Also known as: forced share doctrines · elective share · forced heirship
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statutory right of a surviving spouse to claim a fixed fractional share of the decedent's augmented estate in place of any lesser provision made by will or intestacy. The right operates by operation of law upon timely election and overrides contrary testamentary dispositions to protect the surviving spouse against disinheritance.
After Felicia Fuentes is convicted of intentionally killing her husband, the personal representative denies her petition for a forced share of his estate. The court treats her as having disclaimed any interest, so the entire augmented estate passes to the couple's children under the governing statute.
Forrest Falconer dies leaving his entire estate to a child from a prior marriage. His surviving spouse Freya Freeman files a timely petition claiming her forced share. The probate court calculates the augmented estate and awards her the statutory fraction, reducing the child's inheritance accordingly.
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No. An individual who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent forfeits the elective share and all other benefits under the probate article. The estate then passes as if the killer had disclaimed the interest.
The allowances are payable in addition to the elective share and are not charged against it. A surviving spouse may therefore receive both the fractional share of the augmented estate and the fixed statutory allowances.
The share is computed against the augmented estate, which includes the probate estate plus specified nonprobate transfers made during marriage that benefit persons other than the surviving spouse.
Yes. A written agreement signed by the surviving spouse before or after marriage that waives all rights in the property or estate of the other spouse is enforceable and bars the elective share, provided it meets statutory formalities.
…The surviving spouse is entitled to an interest in the deceased spouse's estate.[^maj-11] Legitimate children have a right of forced heirship in their father's estate and can even retrieve property transferred by their father during his lifetime in reduction of their rightful interests.[^maj-12] Louisiana also has a complex set…