Letter asking for the balance on the date of death in Louisiana

A short letter that asks a bank or other holder for the value of the person's accounts on the date of death. Banks usually want this before the estate is settled.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

What to expect

A bank may ask for a certified death certificate and proof that you are allowed to ask. The bank decides what it will release and when.

Bank accounts after a death in Louisiana

A bank may pay a payable-on-death ('in trust for', 'payable on death to') account to the named beneficiaries once it receives a death certificate. A joint 'alternative' account payable to any one of the owners may be paid to a surviving owner. These rules protect the bank when it pays; the payable-on-death law says it does not cut off forced heirship or the claims of a spouse, heir, legatee or creditor to the money. For an account in the person's name alone, the heirs can use the small succession affidavit if the succession is $200,000 or less, or a judgment of possession. Without either, a bank may pay up to $20,000 (a credit union up to $10,000) to the surviving spouse on the spouse's affidavit.

Law: R.S. 6:314(F); La. R.S. 6:312, 6:314, 9:1513, 9:1514; La. C.C.P. art. 3434

Source: Official page

Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Bank accounts in the person's name alone
Counts

Bank accounts in the person's name alone are property the person left and are listed and counted.

Law: La. C.C.P. arts. 3421, 3432(A)(5)-(6)

Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
Not clear

A bank may pay a payable-on-death account to the named beneficiary on a death certificate, and may pay a joint 'alternative' account to the surviving co-owner. The small succession law does not say whether these accounts count toward the limit; ask the clerk of court or a lawyer.

Law: La. R.S. 6:312, 6:314

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Louisiana

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: La. R.S. 6:314

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Louisiana

Death records are confidential for 50 years and are kept by the Center of Vital Records and Statistics, P.O. Box 60630, New Orleans, LA 70160, (504) 593-5100. A copy of valid photo ID is required. The CDC directory lists the fee as $7.00 per copy plus a $0.50 state charge per mail order; check the current fee with the office.

Where to get it
Louisiana Department of Health, Center of Vital Records and Statistics
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Louisiana

In Louisiana, the surviving spouse already owns half of the community property. A bank may pay the surviving spouse up to $20,000 of deposits (a credit union up to $10,000) on the spouse's affidavit, and an employer may pay the last wages and leave pay to the spouse, without a court order. If there are children, the surviving spouse has a usufruct (the right to use) over the person's share of community property not left by will, until the spouse dies or remarries. The spouse signs the small succession affidavit if one is used.

Law: R.S. 9:1513-9:1515; Civil Code Art. 890

Affidavit for small succession (Code of Civil Procedure Articles 3421-3434)

A sworn statement signed by the surviving spouse and heirs (or legatees under a will) that lists the person's property and who inherits it. Banks, companies and other holders must release the property described in it, and if it covers real estate it is recorded in the parish conveyance records.

Limit

Up to $200,000 (deaths on or after August 1, 2026) Counted at full value, without subtracting debts.

Date of deathLimit
On or after August 1, 2026
$200,000
On or before July 31, 2026
$125,000

For a person who lived in Louisiana, the property can have a gross value of up to $200,000 as of the date of death. This limit is in the law since August 1, 2026. Before that, the limit was $125,000. For a person who lived in another state, Louisiana property can be worth up to $125,000. If the person died at least 20 years before the affidavit is signed, there is no dollar limit.

What counts

The gross value of the property the person left, valued as of the date of death. Debts are not subtracted. If the person lived outside Louisiana, only property in Louisiana is counted and the limit is $125,000. There is no dollar limit if the person died at least 20 years before the affidavit is signed.

Waiting period

The law sets no waiting period after the death. An heir or legatee who does not sign must either be someone who cannot be found after a reasonable search, or must have been given 30 days' notice by U.S. mail of the plan to sign the affidavit and not objected.

Who can use it

No will: at least two people must sign, including the surviving spouse, if any, and one or more heirs. If there is no surviving spouse, at least two heirs sign; if there is only one heir, a second person who personally knows the facts also signs. Will, person lived in Louisiana: all heirs and legatees, including the surviving spouse, sign, and only if the person left no real estate (immovable property) in Louisiana and everyone agrees to waive probate of the will. Will, person lived in another state and the will was probated there: at least two people, including the surviving spouse, if any, and one or more legatees. A natural tutor may sign for a minor child and a curator for an interdict without a court order.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give an original (or certified copy) to each bank, company or person holding the property. If the affidavit covers real estate, it must be recorded in the conveyance records of the parish where the real estate is.

Notary

The affidavit must be sworn before a notary or another officer authorized to give oaths where it is signed. You can sign several 'multiple originals', one for each holder.

Papers to attach
  • A list of the person's property, with the value of each item and the total value as of the date of death, and whether each item is community or separate property
  • For real estate, a description good enough to identify it for transfer
  • If there is a will: a copy of the will
  • If the person lived in another state and left a will: a certified copy of the other state's probate order
  • Certified copy of the death certificate (holders and the parish recorder usually ask for one)
Steps
  1. Make a list of everything the person owned, its value on the date of death, and whether it was community or separate property.
  2. Identify the surviving spouse and all heirs (or legatees under a will) and their addresses.
  3. Mail 30 days' notice to any heir or legatee who will not sign, unless that person cannot be found after a reasonable search.
  4. Fill in the affidavit with every statement the law requires and sign it under oath before a notary.
  5. Give an original or certified copy to each bank, company or person holding the property.
  6. If real estate is included, record the affidavit in the conveyance records of the parish where it is.
Fee

There is no court filing fee because the affidavit is not filed with a court. Recording in the parish conveyance records costs the fee set by the clerk of court of that parish; ask the clerk. A notary may charge a fee.

Debts and responsibility

By signing, an heir accepts the succession. Heirs who receive property are responsible for the person's debts (including funeral and burial costs) in proportion to their share, but only up to the value of what they received. The affidavit is signed under penalty of perjury. Someone who claims to be an heir but was left out of a recorded affidavit has two years from the recording to claim the real estate against a person who later bought it.

What the bank or holder must do

An original or certified copy of the affidavit is full authority for any bank, financial institution, trust company, corporation or other person holding the property to pay the money or deliver the property to the heirs, legatees and surviving spouse in the percentages listed. The receipt of the people named is a full release, and no creditor, heir, legatee or succession representative can sue the holder for paying under the affidavit. The law does not set a deadline or a penalty for a holder that refuses.

Law: La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3421, 3431, 3432, 3432.1, 3433, 3434

Source: Official page

Who inherits with no will in Louisiana

If there is no will, the person's children and other descendants inherit first, in equal shares. If there are descendants, the surviving spouse keeps their own half of the community property and has a usufruct (right to use) over the person's half until death or remarriage; if there are no descendants, the spouse inherits the person's half of the community property. Separate property goes to descendants first; if none, to brothers and sisters (subject to a usufruct for surviving parents), or to the parents if there are no brothers or sisters or their descendants. The spouse inherits separate property only if there are no descendants, parents, or brothers and sisters or their descendants.

Law: La. Civil Code arts. 888-894

Source: Official page

Good to know in Louisiana

  • Louisiana raised the small succession limit for people who lived in the state from $125,000 to $200,000, effective August 1, 2026.
  • If the person died at least 20 years before the affidavit is signed, a small succession affidavit can be used whatever the property is worth.
  • By signing a small succession affidavit, an heir accepts the succession, and a legatee under a will also gives up any right to challenge the will.

Changes in 2024–2026

Act 90 of 2024, effective August 1, 2024: reorganized the small succession articles; separate affidavits for no-will successions (Art. 3432), Louisiana residents with a will and no Louisiana real estate, and nonresidents with a will probated elsewhere (new Art. 3433); removed the $5 minimum court cost. Act 293 of 2026, effective August 1, 2026: raised the limit for Louisiana residents from $125,000 to $200,000 (Art. 3421(1)); the $125,000 limit for nonresidents did not change.

Law: SB 32; Art. 3432.1; HB 215

Related pages

Free help in Louisiana

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.