Louisiana Business-Owner Succession Counsel
For Business Counsel, CPAs, and Advisers
When a Business Owner Dies but the Business Must Continue
The owner’s death may leave immediate questions about company authority, accounts, payroll, contracts, income, management, valuation, and transfer.
Field Law handles the Louisiana succession issues while coordinating with existing business counsel, accountants, advisers, bankers, and the owner’s family.
Field Law Handles the Estate-Law Component
The company may already have business counsel, a CPA, a banker, an insurance adviser, and other trusted professionals. Field Law does not need to replace them.
We identify the succession representative’s authority, determine who inherits the ownership interest, obtain the necessary court orders, and coordinate the estate procedure with the company’s governing documents and existing advisers.
Common Referral Triggers After an Owner’s Death
Authority
- No one can sign for the company
- The bank freezes access
- Payroll or contracts require action
- A sale or financing is pending
Ownership
- The Will and operating agreement differ
- Economic and management rights are unclear
- Several heirs inherit one interest
- A buy-sell agreement may apply
Operations and Value
- The business continues generating income
- One family member operates the company
- Records or passwords are inaccessible
- The parties dispute valuation or sale
Ownership and Management Are Different Questions
A succession determines who receives the deceased owner’s transferable interest. It does not automatically answer every question about management, voting, contracts, banking authority, or company operations.
The articles of organization, operating agreement, shareholder agreement, buy-sell agreement, and entity statutes may affect those rights. Field Law reviews the estate procedure alongside the company documents and coordinates with business counsel.
Louisiana law contains special provisions for a deceased member’s LLC interest. For example, La. R.S. 12:1333.1 addresses succession-representative and heir rights involving certain single-member LLCs, subject to the company’s written governing documents and other restrictions.
What the Succession Work May Include
- Opening the succession promptly
- Seeking appointment or confirmation of a representative
- Obtaining letters of administration
- Identifying the business interest as estate property
- Reviewing the Will and governing documents together
- Seeking authority for a sale or other estate action
- Addressing income received during administration
- Coordinating valuation and tax information
- Obtaining a judgment transferring the interest
- Litigating control, accounting, or fiduciary disputes when required
A Coordinated Business Succession Process
01 — Identify Urgent Operations
We ask what must happen now to protect employees, accounts, property, contracts, and continuing income.
02 — Review Authority
We examine the Will, entity documents, ownership records, existing mandates, and succession status.
03 — Define the Court Procedure
We determine whether administration, independent administration, possession, or specific authority is needed.
04 — Coordinate the Professionals
We exchange necessary information with business counsel, accountants, valuation professionals, bankers, and advisers.
05 — Transfer or Resolve
We pursue the transfer, sale, buyout, distribution, or contested relief supported by the documents and law.
Documents and Information to Send
- The Will, trust, and relevant estate plan
- Articles of organization or incorporation
- Operating, shareholder, and buy-sell agreements
- Ownership ledgers and membership certificates
- Recent financial and tax records
- Insurance and beneficiary information
- Pending contracts, sales, or financing deadlines
- Bank and payroll access concerns
- Names and roles of existing professionals
- Known disagreements among owners or successors
Efficient Administration When the Parties Agree
A business-owner succession does not need to become a business lawsuit. When the governing documents are clear and the interested parties cooperate, Field Law works toward defined authority and transfer without unnecessary motion practice.
If the parties dispute control, value, distributions, records, or fiduciary conduct, we identify which issues belong in the succession and which arise under the entity documents. The response may progress from document requests and negotiation to discovery, summary judgment, evidentiary hearings, or trial.
Focused Estate Experience
Practical Succession Strategy for Operating Businesses
Morgan Field has more than a decade of experience with uncontested and contested Louisiana successions, business-owner estate planning, fiduciary disputes, evidentiary hearings, and appeals.
Field Law coordinates the estate procedure without asking existing business and financial professionals to surrender their roles.
Related Professional Services
- Professional Referrals and Co-Counsel
- Difficult and Corrective Successions
- Succession Litigation Counsel
- Ancillary Succession Counsel
- Louisiana Small-Business Planning for Clients
- Trust Administration and Dispute Counsel
- Louisiana Estate Plan Review Counsel
Discuss a Deceased Business-Owner Matter
Identify the owner, entity, urgent operational issue, existing professionals, known successors, and any pending transaction or court deadline.
© 2026 Field Law. All rights reserved.
Responsible Attorney: James Morgan Field, III, Louisiana Bar Roll No. 34285. Attorney Morgan Field is listed with the Louisiana State Bar Association under his full name.
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