I talk a lot about avoiding Louisiana probate (or succession as we call it) with a Revocable Living Trust. Typically the primary reasons stated for avoiding succession are avoiding high costs and time delays, but there is one major reason to avoid a Louisiana succession that seems to be lost amongst the others. That reason is PRIVACY.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. With the internet age, public records are available worldwide [...]

In the past few months our firm has been preparing an abundance of Revocable Living Trusts for Louisiana residents seeking to avoid probate or succession as it is called in Louisiana. One of the essential parts of a Louisiana Revocable Living trusts is what’s known as a pour-over will. Often clients are confused by this term, because their thinking is; “If I have a revocable living trust, I shouldn’t need a will”.Well, I’m here to explain exactly what the pour-over will is used for. When you have a revocable living trust, your Louisiana pour-over will is a essentially the back-up [...]

With the advent of the internet age many people are attempting to create their Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney on their own. It seems so easy. Go on the internet, get a fill in the blank form and before you know it you and your family have an estate plan. This strategy sounds simple enough, but one size fits all wills and other documents don’t take into account your unique family circumstances, and insufficient knowledge of the law may leave your family vulnerable to taxes and other headaches upon your death, especially here in Louisiana where laws are often [...]

Even if you already have a Will or other important Estate Planning documents like Powers of Attorney, it may be time for an update. The estate laws in Louisiana are constantly changing and it is essential that you keep abreast of these changes so you can ensure that your estate planning documents grant your family the full rights allowable under Louisiana law. Our firm has encountered many families who sat back with Wills and Powers of attorney drawn up 20 years ago, and their powers of attorney were rejected because they were too old or their Louisiana successions were riddled [...]

In most states, you commonly hear the term legal guardian to describe the person that cares for and is responsible for a minor child. The legal guardians could be parents, other relatives, or court appointed caregivers. In Louisiana (because we like to be different), this legal guardianship is known as tutorship. Tutorship occurs most often when a child’s parents get divorced or one or both of the child’s parents dies. Tutorship almost always involves court confirmation, and there are certain rights and duties held by the tutor.There are four types of tutorship in Louisiana. First, there is what is known [...]

During a recent speaking engagement, a gentleman posed the question to me, “How many people are living without a will?” I was taken aback by this question because I honestly did not know the answer. I have spent all my time preaching the importance of having proper Estate Planning, but didn’t realize how high the level of need is for professional estate services. When I got home, I immediately checked to see if I could find any statistics to indicate the number of Americans without a will, and the results were surprising.According to studies performed in 2007 and 2008 by [...]

Special Needs Trusts are a great tool for protecting your disabled relatives and ensuring their eligibility for valuable Federal Medicaid programs. This article is designed to inform you as to how these trusts are created and administered, and most importantly, to inform you of the benefits of these Special Needs Trusts.Individuals with certain disabilities can receive federal benefits including money for their support and medical expenses from various Medicaid programs. Medicaid is a system set up by the US government specifically designed to assist low income individuals (this is not to be confused with Medicare, federal health insurance for the [...]

Throughout my course work and study of Louisiana Estate law, there was one area of estate law that was only briefly touched upon, and seemed rather insignificant in the whole scheme of things. That seemingly insignificant Louisiana Code provision dealt with small successions. I figured, I’ll never see this in my legal career so I didn’t study the law regarding small successions with too much vigor.Well lo and behold, last week we met with a client who’s father recently passed away and was eligible for the Louisiana small succession. The client was looking to open his father’s succession and was [...]

One of the major issues you should consider when planning for you and your spouse’s passing is the court supervised succession procedure because this will be needed at both spouse’s deaths if not properly planned for. One of the main goals we encounter with married couples involves avoiding the succession altogether by setting up a Revocable Living Trust. The Revocable Living Trust is used to allow for immediate transfer of control over your property to your spouse and ultimately to your heirs without any court supervision.Why would you want to avoid a succession? A court supervised succession procedure costs at [...]

Recently, I received a call from an attorney in Mississippi who needed some assistance with probating a will for a deceased Mississippi resident who held property in Louisiana. Probate is the term used to describe the court procedure that distributes a person’s estate to the heirs after his or her death. In Louisiana we use the term succession to describe this same court supervised process, but ultimately the result is the same, distribution of the person’s property according to his or her will.Typically, only one probate or succession procedure needs to take place because most people only own property in [...]