In the State of Louisiana, where community property is concerned, if both spouses had children before the marriage (due to previous relationships) and children together during the marriage, if one of the spouses dies and there is no will, who inherits the property?

Hello 19:

It depends on the property and how it was held. IF we're talking about REAL property, if the title was held as "tenants in common or joint tenants with rights of survivorship", then the spouse gets it. If it was held differently, then ALL the children share it equally.

excon

Actually, I think that Louisiana has strange inheritance laws compared to the other states because of their law being based on the Napoleonic laws instead of the British common law. Which is a long-winded way of saying, this is probably best addressed by talking to a lawyer in the area, who will also be able to draw up the required documents so that the inheritance is distributed the way the parents want.

And a quick Google got me this from Louisiana Law on Probate, Successions and Usufruct :

If there is no will, the state has a will in which certain assumptions are made. The first assumption is that the spouse should not inherit anything from the other spouse if there are children. The next assumption is that for separate property, nieces and nephews should inherit before a spouse. This usually comes as a big surprise to the surviving spouse.

Yes, Louisiana uses French law as a base for its law, not the english common law that most of the US used. And even a differnet land owership laws than any other state in the union.

When four siblings inherit equal undivided interests in a piece of property, what amount of agreement is required to take action regarding that property? Is it "majority rules" or is it 100% agreement?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lakejana

Is it "majority rules" or is it 100% agreement?

---

Hello l:

100%. You can't sell if one owner doesn't want to sell.

excon

My biological father died recently. My parents divorced when I was about 7. He remarried and had 4 kids ( all adults now). There has been no contact in decades even though we live 30 miles apart. In Louisiana, are my brother and I forced heirs?

If you are both older than 23 and are not declared incompetent, then you are not forced heirs. However, unless your father left a will in which his property is left to others, you and your brother do inherit your equal share (along with your four step-siblings) of your father's half of the community of acquets and gains he shared with his surviving spouse.

With regard to the original question, Louisiana does not have joint tenancy or tenants in common with right of survivorship. If a spouse dies intestate (without a will), the children/descendants of the decedant inherit in equal shares subject to the usufruct (right to use the decedent's half) of the surviving spouse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lakejana

When four siblings inherit equal undivided interests in a piece of property, what amount of agreement is required to take action regarding that property? Is it "majority rules" or is it 100% agreement?

---

100% agreement to sell is correct regarding property in Louisiana. However, where such agreement cannot be reached, any one of the co-owners can petition the Court for the Parish where the property is located to have the property partitioned. If the property can be split up and equally divided among the co-owners, the Court can go that route. If the property cannot be divided, then the Court can order the sale of the property through sheriff's auction and the money will be divided among the co-owners. As such auctions typically do not yield the best price, co-owners then typically reach agreement for private sale. It is also an option for the owner not wanting to sell to buy out the others who do.

This is one of those old threads that LaLaw seems to have resurrected for some reason. I'm not sure there is even an OP who cares anymore. So why is the discourse continuing?

Sorry AK lawyer. Just saw the thread and wanted to put out the info for others who may have similar questions. It caught my attention because of the "Joint Tenants" answer (does not exist in Louisiana). However, if the question is Googled, this thread pops up and I wanted to make sure the questions were answered. Sorry that this troubled you.

Can an hier sell his interest without the 100% agreement?

The surviving spouse would keep her half of everything. The deceased spouse would split his half with their children. As long as the spouse is alive, they have a right to keep the house unless she would remarry ,unless the spouse had a will specifying as long as she lived.

Both parents are dead seccession done on father mother then her real estate to children sister got power attorney had six shareholders to donate their shares back to mother so she put mother in nursing home 2shareholders did not give up their shares mother died how long does estate holding six shares have to make seccession on estate IIII contact info deleted to comply with site rules

Please watch dates on posts, this post was from 2008, the poster has long since not had this issue.

I have closed it from further answers