LOUISIANA — ANNOTATED MODEL ESSAY: Successions & Donations (Forced Heirship / Legitime)
Louisiana is the only civil-law jurisdiction in the United States. Its law of successions flows from the Louisiana Civil Code, not common-law precedent, and forced heirship is its signature doctrine.
Pierre, a domiciliary of Louisiana, died testate. He was survived by three children: Marie, age 35 and fully able; Luc, age 21; and Antoine, age 40, who has had a severe permanent cognitive disability since birth and cannot care for himself. Pierre's net estate, after debts, is valued at 900,000 dollars.
Pierre's valid testament left the entire estate to his longtime companion, Helene, and left nothing to any of his children. The testament contained no statement of any reason for omitting them. During his life, Pierre had made no donations to any child.
Marie, Luc, and Antoine each consult you. None of them has done anything that would justify disinherison for cause.
Which, if any, of Pierre's children may compel a share of the estate over the terms of the testament, and how much is each entitled to receive?
Model Answer — with annotations
Black text is the answer you could write under timed conditions. The gold boxes explain why each move earns points and flag where Louisiana law departs from the general rule.
I. Governing law: Louisiana is a civil-law jurisdiction. Unlike the forty-nine common-law states, Louisiana derives its private law from the Louisiana Civil Code. Successions and donations are governed by Code articles, and the controlling distinctive doctrine here is forced heirship, which limits a testator's freedom to disinherit certain descendants. In the common-law world a competent testator may generally leave an adult child nothing; Louisiana protects a defined class of "forced heirs" through their legitime.
II. Who is a forced heir? Louisiana restricts forced heirship to descendants of the first degree (children, or grandchildren representing a predeceased child) who, at the moment of the decedent's death, are either (a) twenty-three years of age or younger, or (b) of any age but permanently incapable of caring for their person or administering their estate because of a mental incapacity or physical infirmity. Children who fit neither category are not forced heirs and may be left nothing.
III. Applying the test to each child. Marie is 35 and fully able. She is neither 23 or younger nor permanently incapable; she is not a forced heir and may be validly disinherited (here, simply omitted). She takes nothing. Luc is 21, which is 23 or younger at Pierre's death; he is a forced heir. Antoine is 40 but has a severe permanent cognitive disability rendering him unable to care for himself; he qualifies as a forced heir under the permanent-incapacity branch regardless of age.
IV. Size of the legitime (forced portion). The legitime is a fraction of the estate reserved to the forced heirs collectively. Under the Civil Code, if there is one forced heir, the forced portion is one-fourth of the estate; if there are two or more forced heirs, the forced portion is one-half of the estate. The portion the testator may freely dispose of is the "disposable portion" (the remainder). Critically, only persons who actually qualify as forced heirs are counted in setting the fraction.
V. Computation. Pierre has two forced heirs, Luc and Antoine. Because there are two or more forced heirs, the forced portion is one-half of the estate. One-half of 900,000 dollars is 450,000 dollars reserved as the legitime. That forced portion is shared among the forced heirs; here it is divided equally between the two of them, so each of Luc and Antoine is entitled to 225,000 dollars. The other one-half, 450,000 dollars, is the disposable portion that Pierre validly left to Helene.
VI. Effect of the omission; reduction of excessive donations. Pierre's testament gave everything to Helene, impinging on the legitime. A forced heir who receives less than his legitime may demand reduction of the excessive donation (here, the legacy to Helene) to the extent it exceeds the disposable portion. The omission alone does not disinherit a forced heir for cause: valid disinherison requires the testator to expressly disinherit by name and to state one of the limited just causes recognized by the Code, and the cause must be proved. Pierre's silent omission satisfies none of that, so the legitime stands and is enforced by reduction.
VII. Conclusion. Marie takes nothing; she is not a forced heir. Luc and Antoine are forced heirs and together hold a legitime of one-half the estate. Each may compel 225,000 dollars by reducing the legacy to Helene, who retains the disposable one-half (450,000 dollars).
- Frames Louisiana as a civil-law jurisdiction governed by the Civil Code, not common-law testamentary freedom — the threshold move on any Louisiana successions question.
- Nails the modern forced-heir definition: descendants 23 or younger, or permanently incapable of caring for themselves — not all children.
- Applies the test separately to each child and correctly excludes the able adult.
- States and applies the quantitative legitime rule (one-fourth for one forced heir, one-half for two or more) and divides the reserved portion correctly.
- Supplies the remedy (reduction of excessive donations) and explains why a silent omission is not valid disinherison for cause.
- Ends with a clean, party-by-party dollar conclusion responsive to the call.
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