Living-Trust Trustee Deed Requirements in Louisiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Louisiana starts with the trust instrument, then supplies a sale default

La. R.S. § 9:2061 makes the trust instrument the primary source of duties and powers. La. R.S. § 9:2111 adds powers conferred by the instrument and those necessary or appropriate to carry out the trust's purposes when they are not forbidden.

The sale rule is unusually direct. Under § 9:2119, a trustee may sell unless the instrument forbids the sale “in specific words” or shows that the property must be retained in kind. For a distribution rather than a sale, § 9:2131 permits full ownership or undivided interests and pro rata or non-pro-rata allocation after the trustee accounts for value and tax attributes.

Trustee count changes who must act

Two trustees exercising the same conveyance power must act together under § 9:2113, unless the instrument or a court order provides otherwise. With three or more, § 9:2114 permits majority action unless the trust changes the rule. A dissenting trustee can use the statute's written-dissent protection but still must try to prevent a breach.

Louisiana also lets the instrument allocate different powers to different trustees. Under § 9:2114.1, each trustee acts independently within the powers assigned to that trustee. That is different from simply letting one of two equal-power trustees sign alone.

Section 9:2087 permits a narrow closing delegation. A trustee-approved power of attorney may authorize a mandatary to alienate specifically described property on specific terms as a ministerial act; it does not transfer the trustee's underlying decision-making duty.

A sale power does not authorize self-dealing

An ordinary arm's-length sale under § 9:2119 does not carry a universal court-order requirement. But §§ 9:2082 and 9:2085 keep loyalty and conflict rules separate from transaction power. A direct or indirect sale between the trust and an individual trustee, specified related person or business associate, a corporate trustee or affiliate, or another trust administered by the same trustee needs the authorization described in § 9:2085: trust-instrument permission or specific court authorization after a contradictory hearing.

Section 9:2233 also permits the trustee, settlor, or beneficiary to seek instructions. An ordinary or summary order supplies authority and protection within its terms; an ex parte order protects a relying third person but does not erase the trustee's possible liability to a settlor or beneficiary.

The transfer uses Louisiana's two Civil Code forms

Civil Code art. 1839 requires an immovable transfer by authentic act or act under private signature. An authentic act is signed before a notary or authorized officer and two witnesses, with each signer’s typed or hand-printed name beneath the signature under art. 1833.

Article 1836 supplies the proof route for a private act. When a party acknowledges the signature before a court, notary, or authorized officer in the presence of two witnesses, the act is prima facie genuine and admissible without further proof. The two forms should not be collapsed into a claim that every trustee transfer can use only an authentic act.

Capacity wording identifies the titled fiduciary and the contract

Louisiana places title in the trustee. Section 9:1781 defines a trustee as the person to whom trust-property title is transferred for fiduciary administration. The outbound act therefore identifies and is signed by the titled trustee in that capacity, not by the trust as though it were the record-title person.

La. R.S. § 9:2125 adds a contract-liability reason to identify the capacity precisely. “Trustee” or “as trustee,” together with language identifying the trust after the signature, is prima facie evidence of intent to exclude personal contract liability. The statute does not make the title alone a blanket immunity from every possible claim.

The extract is a mandatory land-record route, not a general certification

When trust property includes an immovable, § 9:2092 requires the trust instrument, a compliant extract, or a clerk-certified copy to be recorded in every parish where the property lies. If the trust instrument itself contains the transfer, the full instrument must be recorded.

The settlor or trustee may execute an extract. It identifies the trust and whether it is revocable, every settlor and trustee, the beneficiaries, the execution date, and every trust limitation on alienating, leasing, or encumbering immovables. The statute expressly permits the filing without a property description.

Recordation controls effect against third persons

Civil Code arts. 1839 and 3338 make the transfer ineffective against third persons until the instrument is filed in the appropriate parish records. Section 9:2092 adds a trust-specific consequence: an immovable-power limit omitted from the recorded extract is ineffective against third persons, and a substantially compliant recorded extract can shield them from a claim based on an inter vivos trust's form defect.

Recording is not a validity certificate. Article 3341 says recordation creates no presumption of validity, genuineness, capacity, or status. Article 3342 separately prevents a party to the recorded instrument from contradicting it to the prejudice of a later third person who acquires an interest after recordation.

In each parish a clerk of the district court shall be elected; article V, § 28 makes that clerk the parish recorder. La. R.S. § 9:2721 also requires the filed conveyance to name the person responsible for property taxes and give the mailing address for tax and assessment notices.

What trips people up

• Two trustees are not a majority-of-two rule. Section 9:2113 requires both equal-power trustees unless the trust or a court changes the result. The majority default begins with three or more trustees under § 9:2114.
• The recorded extract must disclose power limits, not the parcel. Section 9:2092 requires every restriction on alienation, lease, or encumbrance, while expressly allowing an extract without a property description.
• The deed form and trust filing are separate. An authentic act can satisfy the transfer form while a missing trust instrument or extract still defeats the special recordation route.
• Capacity wording is evidence, not complete immunity. Section 9:2125 makes trustee-and-trust identification prima facie evidence about contractual intent; it does not promise that fiduciary, title, fraud, or known-authority issues vanish.

Common questions

May one of two trustees sign alone?

Not under the default rule for a shared power. Section 9:2113 requires both, unless the trust instrument or a proper court order says otherwise. A different result can also follow when the trust separately allocates the conveyance power to one trustee under § 9:2114.1.

Is court approval required for an ordinary sale?

Section 9:2119 itself authorizes the sale when the trust does not specifically forbid it or require retention in kind. Court authorization becomes important for the self-dealing transactions described in § 9:2085 or when a party seeks instructions under § 9:2233.

Must the full trust be placed in the land records?

Usually a compliant extract or clerk-certified copy can satisfy § 9:2092. The full trust instrument is required when that instrument itself contains the transfer of the immovable.

Does recording prove that the trustee had authority?

No. Article 3341 says recording creates no presumption about validity, genuineness, capacity, or status. Section 9:2092 does give third-person consequences to a compliant extract, especially for disclosed or omitted immovable-power restrictions, but it does not create authority the trust withholds.

Statutes and sources

• La. R.S. §§ 9:1781, 9:2061, 9:2111, 9:2119, and 9:2131 — trustee title, trust-instrument control, necessary powers, sale default, and in-kind distribution. Louisiana Legislature (accessed 2026-08-13).
• La. R.S. §§ 9:2087 and 9:2113-2114.1 — specific-property ministerial delegation, two-trustee joint action, three-or-more majority, and separately allocated powers. Louisiana Legislature (accessed 2026-08-13).
• La. R.S. §§ 9:2082, 9:2085, and 9:2233 — beneficiary-interest duty, self-dealing restrictions, court authorization, and instructions. Louisiana Legislature (accessed 2026-08-13).
• La. Civ. Code arts. 1833, 1836, and 1839 — authentic act, acknowledged private act, immovable-transfer form, and registry effect. Louisiana Legislature (accessed 2026-08-13).
• La. R.S. §§ 9:2092 and 9:2125 — mandatory trust instrument or extract, third-person consequences, and representative-capacity contract wording. Louisiana Legislature (accessed 2026-08-13).
• La. Civ. Code arts. 3338 and 3341-3342; La. R.S. § 9:2721; La. Const. art. V, § 28 — parish registry, limits of recordation, tax-notice fields, and recorder. Louisiana Legislature (accessed 2026-08-13).