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Modified on
Aug 02, 2026
Marriage is not the right choice for every committed couple. Some partners have been married before. Others have financial, personal, or family reasons for remaining unmarried. Many LGBTQ+ couples also build families that include partners, children, close friends, and other members of their chosen family.
However, Louisiana law does not automatically treat an unmarried partner as a spouse, regardless of how long the couple has lived together. As a result, estate planning for unmarried couples in Louisiana requires affirmative legal steps.
This article concerns couples who are not legally married. A same-sex spouse is a spouse and should not be treated as an unmarried partner.
An Unmarried Partner Does Not Automatically Inherit
Louisiana Civil Code Article 880 lists the classes of people who may inherit when someone dies without a valid will. They include descendants, certain relatives by blood or adoption, and a surviving spouse. The statute does not include an unmarried partner.
Therefore, living together for 10, 20, or 40 years does not create an inheritance right under Louisiana law.
If you die without a will, your property may pass to your children, parents, siblings, or more distant relatives. That result can occur even if you intended your partner to receive everything.
A valid Louisiana will can name your partner as a legatee. Depending on your goals, a trust may also provide continued housing, financial support, or structured management.
Our article on what happens when someone dies intestate in Louisiana explains the default inheritance rules in more detail.
Your Partner May Not Have Authority During a Medical Crisis
An unmarried partner also may lack automatic authority to make medical decisions.
Under Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:1159.4, a person acting under a valid health care mandate receives priority over a spouse, adult children, parents, siblings, and other possible decision-makers.
Without that mandate, your partner may fall behind legal relatives in the statutory order. Although Louisiana law may recognize an “adult friend” in some circumstances, relying on that category creates uncertainty—especially if a family member objects.
A properly drafted mandate can expressly authorize your partner or another trusted member of your chosen family to make health care decisions.
In addition, consider signing appropriate medical-information authorizations so providers can communicate with the people you trust.
Financial Authority Also Requires Planning
Your partner does not automatically have authority to access your individual accounts, pay your bills, manage your business, or sign legal documents for you.
A Louisiana contract of mandate can authorize your partner or another trusted person to handle specified matters if you cannot act.
The mandate should address the powers that you actually want to grant. For example, authority to handle routine banking does not necessarily include authority to make donations, accept a succession, sell certain property, or make health care decisions.
Review How You Own Your Home
Unmarried couples should pay particular attention to their home.
Ask:
- Who appears on the deed?
- What percentage does each partner own?
- Who signed the mortgage?
- Can the surviving partner afford the home?
- Will the deceased partner’s children or relatives inherit part of it?
- Should the surviving partner receive ownership, a usufruct, or another right to remain?
- Who will pay taxes, insurance, repairs, and mortgage expenses?
If only one partner owns the home and dies without a will, the survivor may receive nothing. If both partners own it, the survivor may become a co-owner with the deceased partner’s heirs.
A will or trust can address the deceased partner’s interest. However, the plan must also consider forced heirship, debt, property expenses, and the rights of any existing co-owners.
Coordinate Beneficiary Designations
Some assets pass according to a beneficiary designation rather than a will. These may include:
- Life insurance
- Retirement accounts
- Certain investment accounts
- Employment benefits
- Annuities
Naming your partner directly may allow those assets to transfer outside the succession. Still, review each designation after major life changes and make sure it identifies the correct person.
Do not assume that naming your partner in your will changes an older beneficiary designation. The account’s contractual designation will usually control.
Retirement accounts also treat spouses and non-spouses differently. A surviving spouse generally has rollover options that an unmarried partner does not. Many non-spouse beneficiaries must follow the federal 10-year distribution rule, although exceptions apply. The IRS’s beneficiary guidance explains the current categories.
Social Security uses its own rules as well. Some nonmarital legal relationships may qualify for benefits in limited circumstances, but an unmarried partner should not assume eligibility. The Social Security Administration recommends applying if a person may qualify through a civil union, domestic partnership, or another recognized nonmarital relationship.
Decide Who Controls Funeral and Burial Arrangements
Louisiana law gives specific people priority to control the disposition of a person’s remains. An unmarried partner does not automatically come before a spouse, children, parents, or other relatives.
However, Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:655 allows you to designate a person to control disposition in a notarial testament or a written and notarized declaration.
This designation can be especially important when your partner or chosen family understands your wishes better than estranged legal relatives. It may also help protect decisions about your name, identity, religious practices, funeral, cremation, burial, and memorial service.
Make the Documents Clear and Consistent
LGBTQ+ clients may have legal relatives who do not recognize or support their relationship, identity, or chosen family. Clear documents can reduce the opportunity for those relatives to take control during a crisis or after death.
Your plan may need to identify:
- Your partner and intended beneficiaries
- Your executor or trustee
- Your financial and health care mandatary
- Backup decision-makers
- The person authorized to control disposition of your remains
- Current legal names and prior names when needed for clear identification
- Children and other family relationships
- The location of original documents
The will, trust, mandate, property titles, and beneficiary designations should support the same overall plan. Conflicting documents can create exactly the uncertainty you intended to avoid.
Field Law Can Help Unmarried Couples Plan
Estate planning for unmarried couples in Louisiana is not about proving that a relationship is committed. It is about giving that relationship legal protection when Louisiana’s default rules do not.
Field Law helps unmarried partners and LGBTQ+ families prepare wills, trusts, financial and health care mandates, beneficiary plans, and burial designations that reflect their actual relationships and chosen decision-makers.
Contact Field Law to schedule an estate-planning consultation.
