Book VI. Probate Procedure · Title III. Administration of Successions · Chapter 4. General Functions, Powers, and Duties of Succession Representative · Last amended 2023 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 3191 establishes a succession representative as a fiduciary bound to a prudent-administrator standard in collecting, preserving, and managing succession property, permits a nonresident, temporarily absent, or specifically authorized representative to appoint an agent by procuration, and grants the representative authority to access, control, and manage a decedent's digital accounts.
A. A succession representative is a fiduciary with respect to the succession, and shall have the duty of collecting, preserving, and managing the property of the succession in accordance with law. He shall act at all times as a prudent administrator, and shall be personally responsible for all damages resulting from his failure so to act.
B. A nonresident succession representative may execute a procuration or mandate appointing a resident of the state to represent him in all acts of his administration. A resident succession representative who will be absent from the state temporarily similarly may appoint an agent to act for him during his absence. Additionally, a succession representative may appoint an agent to alienate, acquire, lease, or encumber specifically described property on specific terms. A procuration or mandate granted for this purpose may either recite the specific terms of the transaction or state that the succession representative has approved the terms of the transaction. The procuration or mandate appointing the agent shall be filed in the record of the succession proceeding and shall not need court approval.
C. Subject to any restrictions provided in a valid testament of a decedent or an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, a succession representative shall have the power and authority to take control of, handle, conduct, continue, distribute, or terminate any digital account of the decedent.
D.
(1)Except as provided in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph and to the extent permitted by federal law, any person that electronically stores, maintains, manages, controls, operates, or administers the digital accounts of a decedent shall transfer, deliver, or provide a succession representative access or possession of any digital account of a decedent within thirty days after receipt of letters testamentary, letters of administration, or letters of independent administration evidencing the appointment of the succession representative.
(2)Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, R.S.6:325 or 767 shall control how federally insured financial institutions provide Internet or other electronic access to an authorized succession representative for the administration of a decedent's estate.
E. This Article supersedes any contrary provision in the terms and conditions of any service agreement and a succession representative shall be considered an authorized user with lawful consent of the decedent for purposes of accessing or possessing the decedent's digital accounts.
F. The authority provided in this Article shall be specifically subject to copyright law and shall not increase the scope of the license granted in the terms of service of any digital account. The agent, representative or fiduciary shall be personally responsible for any infringement of third party copyrights that occurs in the transfer or distribution of any digital account or its contents.
G. No cause of action shall lie in any court under the law of this state against any provider of digital account service, including its officers, directors, employees, agents, members, or other specified persons, for any actions taken to disclose or otherwise provide access to the contents of a digital account pursuant to this Article.
H. For purposes of this Article, the term "digital account" shall include any account of the decedent on any social networking Internet website, web log Internet website, microblog service Internet website, short message service Internet website, electronic mail service Internet website, financial account Internet website, or any similar electronic services or records, together with any words, characters, codes, or contractual rights necessary to access such digital assets and any text, images, multimedia information, or other personal property stored by or through such digital account.
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 2023, No. 38, §1, eff. 7/1/2023. Amended by Acts 2014, No. 758, §1, eff. 8/1/2014. Amended by Acts 1964, No. 4, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Article 3191 opens Chapter 4 with the baseline against which every other provision in the chapter has to be read: a succession representative is a fiduciary. Paragraph A does not just label the role; it fixes the standard of care that governs it. The representative has to meet a prudent-administrator standard on every decision involved in collecting, preserving, and managing succession property, and bears personal responsibility for damages caused by falling short of it. Everything in the rest of Section 1, the ban on self-dealing in Article 3194, the duty to close the succession in Article 3197, builds on this fiduciary foundation.
Paragraph B addresses a practical problem: a succession representative who is not available in person to handle every act of administration. A nonresident representative may appoint an agent, through a procuration or mandate, to represent them in all acts of administration; a resident representative who will be absent temporarily may do the same for the period of the absence. The article also allows a narrower kind of agency, appointing someone to alienate, acquire, lease, or encumber specifically described property on stated terms, whether the procuration spells out those terms or states that the representative has approved them. Either kind of procuration goes into the succession record, and none of it needs separate court approval to take effect.
Paragraphs C through H, added later, extend the representative's authority into an area the Code's older provisions never anticipated: a decedent's digital accounts, such as social media, email, and similar online services. Subject to any restriction in a valid testament or court order, the representative may take control of, manage, or terminate these accounts, and anyone who stores or administers them must provide access within thirty days after receiving the representative's letters, subject to federal law and to the specific rules governing federally insured financial institutions. The article overrides any contrary term of service and treats the representative as an authorized user with the decedent's lawful consent, though it does not expand what copyright law otherwise permits, and it shields a compliant service provider from liability for granting access under its terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What standard of care does a Louisiana succession representative owe?
A prudent-administrator standard, applied to every decision in collecting, preserving, and managing succession property. The representative is personally responsible for damages caused by falling short of it.
Can a succession representative who lives out of state appoint someone else to handle the administration?
Yes. A nonresident, or a resident temporarily absent from the state, may appoint an agent by procuration or mandate, filed in the succession record without needing separate court approval.
Does a succession representative have authority over the decedent's social media and email accounts?
Yes, subject to any restriction in a valid testament or court order, and the entity holding the account must provide the representative access within thirty days after receiving the letters of appointment.
Is a succession representative personally liable for something that happens with a decedent's digital accounts?
Yes, for any infringement of third-party copyrights occurring in the transfer or distribution of a digital account or its contents; the article does not expand the license granted under a service's terms.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:fiduciary duty succession representative LouisianaArticle 3191 Louisianaprudent administrator succession Louisianadigital accounts succession representative Louisianaagent for nonresident succession representative