2025 Legislative Changes – Last Will & Testament

Effective this month, via Act No. 30 of the 2025 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, significant changes have been made to the laws regarding the proper form for testaments (last wills and testaments).

For many years, there have been only two kinds of enforceable testaments in Louisiana—olographic and notarial.  The olographic testament is one entirely written, dated, and signed in the handwriting of the testator (the person who makes the testament).  The notarial testament is one signed in the presence of a notary public and two witnesses.  While the 2025 legislative revision leaves these testaments in place, the law changes the formal requirements for both of them.

 Olographic Testaments

(1) Where do I sign? The requirement that the testator sign his name at the end of the testament has been eliminated.  For the testament to be valid, the testator’s signature may now appear anywhere within the document. 

 (2) Nicknames and alisases. The revision clarifies that there is no rigid rule as to how the testator must sign his name.  It appears that initials or nicknames may constitute binding signatures, if there is sufficient proof that the alias identifies the testator. 

(3) Save the date. The new law is more liberal in defining what constitutes a proper date. 

(4) “And one more thing…” The revision also is more liberal in upholding additions and deletions made to the testament after its execution.

Notarial Testaments

(1) Special situations. Several Civil Code articles that contained detailed and special requirements for persons unable to sign or read, deaf persons, and blind persons have been repealed.  A testator who cannot physically sign may direct someone else to sign in his place.

 (2) Again, where should I sign?  The signature no longer need be at the end of the testament and on each separate page.  It suffices for the signature to “appear anywhere in the testament.”  But for a testament to be self-authenticating (an important evidentiary benefit), the testament still must be signed on every page. 

(3) Attestation. The “attestation clause” is no longer a necessary component for the testament to be upheld as valid.  Attestation clauses, however, when present, will provide the advantage of making the testament self-authenticating. 

 (4) Publication.  The revision eliminates the requirement that the testament be “published”—that the testator formally declare that the testament is his testament.  But again, the best practice—as with attestation clauses and having a signature on every page—will remain to “publish” the testament so that it will be self-authenticating. 

 Note: Absent self-authentication, notary and/or witness testimony will be necessary to probate the testament.

 (5) Witnesses.  Under prior law, a person could not witness a notarial testament if deaf or unable to read.  That prohibition has been eliminated in the 2025 revision.

The Bottom Line

The 2025 revision generally relaxes the requirements for upholding the validity of testaments in Louisiana.  We can hope that this more liberal approach will deter litigation and more frequently give effect to how people want their assets to pass upon death.  Still, in most cases, the best practice will be to continue to observe the formalities required under the prior law.