Louisiana probate leads and inheritance data, by county.

Where probate records appear

District Court No statewide public case search. Succession records are held by the clerk of court in each parish and are searched through that clerk's own records system.

Probate court records in every state

Ways property can avoid ordinary probate

The small succession affidavit under La. C.C.P. arts. 3431 to 3434, recorded in the parish conveyance records, which moves Louisiana immovable property without a judicial succession. Also the judgment of possession without administration under La. C.C.P. art. 3001, revocable living trusts under the Louisiana Trust Code, survivorship and community property arrangements, and beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts.

Small-estate route

Small succession affidavit under La. C.C.P. arts. 3421 and 3431 to 3434. Article 3421, as amended by Acts 2026, No. 293, sets the gross value limit at $200,000 or less at the date of death for a person domiciled in Louisiana, which replaced the previous $125,000; $125,000 or less for the ancillary succession of a person domiciled outside Louisiana; and no limit at all where the death occurred at least 20 years before the affidavit is executed. Article 3431 makes judicial opening unnecessary for a Louisiana domiciliary who died intestate, for a Louisiana domiciliary who died testate leaving no Louisiana immovable property where the surviving spouse and everyone who would inherit agree to waive probate of the testament, and for a person domiciled elsewhere who died intestate or whose testament was probated in another state. Under article 3434 the affidavit is recorded in the conveyance records of the parish where the immovable property is situated.

Timing investors should understand

Louisiana sets no publication based creditor claim window of the kind common law states use, so there is no fixed months long floor. Under La. C.C.P. art. 3001 the heirs of an intestate decedent are recognised and sent into possession without any administration where all are competent and accept, and the succession is relatively free of debt, which that article defines as owing only administration expenses, mortgages not in arrears, and debts small in comparison with the assets. The small succession affidavit under La. C.C.P. art. 3432 carries no waiting period after death. The lasting constraint is on title rather than on time: under La. C.C.P. art. 3434, a person claiming to be a successor who was not recognised in the affidavit has two years from the recording of that affidavit to attack a third party who acquired the immovable property by onerous title.