Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Louisiana

Re: How long does a family have before succession or probating a will?

Hello, as it appears from your message that you were looking for a quick reply, let me say first that this message was only posted/revealed to me today (07/18/2000)--some 2 months after you posted it to the site. I have no control over the site's administrators and their processing of questions such as yours. They do an excellent job with this site but, unfortunately, sometimes their main occupation of practicing law takes precendence over processing questions. In any event, I am responding to you now--the first day I saw your question.

There is effectively no time limit to doing a succession or probating a will in Louisiana. HOwever, technically speaking, a person has a maximum of thirty (30) years to file an action to recognize an inheritance right and/or recover a portion or whole of a succession. The thirty (30) year period begins to run from the day of the opening of the succession. For those seeking to quibble about a legacy or oppose a succession, a person has only five (5) years to file an action to annul or void a testament. Thus, generally speaking, there is no real time problem with opening a succession or probating a will--it does not normally have to be done immediately following death (although it may be done that way). Any interested person--even non-relatives or creditors of the deceased or heirs--may file in court to open a person's succession. This does not mean that they will automatically be entitled to a portion of the estate; only that they have started the succession process in court.

Regarding "power of attorney", much depends on what you mean by that term and exactly what the person about whom you are speaking has in writing to designate him/her as such. I would suggest that you pay to have an attorney review the "power of attorney" documents (if one exists and you have access to it) in order to determine the limits of that person's powers. Unfortunately, if that person has the will and/or other critical documents pertaining to the estate and is also uncooperative, your only choice may be to open the succession yourself by filing it in court and then get a court order ordering that person to produce the will and other documents for the court. Once again, not knowing anything more about your own facts and circumstances, my best advice is that you pay a lawyer convenient to you who purports to do succession work a consultation fee to hear your whole story and review any/all documents you may have and then advise you of your rights and legal options. It would probably be a small amount of money well spent and then you can decide on your best course of action.

Good Luck.