A Louisiana olographic will sample is a model for a handwritten will that you copy out entirely in your own handwriting, date, and sign. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 1575, those three things, done by your hand on a single document, are the only formal requirements. No notary, no witnesses at signing, no lawyer, no typing.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code CC 1575 – Olographic Testament Requirements of Form Before you copy the sample below, read the sections on forced heirship and community property, because those rules limit what you can actually give away regardless of what the will says.
A Basic Olographic Will You Can Copy
Write the following out by hand on a clean sheet of paper, in pen, replacing everything in brackets with real names and the actual date. Every single word must be in your own handwriting.
This is my last will and testament. I, [Your Full Legal Name], write and date this document on [Month Day, Year].
I revoke all prior wills and testaments.
I give my [specific item, e.g., 1965 Ford Mustang] to my [relationship], [Beneficiary Full Name].
I give the sum of [$ amount] to [Beneficiary Full Name].
I give all the rest of my property to my [relationship], [Beneficiary Full Name], as my universal legatee.
I appoint [Executor Full Name] as the independent executor of my estate, to serve without bond.
[Your Signature]
That is a complete, valid Louisiana olographic will if you handwrite, date, and sign it. Everything else in this article is about doing it correctly and understanding what the law will and will not let you do with it.
How to Complete the Sample Correctly
Use pen, never pencil. Do not type any part of it. Do not use a printed form and fill in blanks by hand, and do not paste in a typed clause. If any dispositive language is typed or computer-generated, a court can void the entire document.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code CC 1575 – Olographic Testament Requirements of Form
Write slowly and legibly. At probate, two witnesses will have to confirm the handwriting is yours, usually through sworn affidavits.2Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 2883 – Olographic Testament They do not need to have watched you write it; they just need to recognize your hand. If the writing is hard to read, the court may require a handwriting expert, and forensic examiners typically charge $200 to $600 per hour.
Write the full date in month, day, and year form. The statute says the date is sufficient if it resolves whatever controversies the date is relevant to, so a partial date can survive, but a complete date costs you nothing and removes the most common challenge.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code CC 1575 – Olographic Testament Requirements of Form
Sign at the very bottom, after your last instruction. Current law allows a signature anywhere so long as it shows your intent to adopt the document as your will, but signing at the end removes any argument about whether text below the signature was part of the will.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code CC 1575 – Olographic Testament Requirements of Form
Use full legal names for every beneficiary. “My nephew John” invites a fight if you have two nephews named John. Add enough identifying detail that no one can confuse one person with another.
Put particular legacies (specific items and specific cash amounts) before the universal legacy. A universal legacy gives someone your entire estate or whatever remains after specific gifts.3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 1585 – Universal Legacy A particular legacy gives a specific item or dollar amount. A general legacy gives a fraction of the estate, such as one-third.4Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 1586 – General Legacy The universal legatee only receives what is left after particular legacies are satisfied, so the order matters.
Forced Heirship Can Override Your Instructions
Louisiana is the only state with forced heirship. Certain children have a right to a share of your estate that no will can override. A forced heir is any child who, at your death, is either under twenty-four years old or permanently incapable of caring for themselves due to mental incapacity or physical infirmity.5Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 1493 – Forced Heirs
If you have one forced heir, you can only freely dispose of three-quarters of your estate. With two or more, only half. The protected share is the forced portion; the rest is your disposable portion.6Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 1495 – Amount of Forced Portion
If you have a twenty-year-old child and your will says “I leave everything to my spouse,” the child can claim the forced portion in court and will get it. The will does not become invalid, but ignoring forced heirs drags out the succession and costs the estate money. Address them in the will instead. A clause like this does the job: I acknowledge that my son, [Name], is a forced heir. I leave him his forced portion as required by law. I leave the remainder of my disposable portion to my spouse, [Name], as my universal legatee.
Community Property Limits What You Can Give
Louisiana is a community property state. Most assets acquired during your marriage belong equally to both spouses no matter who earned the money or whose name is on the account. Your will can only dispose of your half. Your spouse already owns the other half and keeps it regardless of what your will says.
Separate property is different. Assets you owned before marriage, inherited during marriage, or received as a personal gift are yours alone, and you have full testamentary control over them. Sort out which assets are which before you draft, because overreaching on community property creates the same kind of litigation as ignoring forced heirs.
Assets Your Will Will Not Control
Some property passes outside your will no matter what you write. Life insurance proceeds go to the beneficiary named on the policy. Retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs pass the same way. An outdated beneficiary designation naming an ex-spouse will pay the ex-spouse even if your will leaves everything to someone else. Review every beneficiary designation on every account alongside your will.
Executor, Independent Status, and Bond
Your executor identifies assets, pays debts and taxes, and distributes property according to your will. Pick someone organized, trustworthy, and close enough to deal with Louisiana courts, and confirm they are willing to serve before naming them.
The sample above designates the executor as “independent,” which allows them to administer the estate with minimal court supervision, and “without bond,” which removes the requirement that they buy a surety bond before acting. Both save the estate time and money. Without the bond waiver, the executor typically pays a premium based on the estate’s value out of estate funds.
Changing or Revoking the Will Later
Handwritten additions or deletions you make after signing can be given effect as long as they are in your own handwriting; they do not have to meet the full formalities of a new will.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code CC 1575 – Olographic Testament Requirements of Form Even so, extensive changes invite disputes, and a clean new will is almost always the better option.
Louisiana gives you three ways to revoke an entire will: physically destroy it, declare the revocation in a new will or in an authentic act executed before a notary and two witnesses, or write and sign a separate handwritten document that identifies and clearly revokes the earlier will.7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code CC 1607 – Revocation of an Entire Testament by Testator The simplest route is a new olographic will that opens with “I revoke all prior wills and testaments,” as the sample does. If you marry, divorce, or have a child, write a new will promptly.
Storing the Original and the State Will Registry
Store the original somewhere secure and accessible, such as a fireproof home safe or a bank safe deposit box, and tell your executor exactly where it is. Access to a safe deposit box can be complicated after death, so weigh that against the security it offers.
Louisiana’s Secretary of State runs a Will Registry. For a $10 fee, you register where the will is physically kept; the registry does not hold the will itself and releases nothing until a valid death certificate is presented along with another $10 fee.8Louisiana Secretary of State. Will Registration Form It exists so your executor can find the document.9Louisiana Secretary of State. End of Life Registries
If the original cannot be found after your death, Louisiana courts generally presume you destroyed it on purpose and revoked it. A photocopy alone is usually not enough to probate the will. The original is everything.
What Happens at Probate
An olographic will cannot be probated on its face the way a notarial will can. The court needs testimony from two credible witnesses who can confirm the handwriting, date, and signature are yours. Those witnesses can submit sworn affidavits after your death rather than appear in person, unless someone formally challenges the will.2Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 2883 – Olographic Testament This is why legibility matters, and why it helps if people close to you have seen your handwriting in other contexts.