Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Louisiana

Re: estate of our father

The house in Lousianna has to go through probate there unless it was owned with your mother as "joint tenants with right of survivorship." In that case you mother owns the house. If your father was resident of Louisiana the car will have to be transferred in compliance with Lousiana law. Otherwise with the law of the State in which your dad resident when he died. Dad died without a will so the inheritance would proceed to those heirs as determinable by the intestacy laws of the applicable state, i.e. as to personal property the State of his residency, as to real estate, the law of the State in which the property is located.

Your question reveals the proof-text for the need for everyone who is middle class to have a living trust. They can be set up and maintained today for a few hundred dollars.

Re: estate of our father

As for the car, have your mother take a certified copy of the death certificate to the DMV, tell them she is your father's executor, and ask the DMV to transfer title to heir #5.

With respect to the house, it would depend on how title is currently vested. If the house is in your father and mother's names as joint tenants, or as community property, you will need to complete and record an Affidavit of Death - Joint Tenant. If title is held in any other way, you will probably need to get a court order. I suggest that you contact an attorney in your area who is a certified specialist in estate planning and probate to help you with the house. An attorney who is a certified specialist by the State Bar should be well versed in how to handle transferring the house.