In proceedings under this Chapter, court costs shall be one-half of the court costs in similar proceedings in larger tutorships, provided that the minimum costs in any case shall be one hundred dollars.
Art. 4464.Court Costs
Book VII. Special Proceedings · Title VI. Tutorship · Chapter 12. Small Tutorships · Last amended 2013 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 4464 sets court costs in a small tutorship at half the cost charged in comparable larger tutorship proceedings, subject to a floor of one hundred dollars in minimum costs regardless of how small the estate is.
Full Text of Art. 4464
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 2013, No. 118, §1, eff. 6/5/2013.
Plain-English Summary
Reducing paperwork through Articles 4462 and 4463 addresses part of what makes administering a small estate through the ordinary tutorship process disproportionate; Article 4464 addresses the remaining piece, the court costs themselves. Running a modest fifty-thousand-dollar estate through court costs designed for larger tutorships could consume a meaningful share of what the minor owns.
Article 4464 responds with a direct discount: court costs in a small tutorship proceeding are set at one-half of what similar proceedings cost in larger tutorships. That cuts the fee burden in proportion to the reduced scale of the estate being administered, rather than charging every tutorship the same flat cost regardless of size.
The discount has a floor. Whatever half of the ordinary cost would come to, the minimum cost in any small tutorship case is one hundred dollars. That floor keeps the smallest estates from being administered for costs so low they would not meaningfully cover the court's own expense in handling the proceeding, even as Article 4464 keeps those costs well below what a larger tutorship would bear.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do court costs run in a Louisiana small tutorship?
Half of what court costs would be in a comparable larger tutorship proceeding, subject to a minimum.
Is there a minimum court cost for a small tutorship no matter how modest the estate is?
Yes. Article 4464 sets a floor of one hundred dollars in minimum costs, even where half of the ordinary cost would come to less.
Why does Louisiana reduce court costs for small tutorships?
To keep the expense of administering a modest estate proportionate to its size, so the cost of the proceeding does not consume a disproportionate share of what the minor owns.
Does the cost reduction under Article 4464 apply automatically once a tutorship qualifies as small?
The reduced-cost schedule applies to proceedings under Chapter 12, which is available once the tutorship meets the small tutorship definition in Article 4461.
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
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