How to Complete and Record a Louisiana Affidavit of Small Succession

A Louisiana Affidavit of Small Succession lets heirs transfer a deceased person’s bank accounts, vehicles, and real estate without opening a formal court succession, provided the estate’s gross value was $125,000 or less on the date of death. Heirs complete and sign the affidavit before a notary, wait at least ninety days from the date of death, and record it with the parish clerk of court. Recording fees generally run between $125 and $250 depending on the parish.

Who Can Use the Small Succession Affidavit

Louisiana law defines a “small succession” as the estate of a person who died leaving property in Louisiana with a gross value of $125,000 or less, measured as of the date of death. The same threshold applies to someone who lived outside Louisiana but owned property in the state. If the person died more than twenty years before the affidavit is signed, there is no dollar limit at all.¹

Gross value means total assets before subtracting debts. A home appraised at $110,000 with a $90,000 mortgage still counts as $110,000, because the test uses the gross figure, not the equity.

Beyond the dollar threshold, the estate must fit one of three categories:

A Louisiana resident who died without a valid will.
A Louisiana resident who died with a will but owned no immovable property in the state, where every heir and legatee agrees to waive probate of the will.
A person who lived outside Louisiana and either died without a will or had their will probated by a court in another state.²

Each category uses a different version of the form. The intestate Louisiana estate is the most common scenario and is covered by Article 3432.

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull everything together before the notary appointment. A missing detail means re-executing the affidavit and paying for notarization again.

The decedent’s full legal name, date of death, domicile at death, last residential address, and marital status.
A certified copy of the death certificate. When you record the affidavit, a certified copy must be attached; a photocopy of the certified copy is acceptable for recording.³
The surviving spouse’s name, mailing address, domicile, and last residential address, if applicable.
Full name and last known address of every heir. For any heir not signing, you need documentation that the heir could not be found after reasonable diligence, or that the heir received thirty days’ written notice by U.S. mail and did not object.⁴
Property descriptions. For immovable property, use lot and block numbers, subdivision, and parish; a street address alone is not enough. For movables, include account numbers and VINs.
Fair market value of each item on the date of death, plus the aggregate total. This is where the $125,000 threshold gets tested.

What the Intestate Affidavit Must Contain

The Article 3432 affidavit requires nine categories of information. Leave one out and the clerk can reject the filing.

Date of death and domicile at that time.
A statement that the deceased died without a valid will.
Marital status, last residential address, and the surviving spouse’s name, address, and domicile where applicable.
Name, last known address, and relationship for every heir, plus the diligent-search or notice statement for any non-signing heir.
A description of all property, noting whether each item is community or separate, with immovable property described in enough detail to transfer title.
The value of each item and the aggregate total as of the date of death.
Each heir’s share, including whether a legal usufruct of the surviving spouse attaches.
An acceptance of the succession by each signing heir.
A sworn affirmation under penalty of perjury that the information is true, correct, and complete.⁴

Debts are not on the list. The affidavit does not require a catalog of what the deceased owed, but accepting a Louisiana succession means accepting the debts along with the assets, so heirs should know the picture before they sign.

When the Deceased Left a Will

The affidavit is still available for testate estates, with tighter rules. A Louisiana resident who died with a will can use the small succession process only if the estate includes no immovable property in Louisiana. Every heir and legatee must sign, and all must agree to waive any right to challenge the will. A copy of the testament must be attached.⁵

For a non-resident whose will was probated in another state, the affidavit can cover both movable and immovable Louisiana property. You attach the will and a certified copy of the out-of-state probate order.⁶

If a Louisiana resident died with a will and owned a house in the state, the small succession affidavit is not an option. That scenario requires a full judicial succession.

Who Must Sign and Notarize

For the intestate affidavit, the surviving spouse (if any) must sign, along with at least one heir. With no surviving spouse, at least two heirs must sign. If there is no surviving spouse and only one heir, that heir must find a second person with actual knowledge of the facts to co-sign.⁴

For the testate Louisiana-resident affidavit, every heir and legatee, including the surviving spouse, must sign, because each signer is waiving the right to contest the will.⁵

All signatures must be sworn before a notary public or another officer authorized to administer oaths in the place where the affidavit is signed. Louisiana does not cap notary fees, so call ahead and confirm the charge. A natural tutor may sign for a minor child, and a curator may sign for an interdict, without separate court authorization. Execute multiple originals at the appointment; the clerk needs an original to record, not a photocopy of the signed version.

The 90-Day Wait and Recording the Affidavit

You cannot record the affidavit until at least ninety days have passed since the date of death. The waiting period is built into the statute and is not waivable.³ Heirs sometimes notarize shortly after the funeral and then discover they must wait months to record, so plan accordingly.

If the estate includes immovable property, record the affidavit in the conveyance records of the parish where the property is located. If immovable property sits in more than one parish, record in each. For estates with only movable property, record in the parish where the decedent was domiciled.³

Bring an original of the notarized affidavit and a certified copy of the death certificate (a photocopy of the certified version is acceptable). For testate estates, bring the will and any required probate orders.

Fees vary by parish. St. Helena Parish charges $125 for a small succession affidavit recording.⁷ Jefferson Parish charges $200.⁸ Ouachita Parish charges $250.⁹ Call your parish clerk before you go; some parishes charge extra for additional pages or certified copies.

Using the Recorded Affidavit

Once recorded, the affidavit is admissible as prima facie evidence of the facts it contains, including each heir’s relationship to the deceased and their rights in the property.³

Real Estate

The recorded affidavit functions as a deed for immovable property. Heirs can sell, mortgage, or otherwise transfer the property based on the recorded document without further court proceedings. Anyone who claims to be an heir but was not named in the affidavit has only two years from the recording date to challenge a third-party buyer’s title.³

Vehicles

Take the recorded affidavit and descriptive list of property to a Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles location, with:

A completed and signed Vehicle Application (DPSMV 1799) from the person receiving the vehicle.
The original certificate of title. For titles issued on or after January 1, 1990, the assignment on the back must be completed by an heir and the new owner and notarized.
A notarized bill of sale or act of donation from all heirs to the recipient.
A federal odometer disclosure statement for vehicles within twenty model years.
A copy of the vehicle owner’s current photo ID.
A satisfaction-of-lien letter on the lienholder’s letterhead if the title shows a lien.¹⁰

If an heir lives in a state that will not accept the Louisiana affidavit, written documentation of that rejection must be included in the file.

Bank Accounts

Present a certified copy of the recorded affidavit to the bank holding the decedent’s accounts. Most institutions release funds to the heirs named in the document, though some run their own internal review and may request additional identification. Bring government-issued photo ID for each heir collecting funds.

Taxes and Medicaid Recovery

The affidavit transfers property but does not settle the decedent’s tax or benefits obligations.

Someone must file the deceased person’s final federal income tax return on Form 1040 (or 1040-SR), reporting income earned through the date of death. If a refund is due, the person claiming it also submits Form 1310, Statement of a Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer. File by the normal April deadline for the year of death.¹¹ Federal estate tax almost never applies at this scale; for 2026 deaths the filing threshold is $15,000,000.¹²

Louisiana participates in the federal Medicaid estate recovery program. If the deceased received Medicaid-funded nursing facility or long-term care services, or any Medicaid benefits after age 55, the state may seek reimbursement from the estate.¹³ That claim does not disappear because you used a simplified affidavit. If the deceased had Medicaid history, check with the Louisiana Department of Health before distributing assets.

Penalties for False Statements

The affidavit is sworn under penalty of perjury. Knowingly making a false statement in a sworn affidavit is the crime of false swearing, punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to one year in jail, or both.¹⁴ Inflating heir shares, omitting a known heir, or understating property values to slip under the $125,000 threshold all qualify. A fraudulent affidavit can also be challenged by any affected party, which unwinds completed transfers and creates a much larger problem than the formal succession it was meant to avoid.

1
Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3421 – Small Successions Defined
2
Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3431 – Small Successions; Judicial Opening Unnecessary
3
Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3434 – Endorsed Copy of Affidavit
4
Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3432 – Affidavit for Small Succession for a Person Who Died Intestate; Contents
5
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code CCP 3432.1 – Affidavit for Small Succession for a Person Domiciled in Louisiana Who Died Testate; Contents
6
Justia. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 3433 – Affidavit for Small Succession for a Person Domiciled Outside of Louisiana Who Died Testate; Contents
7
St. Helena Clerk of Court. Clerk Fees
8
Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court. Fees
9
Ouachita Clerk of Court. Ouachita Clerk of Court – Fees
10
Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles. Vehicles
11
Internal Revenue Service. File the Final Income Tax Returns of a Deceased Person
12
Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets
14
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:125 – False Swearing