Your Will Isn't Just About Your Stuff. It's About Your Kids.

Most young parents in Louisiana don't have an estate plan — not because they don't care, but because they keep telling themselves there's time. This page is for the families who are ready to stop waiting.

The Question Every Parent Needs to Answer Before Tomorrow

If something happened to both you and your spouse tonight, do you know — with legal certainty — who would raise your children?

 

Not a general understanding. Not a conversation you had at the kitchen table. A legal document, signed and in place, that tells a Louisiana court exactly who you trust to step in and raise your kids.

 

Without that document, the court decides. And the court's choice may not be yours.

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Louisiana Uses a Different Word — and It Matters

Most national estate planning platforms talk about naming a "guardian" for your children. Louisiana law uses a different term: tutor.

 

A tutor is the person legally authorized to care for your minor child if both parents die or become incapacitated. Tutorship in Louisiana is governed by state-specific rules that don't work the same way as guardianship in other states. When you work with an online template written for a general U.S. audience, you may get a document that doesn't hold up the way you expect under Louisiana law.

 

Naming a tutor — the right way, under Louisiana's Civil Code — is one of the most important things a Louisiana will can do. It's also one of the things national platforms consistently get wrong.

The Three Documents Young Louisiana Parents Need

A complete estate plan for a family with young children isn't a single form. It's a coordinated set of documents that covers your children, your finances, and your medical decisions — all at once.

A Louisiana Will with Tutorship Designation

Your will is where you name the tutor who will raise your children if both parents are gone. It's also where you decide how your assets pass to your children, whether through a direct inheritance or through a trust that holds funds until they reach an age you choose. Without a valid Louisiana will, the state's intestate succession laws control both of those decisions — and the court appoints the tutor.

Powers of Attorney — Financial and Medical

A power of attorney authorizes someone you trust to act on your behalf if you're alive but unable to make decisions — due to an accident, a medical emergency, or incapacity. Young parents often assume this only matters for older adults. It doesn't. If you're hospitalized and unable to communicate, someone needs legal authority to pay your mortgage, manage your accounts, and make medical decisions. Without a power of attorney, your family may have to go to court to get that authority.

A Living Will (Advance Directive)

A living will tells your doctors and your family what medical interventions you do or don't want if you're in a terminal condition and can't speak for yourself. It removes an impossible burden from the people you love most. It also prevents conflict between family members who may disagree about what you would have wanted.

Emergency Guardianship Planning Documents

What happens if both parents are in an accident tonight and a grandparent shows up at the hospital — but has no legal authority to take the children home? Emergency guardianship planning addresses the gap between right now and whenever a court can formally appoint a tutor. These documents give a trusted adult temporary legal authority to care for your children in an immediate crisis, before the formal process runs its course.

A Trust for Your Children's Inheritance

If your children are minors when you die, they cannot legally receive a direct inheritance until they turn 18. Without a trust in place, a court-supervised account may hold those funds — with restrictions on how and when they're used. A revocable living trust, or a testamentary trust built into your will, lets you control when and how your children receive what you leave them, and who manages those funds in the meantime.

What "I'll Do It Later" Actually Costs Your Family

Every day without a will and tutorship designation is a day where Louisiana law controls who raises your children by default. That's not a scare tactic — it's just how the statute works. The state has a plan for your family. It just isn't yours.

 

Most families complete their estate plan with me in a single consultation and a short drafting period. The documents take far less time than most people expect. What takes longer is making the decision to start.

 

Getting your estate plan done doesn't invite the worst case. It closes a gap that already exists — one your family would have to deal with at the worst possible moment if you don't.

Why Young Families Work With Me

I'm a solo practitioner, which means you work directly with me from the first conversation to the final signed document. There's no associate handling your file, no paralegal drafting your will from a template, and no handoff after the intake call.

 

Here's what's included when a young family works with me on an estate plan:

 

  • Flat-fee pricing for most estate plans — you know the cost before we start
  • Every document drafted personally by me, not outsourced or templated
  • 90-day free revisions after signing, so you can make changes as your life does
  • A complimentary 3-year estate plan review to keep your documents current
  • In-person appointments in Gretna, two blocks from the 24th Judicial District Court
  • Plain-language explanations of Louisiana-specific concepts like tutorship, forced heirship, and usufruct

 

I've been practicing law in Louisiana for over 20 years. I know what these documents need to say to hold up — and I know what young families in this area are actually worried about when they sit down across from me.

Emergency Guardianship: The Gap Most Estate Plans Don't Cover

A will with a tutorship designation is essential. But a will only takes effect after death — and it only appoints a tutor after a court formally confirms that appointment. In a sudden emergency, that process takes time your children don't have.

 

Emergency guardianship planning fills that gap. These documents give a trusted adult immediate, temporary authority to care for your children in a crisis — before any court involvement, before any formal proceeding. For parents of young children, this is one of the most important protections you can have in place, and it's one that most estate planning attorneys don't address as a standalone service.

 

I treat emergency guardianship planning as a core part of what I do for young families — not an add-on.

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Common Questions from Louisiana Parents About Estate Planning

  • What happens to my children in Louisiana if I die without a will?

    If both parents die without a valid Louisiana will, a court appoints a tutor to care for your minor children. The court considers family relationships and other factors, but it is not bound by any informal agreement or conversation you may have had. The person you would have chosen may not be the person the court selects.

  • What is the difference between a tutor and a guardian in Louisiana?

    Louisiana uses the term "tutor" rather than "guardian" for the adult legally responsible for a minor child when both parents are deceased or incapacitated. The role is functionally similar to guardianship in other states, but the legal framework is governed by Louisiana's Civil Code — which is why documents drafted under general U.S. law may not work as intended here.

  • What estate planning documents do parents of young children need in Louisiana?

    At minimum, young Louisiana parents need a will with a tutorship designation, a financial power of attorney, a medical power of attorney, and a living will. Many families also benefit from a trust to manage any inheritance left to minor children, and emergency guardianship documents to cover the period before a court can formally appoint a tutor.

  • How long does it take to get an estate plan done?

    Most young families complete their estate plan with me in a single consultation and a short drafting period. The timeline depends on the complexity of your situation, but straightforward family estate plans don't take months. The hardest part is usually making the decision to start.

  • Do I need an estate plan if I don't have many assets?

    Yes — and for young families, the tutorship designation alone makes a will essential regardless of asset level. Your home, your retirement accounts, and your savings also need to pass to the right people in the right way. Louisiana's intestate succession laws govern what happens if you don't have a will, and those rules don't always match what you would have chosen.

Ready to Get Your Family's Plan in Place?

Most families leave our first conversation wondering why they waited as long as they did. The documents aren't complicated. The process isn't painful. What it is, is done — and that changes everything about how you think about tomorrow.