Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in Louisiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Louisiana offers a public inventory and a sworn-list substitute

When an inventory would otherwise be required, La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3136 allows the person at whose instance it would be taken to file a sworn detailed descriptive list instead. The substitution needs no prior judicial authority. Article 2952 separately states that if no inventory has been taken, an heir, legatee, or other interested party shall file a sworn and subscribed detailed descriptive list.

The formal alternative is a public inventory under arts. 3131 through 3135. The court appoints a notary in each parish where the decedent left property. The notary takes the inventory with at least two competent witnesses and two competent appraisers whom the notary appoints and swears.

The two routes have different signers and valuation rules

For a descriptive list, the filer swears to and subscribes the document. The list covers all succession property, identifies every item's location, and states each item's fair market value at death under art. 3136. Article 2952 uses the phrase “actual cash value” at the time of death.

A formal public inventory ends in the notary's proces verbal. The notary subscribes it, and the appraisers, witnesses, and other attendees sign. The appraisers estimate the fair market value of each estate item found in the parish. Article 3133 does not state a separate death-date valuation rule for that formal route.

The public inventory's appraisers and witnesses need not reside in the parish, but art. 3132 calls each of them competent. A descriptive list does not require an outside appraiser.

Property detail depends on the route

The descriptive list covers all succession property and each item's location. The public inventory additionally describes written evidence of debts owed to the estate, including the amount and the debtor's name and address. It records property owned partly by third persons or claimed as left on loan, deposit, consignment, or otherwise, then recaps movable, immovable, and total estate values.

For independent administration, art. 3396.18 expressly requires an inventory or sworn detailed descriptive list of both assets and liabilities, verified by the independent administrator. The cited inventory articles do not prescribe an item-level encumbrance column for every route.

Timing changes with the administration track

An administrator application triggers the court's inventory-or-list order under art. 3094. Appointment of a provisional administrator triggers the same choice under art. 3113 unless it was ordered earlier. Those provisions do not state a fixed number of days for completing the inventory or list.

Independent administration has a later outside boundary. Article 3396.18 requires the inventory or verified sworn list before the succession can close, a judgment of possession can be rendered, and the independent administrator can be discharged.

The public inventory's original proces verbal must be returned to the ordering court immediately after completion and signing. A descriptive list is filed in the succession proceeding.

Sealing and attendance are not the same access rule

Any interested person or the person's attorney may attend the public inventory. On a timely request, the notary sends ordinary-mail notice of its time and place.

A detailed descriptive list must be sealed when an heir or legatee requests under art. 2952. In independent administration, the independent administrator may also request sealing. A sealed-list copy goes to the universal successors and surviving spouse. On motion, the court may furnish relevant asset-and- liability information to a successor, surviving spouse, or estate creditor.

Either filing can be challenged

The public inventory is prima facie proof without separate court homologation, but an interested person may traverse it at any time by contradictory motion served on the notary and the person who requested the inventory.

The descriptive list is likewise prima facie proof unless amended or successfully traversed. Under art. 3137, the filer may move ex parte for the court to correct errors, while any interested person may traverse at any time. The corrected total can lead the court to increase or reduce the succession representative's security.

What trips people up

A sworn list is not a public inventory without appraisers. It is a statutory substitute with different signers, content, valuation date, and confidentiality rules.

Independent administration adds liabilities and a closing condition. Its verified filing must cover assets and liabilities and precede closing, possession judgment, and discharge.

A traverse is not an automatic replacement inventory. Article 3137 authorizes a challenge and correction of the descriptive list; it does not say that every traverse produces a formal notarial inventory.

Noncompliance can reach the appointment. La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3182 permits removal for failure to perform a duty imposed by law or court order. The court may act on its own motion, and an interested party may move for a show-cause order.

Common questions

Must a descriptive list use two appraisers?

No. The two competent appraisers belong to the formal public-inventory route under art. 3132. Article 3136 instead requires the filer to swear to and subscribe the detailed list and state death-date values.

Can a descriptive list be kept from general public view?

Yes. An heir or legatee may request sealing, and an independent administrator may do so in independent administration. The statutes preserve copies and motion-based information access for the specified people.

Can a filer correct a value without a contested hearing?

Article 3137 allows the filer to ask ex parte for an amendment correcting an error. An interested person retains the separate right to traverse the list by contradictory motion.

Statutes and sources

• La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 2952, 3094, and 3113 — general descriptive-list duty, administrator-application trigger, and provisional-administrator trigger: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111578, https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111607, and https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111614 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• La. Code Civ. Proc. arts. 3131 to 3137 — formal public inventory, notary, witnesses, appraisers, proces verbal, filing, descriptive-list substitute, correction, traverse, and security adjustment: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111617 through https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111623 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3182 — removal for failure to perform a legal or court-ordered duty: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111640 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3396.18 — independent-administration filing, verification, closing boundary, sealing, copies, and motion access: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111749 (accessed 2026-08-10).