Children have the right to inherit property from their parents in Louisiana, but what happens if a child was born outside of marriage? Non-marital children may inherit property from their mothers and may inherit property from their fathers in some situations.
What Happens When a Father Creates a Will
A father can create a will and leave property to anyone he wants to inherit his property. In most cases, paternity does not need to be established for a father to leave a child property in a will. The child's right to receive the inheritance left in the will may be challenged, however, if the will was not properly executed, or there was another problem that made the will invalid.
Forced Heirs
Another issue that could impact a child's inheritance rights when a parent leaves a will is the issue of forced heirs. In Louisiana, a parent may not exclude children under the age of 24 or children of any age who are unable to take care of themselves because of physical or mental incapacities.
Forced heirs could impact the inheritance of an illegitimate child if:
- The illegitimate child is a forced heir. If paternity is established and a child born out of wedlock is a forced heir who was not included in the will, that child may have the right to pursue an inheritance.
- There are other forced heirs. Other forced heirs could reduce the inheritance of an illegitimate child who was included in the will.
Children's Intestacy Rights When a Father Dies Without a Will
If a parent dies without a will, Louisiana law decides who inherits the parent's property. When an unwed parent dies, the children inherit all of the property. When a parent is married at the time of death, the children still inherit all of the parent's property subject to the spouse's lifetime interest in the community property.
Rights of Non-Marital Children
While Louisiana intestacy law allows children to inherit a father's estate, the children's identity may be contested. Of course, a person may become a parent without ever being married. However, children born out of wedlock may only inherit property in a Louisiana intestate succession if one of the following is true:
- The father acknowledged paternity during his lifetime
- Paternity is proven in court
Typically, parents can establish paternity by completing and properly executing an Acknowledgement of Paternity Affidavit. Alternatively, if the alleged parents disagree over paternity, a parent may file a paternity lawsuit to prove whether a specific person is the child's father. Then, the court will decide the issue of paternity. Once paternity is established, the child has the same inheritance rights as a child born to two spouses during marriage.
If You Have Questions About Your Louisiana Inheritance
Both intestate successions and testate successions with forced heirs are complicated. Whether you are a non-marital child or another potential heir, you need to make sure your rights are protected and you get the fair inheritance you deserve pursuant to Louisiana law.
Our experienced Louisiana succession lawyers help hundreds of families throughout Louisiana each year and have likely dealt with a situation like yours in the past. During this challenging time when you are grieving, we can help identify all possible solutions to your succession issues.
We know that you want to settle your family issue as quickly as possible, and our succession attorneys will provide you with quick and cost-effective options. Contact us today to learn more about your rights.
Filiation: The Legal Foundation of Inheritance Rights in Louisiana
Louisiana law does not use the word “illegitimate” as a meaningful legal category in modern succession law. Instead, the key legal concept is filiation — the legal relationship between a parent and child. A child’s right to inherit depends on whether filiation has been legally established, not on the circumstances of birth or whether the parents were married.
Filiation to the mother is generally established automatically at birth. In Louisiana, a child’s legal relationship to their mother is presumed from the birth itself and does not require additional legal steps in most cases.
Filiation to the father is more complex and depends on how it is established:
- Presumption of paternity for married couples: A child born during a marriage is presumed to be the child of the husband. This presumption is strong and can only be rebutted under specific circumstances.
- Acknowledgment: A father can acknowledge a child formally — either by signing the birth certificate, executing a formal act of acknowledgment before a notary, or by a judicial declaration. A properly acknowledged child has the same inheritance rights as a child born within marriage.
- Judicial establishment of paternity: A child (or the child’s mother, or the child after reaching majority) can file an action in court to establish paternity. If successful, paternity is established from the date of the child’s birth, giving the child full inheritance rights retroactively.
Establishing Paternity After the Father’s Death
One of the most sensitive situations in Louisiana succession law arises when a child claims inheritance rights from a father who has already died — without ever having formally acknowledged the child. This is more common than many families realize, particularly in cases of estrangement, informal relationships, or paternity that was never legally formalized during the father’s lifetime.
Posthumous filiation actions: Louisiana law allows a child to bring a paternity action after the father’s death (La. C.C. art. 197), but with important limitations:
- The action must be filed within one year of the father’s death. This is the prescription period under La. C.C. art. 197. Missing this deadline extinguishes the right to establish paternity posthumously, which is why prompt legal consultation is critical when you believe you have a paternity-based inheritance claim.
- DNA testing is the primary evidence. Courts rely heavily on DNA testing — typically from the father’s surviving relatives (siblings, parents, or other acknowledged children) — to establish paternity posthumously. The court may also consider other evidence: acknowledgments, photographs, documents, testimony from witnesses who knew the relationship.
- You must be the biological child, not just a “believed” child. Courts apply an evidentiary standard. Claiming you were told you were someone’s child is not sufficient; legal proof is required.
If you believe you are the child of a person who recently died without having acknowledged you, consult a Louisiana succession attorney within the first weeks after the death — not months later. The one-year prescription period runs from the death, and you cannot afford to lose that time.
Inheritance Rights of Non-Marital Children Under a Louisiana Will
A will can specifically leave assets to a child regardless of the child’s filiation status. If a parent explicitly names a child in a will — “to my son John Smith” or “to my daughter Mary, born on January 1, 2005” — the child takes under that bequest without needing to prove filiation through a court proceeding.
However, there are important limits:
- Forced heirship: A child under 24 or permanently incapacitated at the time of the parent’s death is a forced heir, entitled to a protected share regardless of what the will says. To claim the forced portion, the child must establish filiation — an unnamed or unacknowledged child cannot simply assert forced heir rights without proving the legal parent-child relationship.
- Intestate succession: If there is no will (or if the will does not mention the child), the child can only inherit through Louisiana’s intestate succession rules if filiation has been legally established. An unacknowledged, non-marital child whose paternity has not been legally established has no intestate inheritance rights, regardless of biological reality.
- Specific bequest without filiation acknowledgment: If a will names a child but the other heirs dispute the child’s identity or relationship, the named child may still need to prove their identity in court — though this is a simpler proceeding than a full paternity action.