How much does probate cost in Louisiana?
6 Aug 2026
Where the will is silent and there is no agreement, Louisiana allows the succession representative 2.5% of the amount of the inventory — a default the court may only increase, never reduce — and sets no rate at all for the attorney.
Louisiana is the only civil-law state in the country and the vocabulary is different: it is a succession, not a probate, and a succession representative covers both the executor named in a will and the administrator appointed where there is none. Three things surprise people. The will’s own figure, or a written agreement with the surviving spouse and all competent heirs, comes first — the 2.5% only fills the gap. The court fee is not a fee at all but a ceiling each parish clerk may lawfully undercut, charged per page and per service. And the security an administrator posts is a quarter more than everything the succession owns.
La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3351 — Louisiana Laws, published by the Louisiana State Legislature · Verified 6 Aug 2026
Informational only, not legal advice. Figures verified on the date stamped. Details: /disclaimer/
Work it out on your own number
One Louisiana figure computes exactly — the residual 2.5% — and it only applies where nothing else fixes the representative’s pay. The court fee cannot be computed at all, because the statute publishes maximums per service rather than a filing fee.
| A reasonable amount provided in the testament | governs first |
| A reasonable amount fixed by agreement between the administrator, the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees | governs next |
| In the absence of either — of the amount of the inventory | 2.5% |
| On a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate | the court may increase only |
| Inside a judicial small succession — of gross assets | no more than 5% |
| Provisional administrator, or administrator of a vacant succession | fair and reasonable, court sets |
Worked through: on an inventory of $500,000.00 the default commission is $12,500.00; at $250,000.00 it is $6,250.00; at $1,000,000.00 it is $25,000.00. Inside a judicial small succession the ceiling is different arithmetic on a different base: 5% of gross assets, so $125,000.00 of gross assets caps the representative at $6,250.00.
The base is the amount of the inventory, not the gross value of everything the person owned. Where a descriptive list understates what is there, the commission computes on the smaller figure. And the 2.5% is a residual — check the will and check for an agreement before applying it to anything.
What each part costs
Every row is one figure, one source, one date. Where Louisiana fixes no price, the row says so instead of guessing.
| Fee | Amount or formula | Set by | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney feeOrdinary services | No statutory rateLouisiana fixes no rate for a succession attorney. The Code of Civil Procedure’s only chapter on succession compensation covers the representative and says nothing about the lawyer. What you pay is what you agree, and the court checks it when the account is approved. One article does touch attorney compensation, and it is a limit rather than a schedule: unless the testament expressly says otherwise, a succession representative who also serves as attorney for the succession may not be paid twice — the compensation as representative is reduced by whatever was received for the attorney work. Heirs and legatees owning a two-thirds interest can waive that limit in writing. Nothing is paid to the representative under the article at all unless the court approves it. | Agreement, approved by the court | La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3351.1(B), (C) and (D) Negative finding: no fee article exists anywhere in Chapter 10 or Book VI | 6 Aug 2026 |
| Succession representativeExecutor or administrator | 2.5% of the inventory, by defaultThe executor is allowed such reasonable amount as the testament provides. An administrator is allowed such reasonable amount as is provided by agreement between the administrator, the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees. Only in the absence of both does the statute supply a figure: a sum equal to two and one-half percent of the amount of the inventory. The court may increase that on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate — the power runs one way only, and there is no power to cut it. A provisional administrator, or the administrator of a vacant succession, is allowed fair and reasonable compensation set by the court. Compensation falls due on the homologation of the final account, though the court may allow an advance at any time during the administration. Where several representatives serve, art. 3352 apportions the same compensation among them. | Statutory default, adjustable upward only | La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3351 Base is the amount of the inventory, not gross estate value | 6 Aug 2026 |
| Court filing feeClerk of the district court — a ceiling, not a price | No Louisiana filing total can be statedLouisiana does not publish a succession filing fee. It publishes the most a clerk may demand for each thing the clerk does, and every parish clerk may lawfully charge that or less. Initialisation of the file $20.00 · filing a document, first page $6.00 and each subsequent page $4.00 · exhibits up to 8½ by 14 inches $2.00 a page, larger paper exhibits $5.00 a page and all other exhibits $5.00 each · indexing each name $2.00 · issuing a document with notice of service $20.00, without $15.00 · certification of a copy $5.00 · conformed copies $3.00 · copies $1.00 a page · minute entries $5.00 · swearing witnesses and jurors $2.00 · postage and carriage at cost. Electronic filing may not cost more than paper. The clerk also demands an advance deposit of not less than $20.00 and may refuse to do anything further until more is paid. So the figure on your receipt depends on how many pages and services your succession needs, and it is lawfully lower in one parish than in another. | Statutory ceilings, per service and per page | La. R.S. 13:841, with 13:842 Jefferson Parish may add up to 25%; Orleans Parish is governed by R.S. 13:1213, which is not read here | 6 Aug 2026 |
| Newspaper publicationJudicial advertisements | Capped at 90% of the paper’s own commercial rateNo cents figure exists, but Louisiana caps the price by reference. The cost of all advertisements in relation to judicial proceedings, in the sale of property under judicial process, or in any other legal proceedings shall be a maximum of ninety percent of the commercial display advertising rate charged by that newspaper for a similar volume of business. The ceiling therefore moves with each paper’s own rate card rather than with anything the State sets — ask for the card. Where an insertion contains tabular matter, the tabulated part is computed on the number of words of straight matter that would occupy the same space. If the newspaper refuses to publish at that rate, the advertisement is published in the manner provided where there are no newspapers. Publishing more advertisements than the law or the court requires does not invalidate anything, but the expense of the unnecessary ones may not be taxed as costs. It is a crime — punishable by a fine of $250.00 to $1,000.00, imprisonment of thirty days to six months, or both — for a clerk, administrator, executor or other legal representative to demand or accept any part of the printing charge as a rebate. | Statutory ceiling, set by reference to a private rate | La. R.S. 43:205, with 43:203 The agate-line ceilings in subsections B and C apply only to advertisements placed by a state agency | 6 Aug 2026 |
| SecurityWhat Louisiana calls the bond | A quarter more than the whole succession
|
Statutory computation — one and one-quarter times inventory value | La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3151, with arts. 3153 and 3156 Art. 3157, special mortgage in lieu of security, is not read here | 6 Aug 2026 |
Louisiana is the one state where we cannot give you a filing total. R.S. 13:841 is a ceiling schedule, not a price list — the statute says clerks may demand fees which may be less than, but shall not exceed the amounts in the section. Parish variance therefore runs downward from the statute, which is the opposite of how most states work. Ask the clerk of court in the parish where the succession will be opened, and expect a page-count answer rather than a single fee.
How the Louisiana sources are linked. The Legislature serves each article and section at an address built on a numeric identifier that cannot be derived from the article number, so every link above was reached by walking the Code of Civil Procedure table of contents and captured from the address bar. The links are stable once found.
What can change the bill — allowances, waivers and one-off charges
- The advance deposit is not refundable in a succession. R.S. 13:842 requires an advance of not less than $20.00 and lets the clerk stop work until more is paid — and it expressly excepts probate matters from the five-year refund of unused deposit that applies to other cases.
- Jefferson Parish may charge more. The clerk of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District may demand additional fees not exceeding twenty-five percent of the R.S. 13:841(A) amounts.
- Orleans Parish is governed by a different section entirely — R.S. 13:1213 — which is named in the fee statute and is not read here. Nothing on this page states an Orleans Parish figure.
- Doubling up on notices is allowed but not chargeable. Publishing more advertisements than the law or the court requires does not invalidate the publication, but the cost of the surplus ones cannot be taxed as costs of the succession.
- A rebate on the printing charge is a criminal offence. Not less than $250.00 and not more than $1,000.00, or thirty days to six months, or both, for any clerk, administrator, executor or other legal representative who demands or accepts one.
- Compensation is not payable until the court approves it, and it falls due on homologation of the final account — though an advance may be allowed at any time during the administration.
La. R.S. 13:841(C) and 13:842(A) and (B); R.S. 43:203 and 43:205(E) and (F); La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3351 and 3351.1(D) — Louisiana Laws · Verified 6 Aug 2026
What changes YOUR number in Louisiana
- The 2.5% is a fallback, not the going rate
- Read the will first. The testament’s own provision governs an executor’s pay, and an agreement between the administrator, the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees governs an administrator’s. Only where neither exists does the statute’s two and a half percent apply. Quoting Louisiana as “a 2.5% state” skips two steps that come before it.
- The court can raise it and cannot lower it
- The article gives the court power to increase the compensation on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate. There is no corresponding power to cut it. That is an unusual one-way adjustment, and it means the default behaves as a floor rather than a ceiling once it applies.
- The base is the inventory
- Not gross estate value, and not everything the person owned — the amount of the inventory or descriptive list. Where the list understates, the commission computes on the smaller number, and the same figure drives the administrator’s security.
- Doing both jobs does not pay twice
- Where the succession representative also serves as attorney for the succession or for the representative, the compensation as representative is reduced by whatever was received for the attorney work — unless the testament expressly provides otherwise, or heirs and legatees owning a two-thirds interest waive it in writing. Louisiana is the only state in this database where the double-recovery limit can be lifted by a stated fraction of the heirs.
- A named executor posts nothing
- That is the default, and it is a genuine saving. Security falls on administrators and on dative testamentary executors — those appointed because the will named nobody. Where security is required, the computation is a quarter more than the total value of the succession property, and the court can only reduce it on a proper showing.
- Publication has a dated change coming
- The Louisiana regime for legal notices is mid-transition. One of the sections in the chain carries a note that it is effective until 1 July 2027 and is repealed from that date, and its own terms run only through 31 December 2026, after which qualified newspapers submit bids for online publication under a separate section. A further 2024 act requires the official journal to state the cost charged, and forbids charging for printing that statement. This page is on the re-check calendar for that transition.
Louisiana’s small succession is $125,000 gross — and one route has no limit at all
A small succession is the succession of a person who died domiciled in Louisiana leaving property with a gross value of $125,000.00 or less, valued as of the date of death. Gross means before debts: liens and encumbrances do not come off.
- The same figure covers an ancillary succession — the Louisiana property of someone who died domiciled elsewhere, again at $125,000.00 or less.
- The third route has no value limit whatsoever. Where the death occurred at least twenty years before the affidavit is executed, the succession qualifies as small however much the Louisiana property is worth. Check the date of death before checking the value.
- Most small successions never go to court. An affidavit before a notary does the work where the person died intestate; where they died testate leaving no immovable property in Louisiana and the surviving spouse and everyone who would inherit agree to waive probate of the testament; or where they died domiciled outside Louisiana intestate, or with a testament already probated by court order elsewhere.
- Where a small succession does go to court, two things change. Court costs are one-half of the costs in a similar ordinary succession, and the representative’s compensation is capped at five percent of gross assets — which displaces the 2.5% default entirely.
- The affidavit’s required contents differ by route: one article for intestate successions, another for a Louisiana domiciliary who died testate, and a third for a non-domiciliary who died testate.
- All of these provisions were amended by Acts 2024, No. 90, §1 — the most recently touched small-estate rules in this database, so older guidance is likely to be out of date.
La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3421, 3422 and 3431, with arts. 3432, 3432.1 and 3433 — Louisiana Laws · Verified 6 Aug 2026
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Louisiana probate cost questions
How much does an executor get paid in Louisiana?
It depends on what comes first. The testament fixes an executor’s compensation if it says anything about it, and an administrator’s can be fixed by agreement with the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees. Only where neither exists does the statute supply a figure: two and one-half percent of the amount of the inventory, so an inventory of five hundred thousand dollars gives twelve thousand five hundred. The court may increase that on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate, and has no power to reduce it. Inside a judicial small succession a different cap applies — five percent of gross assets.
Does Louisiana set succession attorney fees by statute?
No. The Code of Civil Procedure’s only chapter on succession compensation covers the representative and says nothing about the attorney, so what you pay is what you agree, checked by the court when the account is approved. The one article that touches attorney compensation is a limit on double recovery: where the succession representative also acts as attorney, the pay as representative is reduced by whatever was received for the attorney work, unless the testament says otherwise or heirs and legatees owning a two-thirds interest waive it in writing.
What does it cost to file a succession in Louisiana?
Louisiana does not publish a filing fee, so no total can be given. What the statute publishes is the maximum a clerk may demand for each service — twenty dollars to initialise the file, six dollars for the first page of a document and four for each page after, twenty dollars to issue a document with notice of service, five dollars to certify a copy, and so on — and every parish clerk may lawfully charge less. There is also an advance deposit of at least twenty dollars, which in succession matters is not refunded. Jefferson Parish may add up to twenty-five percent, and Orleans Parish is governed by a different section altogether.
Does an executor need a bond in Louisiana?
An executor named in the will posts no security at all, unless the testament requires it or an heir or creditor compels it under the articles that follow. An administrator must post security in an amount exceeding by one-fourth the total value of all property of the succession as shown by the inventory or descriptive list, so a five hundred thousand dollar inventory means six hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars of security. An executor appointed by the court because the will named nobody posts the same as an administrator. The court may reduce the amount on a proper showing that it is substantially more than the heirs and creditors need, and an executor can never be compelled to exceed the administrator’s maximum.
Does Louisiana have a small estate affidavit?
Louisiana calls it a small succession, and the line is one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars gross at the date of death — the full value of the property, before debts. The same figure covers the Louisiana property of someone who died domiciled elsewhere. A third route has no value limit at all: any death that occurred at least twenty years before the affidavit is executed qualifies whatever the property is worth. Most small successions never go to court, an affidavit before a notary doing the work. Where one does go to court, costs are halved and the representative’s pay is capped at five percent of gross assets.
Sources & verification
Every figure on this page was checked against the official source on the date shown. The Louisiana State Legislature publishes each article and section at an address built on a numeric identifier that cannot be derived from the article number, so each link below was reached by walking the table of contents. The links are stable once found.
- Succession representative’s compensation — La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3351 www.legis.la.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · art. 3352 apportions among several representatives · annual statutory re-check
- Attorney fee — the stated absence, and the double-recovery limit — La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3351.1(B), (C) and (D) www.legis.la.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · Chapter 10 read end to end; no attorney-fee article exists · annual statutory re-check
- Clerk of court fee ceilings and the advance deposit — La. R.S. 13:841 and La. R.S. 13:842 www.legis.la.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · items (11) to (77) of §841 were repealed by Acts 2006 No. 243; the surviving list is (1) to (10) · R.S. 13:1213 for Orleans Parish is not read
- Publication cost ceiling and timing — La. R.S. 43:205 and La. R.S. 43:203 www.legis.la.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · the legal-notice regime carries a dated transition from 1 January 2027 and a repeal from 1 July 2027 · on the re-check calendar for both dates
- Security — the computation, who posts it, and the ceiling — La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3151, with arts. 3153 and 3156 www.legis.la.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · arts. 3154, 3155 and 3157 named and not read · annual statutory re-check
- Small succession — the figure, the routes and the court modifiers — La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3421, 3422 and 3431 www.legis.la.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · all amended by Acts 2024 No. 90 §1 · annual statutory re-check
Researched and verified by John Terra · Methodology
This page is information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and fee schedules change; every figure here was verified on the date stamped beside it. For advice about your own situation, consult an attorney licensed in Louisiana. Full terms: /disclaimer/ · Privacy
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