Louisiana editionIn your inbox within a minute30-day money-back promise
The End of Life Plannerby Valoren

General information · not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Free · general informationLouisiana

What to do when someone dies in Louisiana

The first things Louisiana’s own law asks for after a death, quoted word for word, then the pages for everything that follows, in the order it usually comes. Nothing here decides what a particular family must do. That belongs to the office named, the court, or an attorney in Louisiana.

  • Every fact dated, in the official words
  • Each state’s own law

Every quotation checked October 24, 2026

Your planner for Louisiana is ready. US$39 once, printed at home.

Order the planner · US$39

The free first-week checklist

Pages taken from the planner, by email: who to phone first, and a blank records sheet.

We use your email address to send the checklist and those emails, and for nothing else. We do not sell it. We first send one email asking you to confirm your address. Privacy notice

Every quotation on this page is the official body’s own words, as they stood on the day we read them. The date is beside each one.

Filing the death certificate: how soon, and before burial or cremation

Registering the death comes first. These are Louisiana’s own words on who files the record, and how soon.

A certificate of every death and every spontaneous fetal death except as noted in R.S. 40:49(B)(9) shall be filed with a registrar within five days after its occurrence.

In any case, a certificate shall be filed prior to interment, cremation, removal, or other disposition of the body.

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. R.S. 40:47(A)

Who prepares and files the death certificate

The funeral director or person acting as such shall prepare and file the certificate of death or spontaneous fetal death or stillbirth provided for in R.S. 40:47.

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. R.S. 40:49(A)

What a person holding a testament must do, even one they doubt

The will has its own rules. These are Louisiana’s own words on who brings it to the court after a death, and what the court does with it.

If a person has possession of a document purporting to be the testament of a deceased person, even though the person believes that the document is not the valid testament of the deceased or has doubts concerning the validity of the testament, the person shall present the document to the court with a petition praying that the document be filed in the record of the succession proceeding.

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. C.C.P. art. 2853(A)

The Secretary of State's will registry, and the place of safekeeping it records

The secretary of state shall establish a registry in which a testator, or his attorney, if authorized by the testator to do so, may register information regarding the execution of the testator's will.

the intended place of deposit or safekeeping of the instrument pending the death of the testator

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. R.S. 9:2446

The same page for other states

A family on a boat dock in Florida: a grandfather fishing, a girl pointing at a heron
An older couple on a porch swing under a flag, mugs in hand, a neighbor raking leaves below
Three generations peeling potatoes at a kitchen table while snow falls outside
FAQ

Common questions

A certificate of every death and every spontaneous fetal death except as noted in R.S. 40:49(B)(9) shall be filed with a registrar within five days after its occurrence.

In any case, a certificate shall be filed prior to interment, cremation, removal, or other disposition of the body.

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. R.S. 40:47(A)

The funeral director or person acting as such shall prepare and file the certificate of death or spontaneous fetal death or stillbirth provided for in R.S. 40:47.

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. R.S. 40:49(A)

If a person has possession of a document purporting to be the testament of a deceased person, even though the person believes that the document is not the valid testament of the deceased or has doubts concerning the validity of the testament, the person shall present the document to the court with a petition praying that the document be filed in the record of the succession proceeding.

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. C.C.P. art. 2853(A)

The secretary of state shall establish a registry in which a testator, or his attorney, if authorized by the testator to do so, may register information regarding the execution of the testator's will.

the intended place of deposit or safekeeping of the instrument pending the death of the testator

Louisiana · general information · checked October 24, 2026 · La. R.S. 9:2446

For anyone who would rather their family found it all in one place than went looking.

A couple. A parent. An adult child and a parent, doing it together. One sitting starts it; keep it current, and tell someone where it is.

A man on the telephone with the planner's pages open on the table