Paul Rabalais' Louisiana Succession Law Blog

Easy To Sell Home - Even if 11 Heirs Exist all over the Country

I met and spoke to a gentleman today. He said his wife's family was stressed about getting their father's home sold. He thought it would be really difficult to sell the house since the father recently died and there were 11 children scattered all around the country.

I told him it would be easier than he thought. I told him if all 11 sign a separate agreement allowing his wife to be appointed the Independent Administrator, then she could handle EVERYTHING related to the sale of the home. The other 10 children would not have to sign off on paperwork to sell the family home.

Sure, the Independent Administrator will have to split the estate funds among the heirs, but she will be able to list, negotiate, and close the sale on her own without having to get any express permission or writings from any of the other heirs.

This is one of the most misunderstood rules relating to the sale of real estate in a Louisiana Succession. An Independent Administrator or Executor is not required to consult with any of the heirs when selling estate assets - even real estate. Sure, as a matter of common courtesy and in the interest of keeping the lines of communication open, an executor or administrator will communicate his or her actions to the heirs, but it is not required by the provisions of Louisiana Succession law.

Paul Rabalais

Louisiana Succession May Need More Than One Estate Account

Was working with a family today settling the estate of their parent. Based on the way their parent's accounts were set up, I advised them that they will need two estate accounts.

Once the child is appointed the Independent Administrator (we prepared all the documents allowing her to be appointed while she was in the office), she will open an estate bank account at a local bank and move all of the parent's funds into the new estate bank account.

The deceased also had an account at Edward Jones with investments in it. The family wants to sell the investments and divide the proceeds among the heirs. So, the Independent Administrator will open an estate account at Edward Jones, move the assets from the parent's single account into the estate account, sell the investments from the estate account, and then move the estate account cash from the estate account at Edward Jones to the estate account at the local bank for ultimate distribution to the heirs.

We've worked with several estates that have had to open multiple estate accounts, particularly if there are investments at multible brokerage firms that must be sold. Often these estate accounts are temporary but they are a means to an end of getting estate investments liquidated so distributions can be made to heirs.

If you are named as the executor of a Louisiana Succession in a last will, or if you would like to be appointed as the Administrator of a Louisiana Succession (because there is no last will), give our office a call and we'll be happy to have an opportunity to discuss serving your estate settlement needs.

Paul Rabalais

P.S. Thanks to Laura Bittel from our office. Our new client said that were it not for how nice Laura was when she called, she may not have come in. Thanks also to Catherine Martinez for getting succession pleadings prepared so quickly while our client was in our office that it saved our client an extra trip from out of town.

Forced Heir's Portion May Be Placed In Trust

Was working with a family in our office yesterday. Mom had died leaving three children, one of which is a disabled forced heir. Years ago, Mom wrote a Last Will leaving everything to her two other children (the ones who are not forced heirs. Because there is a forced heir, we have to include that forced heir in the succession. Generally speaking, since there is one forced heir and only three children, the forced heir must receive 25% of the estate, even though the Will provides that nothing is to go to this child. Note that if there had been no Last Will, this child would receive 1/3 (or 33%) of the estate.

The family is worried that the receipt of the inheritance by the forced heir will jeopardize Long Term Care Medicaid benefits that the child would otherwise be entitled to.

As part of the legal services that we will be providing in the Louisiana Succession proceeding, we will petition the court to allow the "forced portion" to be placed in trust for the benefit of the forced heir, protecting it so that it won't all have to be consumed prior to Louisiana Long Term Care Medicaid eligibility.

It's a crazy system we work in: Forced heirship laws require that incapacitated children inherit, but Louisiana Long Term Care Medicaid Law penalize those who inherit. Planning ahead here is the key.

Paul Rabalais