & Elder Law, we provide compassionate, affirming estate planning services for LGBTQ+ clients throughout Louisiana. We help you create comprehensive plans that include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives — all designed to ensure your partner and chosen family are protected, your assets are distributed according to your wishes, and your medical and financial decisions are made by the people you trust. We serve LGBTQ+ families from our offices in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and New Orleans.

A Succession is a court proceeding where an attorney files documents with the court system asking the judge to transfer the deceased person's (this person is usually called a decedent) property to the intestate heirs (if the decedent died without a will) or the legatees (if the decedent had a will). During your lifetime, if you want to transfer any of your property, you generally do so by signing a document making the transfer. Of course, this is no longer possible after death.

Therefore, there has to be a process to make the transfer and to give third parties confidence that the people claiming ownership of the property are the rightful owners and have the right to sell or mortgage the property. During a Succession, the lawyer collects the information about the property the decedent owned and the debts he owed and prepares a petition asking the judge to sign a Judgment of Possession recognizing the heirs or legatees as the new owners of the decedent's property. This can often be done without having to appoint an Executor or Administrator for the Succession; rather, if the judge reviews the documents and everything is in order, the judge signs the Judgement of Possession recognizing the new owners.

It is not always possible to use the simple Succession process. Sometimes, it is necessary to appoint an Executor, who is named in the will or an Administrator when the decedent dies intestate to handle estate business before the heirs or legatees are placed into ownership of the property. An administered Succession is usually necessary if there is an absent heir, if there is debt that needs to be paid or if there is property that needs to be sold by the Executor or Administrator while the Succession is under administration.

In these cases, the attorney files documents with the court asking that an Executor or Administrator be appointed to handle estate business. That Executor or Administrator takes care of estate business and when that is complete, the attorney then files the documents asking the court for the Judgment of Possession putting the new owners into ownership of the decedent's property.

There may be disputes among those involved regarding how the deceased's property is to be distributed. This may be the result of someone dying intestate and it not being clear who is to receive property, because there is a dispute about whether property was the community or separate property of the decedent or because there is a claim the decedent lacked capacity to execute a will or was unduly influenced in doing so.

Regardless of how estate and succession litigation arises, Betty Raglin, our attorney in the Lake Charles office, has extensive experience in handling estate litigation throughout Louisiana.