Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Louisiana fully exempts a traditional or Roth IRA from ordinary creditors with no dollar cap, does not address inherited IRAs, and is an opt-out state in bankruptcy.
Related state guides: How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Louisiana?, Is a Living Trust Worth It in Louisiana? and Intestate Succession in Louisiana.
Confidence note: high. This page covers ordinary judgment-creditor protection under Louisiana law and the state’s bankruptcy exemption election; see the 51-jurisdiction summary at IRA creditor protection by state for how it compares.
How Louisiana protects an IRA from ordinary creditors
| Traditional IRA (outside bankruptcy) | Fully exempt, no dollar cap, except for alimony and child support. La. R.S. 13:3881(D)(1) exempts "all tax-deferred arrangements" and "annuity contracts," a term (D)(3)(a)) expressly defined to include IRAs. |
|---|---|
| Roth IRA | Expressly named: the definition of "tax-deferred arrangement" lists "Roth IRAs" by name. |
| Inherited / beneficiary IRA | Not addressed. |
| Bankruptcy exemption choice | Opt-out. La. R.S. 13:3881(B)(1): in bankruptcy, only property "exempt under the laws of the state of Louisiana and under federal laws other than 11 U.S.C. 522(d)" is exempt. |
| Carve-outs and exceptions | Alimony and child support reach the account; contributions made less than one calendar year before a bankruptcy filing or seizure lose the exemption (rollovers and transfers are not treated as new contributions). |
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Source: WiserAdvisor’s service descriptionThe federal backdrop, the same in every state
Two separate systems can protect an IRA, and which one applies depends on whether you are in bankruptcy. Outside bankruptcy, in an ordinary lawsuit and judgment, only your state’s own exemption statute protects an IRA; there is no federal floor. Inside a Chapter 7 or 13 case, a debtor who lives in a state that allows the choice (see the table below) may instead elect the federal exemption list, which protects retirement funds under 11 U.S.C. §522(d)(12) for accounts exempt from tax under IRC §401, 403, 408, 408A, 414, 457 or 501(a). For traditional and Roth IRAs specifically (not SEP or SIMPLE plans, and not amounts rolled over from an employer plan, which stay unlimited), that federal protection is capped in the aggregate at $1,711,975 (11 U.S.C. §522(n), adjusted for inflation effective April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2028; the base figure was $1,000,000 in 2005 and is reindexed every three years). A state that has NOT opted out of the federal list still leaves the debtor free to use state exemptions instead if the state amount is better, since the debtor picks whichever list helps more, once, for the whole case.
A 401(k) or other ERISA-qualified employer plan does not depend on any of this: its anti-alienation protection is federal, unlimited and the same in every state, in or out of bankruptcy. See 401(k) vs. IRA creditor protection for that comparison in full.
Inherited IRAs are a separate question
In 2014 the U.S. Supreme Court held, unanimously, that an inherited IRA is not a “retirement fund” within the meaning of the federal bankruptcy exemption, in Clark v. Rameker, 573 U.S. 122 (2014). That holding controls only the federal bankruptcy exemption; it says nothing about what a state’s own exemption statute does outside bankruptcy, or about a state that has opted out and writes its own bankruptcy-time exemption list. Some states responded by amending their own statutes to protect inherited IRAs expressly; most have simply never addressed the question. See inherited IRA creditor protection for the full explanation of the ruling and its reasoning.
Statute and sources
Governing citation: La. R.S. 13:3881.
Read September 4, 2026.
Related: IRA creditor protection, all 51 jurisdictions · 401(k) vs. IRA creditor protection · inherited IRA creditor protection.
General information drawn from each state’s own published statutes, not legal, tax or financial advice. Exemption amounts and rules are set by state law and can change by future legislation or court decisions; whether a specific IRA is protected in a specific case depends on facts this page cannot see. We are not a law firm, a tax adviser, or a fiduciary, and this is not personalized advice. Talk to a bankruptcy or asset-protection attorney licensed in your state before relying on any figure here.