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Having seen women and children absolutely devastated by the loss of a spouse or parent and then further devastated by the results of not having thought through the future, this writer cannot over emphasize the importance of protecting women and children through proper estate planning. This article will discuss the basics of the Louisiana Laws of Intestacy, discuss ways you can protect yourself and your offspring. Although these legal principles are also applicable to men, for the purposes of this article we shall focus on women and kids. The best way to make sure women and kids are properly protected is for women to become educated and then to take action. The protection becomes "real" for you and your kids when you make sure you have the proper documents in place. What is your particular set of circumstances? How old is your brood? Do you have a permanently disabled child of any age? Have you or your spouse been married more than once? Do you have a blended family? Do you have elderly parents? Let's start with the first one. How old are your kids? If you have a child under the age of 24 or one that is permanently disabled you have a "forced heir". A forced heir is one that must inherit a portion of your estate. If you have a decree, you have some control over that portion. If you do not have a declaration, your estate will be distributed according to Louisiana's Laws of Intestacy. Locate yourself in the classifications listed below .The chart shows how your property will be distributed if you do not have a decree. Understand that "usufruct" means "use of something", but does not include ownership of that something. Classifications of individuals: How property will be passed to heirs. Single without kids: Passes to siblings with lifetime usufruct in favor of parents. Single with offspring (or married, but spouse deceased with offspring): All property passes to your brood. Married with children: Community property-spouse has usufruct for life or until remarriage, children are actual owners. Separate property-kids inherit. Your partner does not have usufruct. Married without offspring: Community property passes to spouse. Separate property passes to siblings with usufruct for life in favor of parents. Married without children, no living parents: Community property passes to spouse. Separate property passes to siblings outright It is very important for singles living together to understand that La Law does not recognize common law marriages. People can live together 50 years, and they have no inheritance rights under the laws of intestacy. Without a decree, the woman is totally unprotected in this situation. Please note that under these laws, the protections for the security and welfare for the surviving spouse are very limited and the laws operate on an everyone shares equally basis. Notice there are no provisions for who will raise the children, thus unrestricted ownership can go to a child even though the child is legally incompetent, inept in managing his life, or a child who is under age. With that said, what can you do in a declaration? Here's the good news, if you have no forced heirs, you can leave your estate to whomever you want! The above discusses property; now let's talk about the children. If you have forced heirs, your spouse needs to protect you so that you have more control of the assets for a longer period of time. This can be done in a properly drafted will. If you have minor children and if by some unfortunate turn of fate, you and your spouse are killed in a common disaster, who will raise the children? This seems to be the hardest decision for young couples to make. Often it's a process of elimination. It is extremely important for a young couple to make this decision about the raising of the brood and have it formalized in a will. There have also been some very sad cases in recent years involving women who are married to a man who has been married more than once. These cases show how easy it is for a 2nd wife to lose a house and other important assets, because a will was not in place prior to the death of the husband. Sometimes these cases end very poorly for the wife and other times they end really well, depending on the relationship the wife has with the family. Women need to make sure their documents and those of their spouse or significant other are up to date with the law. La inheritance laws changed significantly in the 1990's and most wills written during that time are out dated and cause unnecessary expense when being probated. In conclusion, keep in mind your particular circumstances-single/married, forced heirs/no forced heirs, one marriage or multiple marriages. If you want to protect yourself and your offspring, you should have a will that is compliant with current law and updated to your current life situation. In Louisiana law wills are necessary to protect the property rights for your family. To learn why and how or whom to contact to draft a proper legal will, visit http://www.melcherslawfirm.com
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