Legal Options to Protect Your Estate & Assets

Numerous people avoid discussing Wills or create one. If you choose not to have a Will, Louisiana law will make the decision on the course of action to be taken to divide your assets. Having a Will can help you protect your loved ones and your lifetime earnings. Instead of allowing the government to decide how to distribute what you’ve created with all of your hard work, it is important to take the time and plan your Will with an estate planning attorney.

How you choose to distribute your estate is almost wholly up to you if you have a Will. You may choose to give it all to one person, often spouses, relatives, or friends. Donating to charitable organizations is another common request found. Cash, personal property such as jewelry, cars, and other items can also be given to specific people.

Beyond the common estate planning, Louisiana laws make it possible to establish a Special Needs Trust for disabled heirs, available to them to enhance their lives. You may also create Trusts for minors, to ensure that their inheritance is protected. Similarly, a class trust can provide for minors.

You can also name an independent administrator to handle your Will per LA Act 974. It allows you to circumvent the non-independent executor or administrator who is required to go through a complex court system while dealing with the estate in liquidating assets. An Independent administrator can be created in your will, or by consent of all the heirs. The administrator will handle the distribution of the assets so that you can have more control over how and when people receive certain assets.

Louisiana estate planning need not be complicated, however if you fail to execute a will, your assets will be divided in accordance with state laws. There are two types of property that comprise one estate. Community property is property acquired during the marriage. Separate property is property which is owned solely by one spouse.

Community property without a will passes to the children with the surviving spouse having a usufruct until death or marriage. If you have no children and no will, the spouse receives the community property and your siblings receive the separate property with a usufruct in favor of your parents, if living.

By having a Will you have control over the estate and its distribution. That is why it is very essential to consult an estate planning attorney to be sure your estate is handled carefully.