If you have ever Googled “estate planning,” your search results were likely flooded by posts and articles urging you to create a revocable living trust. In most states, a revocable living trust can serve as a valuable estate planning strategy. Probate courts in some states can be slow and expensive, so a trust that holds your assets can help to bypass that legal process by passing property to the trust beneficiaries without court involvement.

However, Louisiana differs from most states. Its legal system is rooted in civil law rather than the common law, which governs the other forty-nine states. Among these differences is how Louisiana handles the transfer of property at death. Before investing the time and money necessary to form and maintain a trust, it is worth evaluating if it accomplishes your estate planning goals.

How Louisiana’s Succession Process Works

In Louisiana, “succession” is the legal process for transferring a deceased person’s property to his or her heirs, legatees, and beneficiaries. For many families, with the help of an attorney, the succession process in Louisiana is relatively affordable and navigable. Several features of the system contribute to this:

• Simplified procedures for smaller estates. Louisiana law provides streamlined procedures for “small successions” as defined by La. Code Civ. Proc. 3421 et seq. that do not involve disputes or complex asset structures. In certain cases, heirs can complete the succession by filing an affidavit, avoiding additional filing costs and the cost of additional pleadings.
• Lower costs relative to other states. For a typical estate, the total cost of opening and completing a succession is often much less expensive than what probate would cost in other jurisdictions.
• Efficient transfer of immovable property. Because Louisiana’s system is designed to handle the transfer of real estate (known as “immovable property”) as a routine part of succession, the process of retitling homes or land into the names of heirs is typically well-defined and efficient through ordinary succession procedures. Under normal circumstances, introducing a trust simply for the purpose of transferring the immovable property’s title would not yield a benefit outweighing the cost of trust formation and compliance.

For these reasons, the “avoid probate at all costs” mentality that is common in other states does not translate as directly to Louisiana.

Why a Trust May Not Be the Best Probate-Avoidance Tool in Louisiana

A revocable living trust requires ongoing effort. To function as intended, the trust must be properly funded, meaning assets must be retitled (bank accounts, investment accounts, real estate, etc.) into the name of the trust. If you acquire new property or open new accounts, those may need to be transferred into the trust as well. Forgetting to do so means those assets will still pass through succession, defeating the purpose of establishing the trust in the first place.

Beyond the initial effort, the trust can be costly. Drafting a comprehensive trust document typically costs more than preparing a simple will, and the settlor may also face additional expenses when transferring real property into the trust, including recording fees and, in some cases, title insurance complications.

When weighing those costs against the relatively modest expense of completing a Louisiana succession, the math often does not favor the trust, at least not when probate avoidance is the primary motivation. A well-drafted will, combined with other planning tools like beneficiary designations on accounts, can accomplish many of the same goals with less complexity and lower upfront cost.

When a Trust Does Make Sense in Louisiana

Though trusts are not always the right option for estate planning in Louisiana, they can serve as a strategic estate planning tool in certain circumstances. There are several situations where a trust may be the right tool:

• You own property in multiple states. If you own real estate in Louisiana and one or more other states, your family may face the burden of opening a separate probate or succession proceeding in each state where property is located. This is called “ancillary probate,” and it adds time, expense, and complexity. A trust that holds your out-of-state property may eliminate the need for these additional proceedings because trust assets do not pass through the court system.
• Privacy is important to you. Succession proceedings in Louisiana are public court records. Anyone can look up the filings and learn details about your estate and your heirs; however, the valuation of your assets may be filed under seal pursuant to La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3396.18(B). A trust, by contrast, is a private document. Its terms are generally not part of any public record. Although a trust and its terms generally remain private, certain details of the trust may become a matter of public record when immovable property held by the trust is sold or otherwise transferred.
• You want to plan for incapacity. A revocable living trust can provide seamless management of your assets if you become incapacitated. If the trust is drafted correctly, the successor trustee you name can step in and manage trust assets without the need for a court-supervised interdiction proceeding (Louisiana’s equivalent of a conservatorship or guardianship). While a well-drafted power of attorney can serve a similar function, a trust may provide broader authority and, in some cases, greater acceptance by financial institutions.

A Balanced Approach to Estate Planning in Louisiana

Estate planning is never one-size-fits-all, and Louisiana’s unique legal landscape makes generic advice especially unreliable. Importantly, just because a trust is not the default strategy, does not mean it is never the right strategy.

The best place to start is with your own circumstances. The nature and location of your assets, the needs of your family, your feelings about privacy, and your goals for how your estate should be managed if you are no longer able to manage it yourself should guide your estate planning strategy. An attorney can help you determine whether a trust, a will, or some combination of tools is the best fit for your situation. The right plan is the one built around your life, not a template.

Derek Brondum and Madeleine Hughes are members of Kean Miller’s Estate Planning, Trusts, Successions & Probate group, where they advise individuals, families, and business owners on estate planning, succession matters, and the transfer of business interests and commercial property across generations, with Derek’s dual background as an attorney and CPA providing a distinctive perspective. With a practical, multidisciplinary approach, they develop strategies to help clients protect assets, plan for generational transitions, and navigate Louisiana’s unique civil law landscape.