Art. 3396.18.Inventory Or Sworn Descriptive List

Independent administration reduces court involvement in the day-to-day running of the estate, but it does not eliminate the baseline record of what the estate held and owed. Article 3396.18 requires that before the succession can be closed, a judgment of possession rendered, and the independent administrator discharged, an inventory or sworn detailed descriptive list of the estate's assets and liabilities, verified by the independent administrator, be filed.

The article also allows for privacy that would not otherwise be available, since succession filings are generally part of the public record. The independent administrator, an heir, or a legatee may request that the detailed descriptive list be sealed, keeping its contents out of public view.

Sealing does not cut off everyone with a legitimate interest. If the list is sealed, a copy still goes automatically to the decedent's universal successors and surviving spouse. Beyond that, any successor, the surviving spouse, or a creditor of the estate may move the court to furnish relevant information about the estate's assets and liabilities, even though the sealed list itself stays out of the public record.