Art. 3396.15.Rights, Powers, and Duties; Performance Without Court Authority

Article 3396.15 is the defining article of Chapter 13. It does not give an independent administrator any new authority beyond what an ordinary succession representative already has. Instead, it grants the same rights, powers, authorities, privileges, and duties that Chapters 4 through 12 of this Title give any succession representative, covering everything from taking possession of estate property to selling it, leasing it, continuing a business, or paying its debts.

What changes is how that authority gets exercised. An independent administrator may act without the necessity of delay for objection, or application to, or any action in or by, the court. In practice, that means no waiting period for interested parties to object before a sale closes, no petition-and-order cycle before each individual transaction, and no publication requirement before routine acts that the default process would otherwise demand.

The contrast with default, court-supervised administration is sharp. Elsewhere in this Title, a succession representative typically needs notice, publication, and a court order before selling property, borrowing against the estate, or continuing a decedent's business. Article 3396.15 removes that transaction-by-transaction court involvement for an independent administrator, letting the same underlying powers be exercised directly.

The phrase except as expressly provided otherwise in this Chapter matters too. Later articles carve out specific exceptions even within the independent track, including how claims against the estate are enforced, how accountings work, and how removal proceeds, so independent administration reduces court supervision without eliminating every safeguard.