Art. 4397.Deceased Or Interdicted Tutor

A tutor's death or interdiction does not erase the obligation to account for how the minor's property was managed while the tutor held the role; it just changes who has to do the accounting. Article 4397 identifies who steps into that role in each situation.

If the tutor has died, an account of the tutor's administration can be filed by the tutor's own succession representative -- the person handling the deceased tutor's estate -- or by the deceased tutor's heirs. If the tutor has instead been interdicted, meaning a court has found the tutor unable to manage their own affairs, the tutor's curator, the person appointed to manage the interdicted person's affairs, may file the account in the tutor's place.

Neither route is automatic; someone with the authority to file still has to act, or the court has to compel it. Article 4397 gives the court that power: on the petition of an interested person, the court shall order the filing of the account, whether the underlying trigger was the tutor's death or interdiction. That mandatory language means the court has no discretion to refuse once a proper petition is filed -- the accounting has to happen either way, closing out the deceased or interdicted tutor's administration just as Article 4392 would close out a tutorship ending through removal or resignation.