Replace Text In Legal Louisiana Probate Forms For Free

How Long Do You Have to Probate a Will in Louisiana? Louisiana probate law does not list a specific time by which a will must be probated. However, Louisiana wills should be probated as soon as possible so that the decedent's assets can be appropriately transferred over to the appropriate owner(s).

In Louisiana, a Petition for Probate of Testament must be filed with the court to request the recognition of the will as valid. If the will is ?notarial,? i.e., executed under Louisiana law pertaining to wills and not handwritten, it is self-proven and, therefore, valid.

Louisiana Successions are court proceedings, and like all other court proceedings they are a matter of public record. This means that the information contained in a succession proceeding is available to anyone who seeks it.

Only people with an interest in the outcome of a succession case can formally contest a Will in Louisiana. In other words, if you have: (1) a legal reason to challenge the validity of the Will; and (2) the right to inherit property either through the Will or Louisiana's laws of intestacy.

The Family and Probate Department houses all of the information contained in these cases. All pleadings, petitions, answers, exceptions, motions and judgments filed in each case are microfilmed in this department and are available for in-house viewing by the public.

Since 1845, they have been kept by the clerk of the district court in each parish. Many of the probate records are included in the notarial records with the deeds and mortgages. In some parishes they are known as ?succession? records. The FamilySearch Library has copies of many Louisiana probate files.