Louisiana Intestate Succession (No Will)

When a Louisiana resident dies without a valid testament, the state's intestate succession rules decide who inherits. Louisiana runs on a civil-law system, not the common-law scheme used in the other 49 states, so the answer looks nothing like a simple "spouse gets X percent" table. This guide answers one question: who gets what. It maps the order under La. Civ. Code art. 880 and the articles around it. The short version: the analysis first sorts every asset into community property or separate property, and the surviving spouse often takes a usufruct rather than full ownership.

This is the distribution side of an intestate estate. For the court process, opening the succession, and reaching a judgment of possession, read the Louisiana probate guide. If the family wants to plan ahead and avoid this default scheme, the Louisiana will requirements guide covers how to make a valid testament.

Why Louisiana Is Different

Louisiana uses civil-law terms that have no exact common-law match. Three of them control the outcome:

Community property. Most assets a married couple acquires during the marriage. Each spouse owns one-half.
Separate property. Assets owned before the marriage, or received by one spouse through inheritance or donation. One spouse owns it alone.
Usufruct and naked ownership. Louisiana often splits ownership in two. A usufruct is the right to use and enjoy property, close to a life estate. Naked ownership is the underlying title. One person can hold the usufruct while another holds the naked ownership of the same asset.

Here is why this matters. The decedent's one-half share of community property follows one set of rules. Separate property follows another. Sort each asset first, then apply the right rule. (Source: La. Civ. Code art. 880.)

What Intestate Succession Covers

Dying without a testament means the estate passes "intestate." When that happens, statute names the heirs. The order lives in La. Civ. Code arts. 880 through 902.

Intestate succession reaches only succession property, meaning assets that pass through the succession. Assets with a named beneficiary, a payable-on-death tag, or other non-succession transfer pass outside these rules. So a life insurance policy with a named beneficiary goes to that person no matter what the succession order says.

Let's break it down by asset class.

Community Property: The Surviving Spouse and Usufruct

The decedent owns a one-half share of the community. That half, not the survivor's own half, passes through the succession. What happens to it turns on whether the decedent left descendants.

Family situation	Surviving spouse	Descendants
No descendants	Full ownership of the decedent's community share	None
Descendants survive	Usufruct over the decedent's community share	Naked ownership of that share

When the decedent leaves no descendants, the surviving spouse not judicially separated takes the decedent's community share in full ownership under La. Civ. Code art. 889.

When the decedent is survived by descendants, La. Civ. Code art. 890 gives the surviving spouse a usufruct over the decedent's community share to the extent the testament did not dispose of it. The descendants take the naked ownership. This usufruct ends when the surviving spouse dies or remarries, whichever comes first, unless the decedent provided otherwise by testament. So the spouse can use and enjoy the community property for life or until remarriage, and the children own the title underneath. This usufruct covers community property only, never separate property. (Source: La. Civ. Code art. 890.)

Separate Property: The Order of Classes

Separate property does not pass to the surviving spouse by default. It runs through a fixed order of family classes, and each class must be empty before the next inherits.

Descendants. They take the decedent's separate property in full ownership under La. Civ. Code art. 888. Descendants in the same degree share in equal portions and by heads.
Siblings, subject to a parental usufruct. With no descendants but a surviving parent, the separate property passes to the decedent's brothers and sisters or their descendants, subject to a usufruct in favor of the surviving father and mother under La. Civ. Code art. 891.
Siblings in full ownership. With no descendants and no surviving parent, the separate property passes to the siblings or their descendants in full ownership under La. Civ. Code art. 892.
Surviving parents. With no descendants and no siblings or their descendants, the separate property passes to the surviving father and mother in full ownership under La. Civ. Code art. 892.
Surviving spouse. With no descendants, no parents, and no siblings or their descendants, the spouse not judicially separated takes the separate property in full ownership under La. Civ. Code art. 894.
Other collaterals. With none of the above, the separate property passes to the nearest other collateral relatives. Among collaterals, the nearest in degree excludes the rest under La. Civ. Code art. 896.

If a class has a living member, the search stops there. The estate does not skip a living sibling to reach a cousin.

When an heir who would have inherited dies before the decedent but leaves descendants, those descendants step into that heir's place. Louisiana calls this representation, and it works by roots, not by heads.

Say a decedent leaves two living children and the two children of a third child who died first. The separate property divides into three roots. Each living child takes one-third. The deceased child's one-third passes to that child's two children, who split it, so each grandchild takes one-sixth. The two grandchildren do not each take a full child's share. They divide the single share their parent would have received.

Forced Heirship: Louisiana's Unique Rule

Louisiana is the only U.S. state with forced heirship. A forced heir cannot be freely cut out of the estate, even by a testament, absent "just cause." This rule applies to both testate and intestate analysis, so it can override the order above.

Under La. Civ. Code art. 1493, a forced heir is a descendant of the first degree (a child, or by representation a grandchild) who, at the time of the decedent's death, is 23 years of age or younger, OR a descendant of the first degree of any age who, because of a mental incapacity or physical infirmity, is permanently incapable of taking care of their person or administering their estate.

Each forced heir is entitled to a legitime, also called the forced portion. Under La. Civ. Code art. 1495, the forced portion is one-fourth of the estate when there is one forced heir, and one-half when there are two or more. The rest is the disposable portion. The legitime can be left subject to a usufruct in favor of the surviving spouse.

Next steps: confirm the ages, the capacity, and the number of first-degree descendants before relying on any distribution, because a single forced heir changes the math.

When separate property passes to siblings of both the whole blood and the half blood, La. Civ. Code art. 893 divides it between the paternal and maternal lines. A half-blood sibling shares only in the line to which they belong. A whole-blood sibling shares in both. Map the family tree before splitting the property.

What Happens If No Heir Exists

Louisiana's order reaches a wide circle of relatives, so a succession rarely runs out of heirs. If there is no spouse and no blood or adopted relation able to inherit, the property belongs to the State of Louisiana under La. Civ. Code art. 902. Escheat to the state is the last resort, not the default.

How the Pieces Fit Together

Use this sequence to read an intestate distribution:

Separate succession property from assets that pass by beneficiary or other non-succession transfer. Only succession property follows these rules.
Sort each succession asset into community property or separate property.
For the decedent's community share, apply art. 889 or 890: full ownership to the spouse with no descendants, or a spousal usufruct with descendants holding naked ownership.
For separate property, run the class order: descendants, then siblings with a parental usufruct, then siblings in full ownership, then parents, then spouse, then other collaterals.
Apply representation by roots for any deceased heir who left descendants.
Check forced heirship: any first-degree descendant 23 or younger, or permanently incapable, holds a legitime of one-fourth or one-half.

If the succession is small, the family may settle it through the Louisiana small estate affidavit path rather than a full administration, though the same shares decide who collects.

When to Get Help

Some intestate distributions map straight from the articles. Others need a licensed Louisiana attorney, especially when:

a usufruct over community property must be valued or partitioned
a forced heir's legitime affects the split
separate and community property are hard to classify for the marriage
a deceased heir's branch raises a representation question
half-blood and whole-blood siblings inherit together
an heir cannot be located or the family tree is unclear

This guide helps you organize the source-backed shares and the right questions. A lawyer can advise on rights, disputes, and signing decisions for a specific succession.

This guide is general information about Louisiana successions. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the Clerk of Court, the district court, or a licensed Louisiana attorney.

Sources

Title: La. Civ. Code art. 880, Intestate succession. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111031
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 888, Succession rights of descendants. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111039
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 889, Devolution of community property. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111040
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 890, Usufruct of surviving spouse. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111042
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 891, Devolution of separate property; parents and brothers and sisters. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111043
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 892, Devolution of separate property in absence of parents or in absence of brothers and sisters. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111044
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 893, Brothers and sisters related by half-blood. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111045
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 894, Separate property; rights of surviving spouse. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111046
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 896, Separate property; rights of other collaterals. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111048
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 902, Rights of the state. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111056
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 1493, Forced heirs; representation. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=108811
Title: La. Civ. Code art. 1495, Amount of forced portion and disposable portion. Publisher: Louisiana State Legislature (legis.la.gov). Accessed 2026-06-14. URL: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=108813