Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Louisiana

Re: My mother died and did not leave a Will do I have to probate her estate

"Probate" technically means "to prove" and is related to the process of proving a will. If your mother did not leave a will, there is nothing to "probate". However, even if there is nothing to probate, one may still have to open a "succession", depending on whether or not the estate of the deceased contains property that remains in the name of the deceased (i.e., real estate, stocks, insurance benefits, motor vehicles, bank accounts, Certificates of Deposit, etc.) A succession is needed, generally, to transfer ownership officially from the deceased's name to the name(s) of the legal heir(s). If there is no real estate and if the estate is valued less than $50,000.00 it may be possible to complete the succession without filing in court. If your mother left a surviving spouse (i.e., your father, step-father, 2nd husband, etc.), it may not be necessary to do a succession while that spouse remains living. However, waiting to do a succession can cause some problems over time: things get lost, things are forgotten, more than one succession may be needed if other heirs die in the meantime, etc., etc.

I would need more information and details about your mother's estate and the heirs before I could tell you more definitely whether or not you need to do a succession.