After your parent, spouse, child, or other loved one dies, you may read their will and notice that there are conflicting clauses that make portions of the will seem contradictory or unclear. Because there’s no way to carry out your loved one’s wishes in both clauses, you probably won’t know which clause to follow or whether the inconsistencies impact any other parts of the will. 
The potential heirs and legatees will likely have different opinions about what to do with the property impacted by the conflicting clauses, but Louisiana law addresses what will happen if different parts of your loved one’s will conflict.
How to Interpret a Will With Conflicting Clauses
Article 1615 of the Louisiana Civil Code provides two rules for interpreting conflicting clauses within a will. According to the law, when a last will and testament has contradictory provisions, the last provision written prevails and should be followed unless the will contains a legacy of a collection or a group of objects and also a legacy of some or all of the same objects. In that case, the legacy of some of all of the objects prevails.
Protect Your Inheritance by Knowing Your Legal Rights
Conflicting clauses in your loved one’s will likely make the status of your inheritance uncertain. However, you may not want to fight with other potential heirs to ensure you inherit what your loved one intended you to have. Accordingly, we encourage you to contact our experienced Louisiana estate litigation lawyers to learn more about your rights. Each year, we help hundreds of Louisiana families with their succession needs, and we are prepared to help you.
Our attorneys will thoroughly review every aspect of your case, advise you of your legal rights, and represent your interests in court. We invite you to schedule an initial consultation by calling us or completing our online contact form.
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