Art. 3393.Reopening of Succession

Discharge closes out a succession representative's role, but Article 3393 makes clear that closing is not always final. Subsection A addresses the situation Article 3392 leaves open: after a representative has been discharged, if other property of the succession is later discovered, or for any other proper cause, any interested person may petition the court to reopen the succession. The court can act with or without notice, as it directs, and may reappoint the discharged representative or appoint someone new. From there, the ordinary rules for an original administration apply to the reopened succession so far as they fit.

Subsection B reaches further, covering successions that never went through formal administration at all. If heirs or legatees formally or informally accepted the succession, or a court already rendered a judgment of possession, the court may still order the succession opened or reopened when other property turns up or another proper cause exists, regardless of whether any prior succession proceeding was ever filed. As in subsection A, the court may appoint or reappoint a succession representative, and original-administration procedure applies where applicable.

Subsection C protects reliance on the past. Reopening a succession cannot cause loss to a bank, savings and loan association, or any other person, firm, or corporation that acted in good faith under an order or judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction in the earlier proceedings, preserving the finality that those third parties were entitled to count on when the transaction occurred.