Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Louisiana, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Louisiana’s intestacy statute (La. Civ. Code arts. 888-894, 899-902) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Louisiana residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: La. Civ. Code arts. 888-894, 899-902 and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives, community property.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: TWO regimes with different outcomes. COMMUNITY PROPERTY: if the deceased leaves NO descendants, the surviving spouse succeeds OUTRIGHT (full ownership) to the decedent’s share of community property (art. 889); not conditioned on parents/siblings being absent. SEPARATE PROPERTY: the spouse succeeds in full ownership ONLY if there are no descendants, NO parents, and NO siblings (or their descendants) surviving (art. 894); ranks BELOW both parents and siblings for separate property.
When it is less than everything: COMMUNITY PROPERTY, if survived by descendants: the surviving spouse gets only a USUFRUCT (right to use/enjoy and take fruits/income for a limited time, NOT ownership) over the decedent’s share, terminating on the spouse’s death or remarriage; descendants hold naked ownership subject to that usufruct (art. 890). SEPARATE PROPERTY: spouse gets NOTHING at all unless descendants, parents, AND siblings/their descendants are all absent, in which case spouse takes the whole outright (art. 894); a binary all-or-nothing rule, not a fraction.
If the deceased spouse is survived by descendants, the surviving spouse shall have a usufruct over the decedent’s share of the community property to the extent that the decedent has not disposed of it by testament. This usufruct terminates when the surviving spouse dies or remarries, whichever occurs first. (La. Civ. Code art. 890).
Source: La. Civ. Code arts. 888-894, 899-902
If a DIY will fits your situation in Louisiana
In Louisiana, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
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Who inherits if there is no spouse
SEPARATE property: descendants by heads/roots -> if none, and a parent AND sibling(s) survive, siblings/descendants take full ownership subject to a usufruct for the surviving parent(s) (art. 891) -> if no descendants and no parent, siblings/descendants take in full ownership; OR if no descendants and no siblings, parent(s) take in full ownership (art. 892) -> spouse not judicially separated (art. 894) -> nearest collateral relations by degree -> escheat ‘in default of blood, adopted relations, or a spouse not judicially separated’ (art. 902).
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Distinctive LINE-based rule, not a simple fraction (art. 893): the estate splits 50/50 into a paternal-line pool and maternal-line pool; a FULL sibling collects a share from BOTH pools, while a HALF-sibling collects a share only from the ONE pool tied to the shared parent. ‘If there are brothers or sisters on one side only, they take the entirety to the exclusion of all relations in the other line.’
Community property: Louisiana is a community-property state with a genuinely different mechanism from the other five: if descendants survive, the surviving spouse does not inherit the decedent’s half of community property outright at all; they receive only a usufruct, the civil-law right to use it and take its income for life or until remarriage, while the descendants hold full ownership underneath it (La. Civ. Code art. 890). Only when there are no descendants does the spouse take the decedent’s community-property share outright (art. 889).
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Louisiana property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.