Bank accounts, since 2016
Unlike real estate, Louisiana bank accounts have a genuine, statutory beneficiary-designation option. Effective August 1, 2016, La. R.S. § 6:766.1 authorized bank accounts to carry payable-on-death (P.O.D.) or transfer-on-death (TOD) beneficiary designations. This authority was later extended to credit unions and savings and loan associations as well, giving Louisiana account holders across different types of financial institutions the same basic tool.
Securities, since 2022
Louisiana adopted the Uniform TOD Security Registration Act more recently still, effective January 1, 2022, codified at La. R.S. § 9:1641 and following. This lets stocks, bonds, and brokerage accounts be registered in beneficiary form, following the same basic Uniform Act framework many other states use for securities.
Both skip succession entirely
Unlike real estate, which almost always requires a succession proceeding regardless of how it's titled, a bank account or security with a properly designated P.O.D. or TOD beneficiary passes directly to that beneficiary at the owner's death, entirely outside the succession process. The beneficiary deals directly with the bank or brokerage to claim the funds, without needing a judgment of possession or any other court involvement.
Why joint ownership with survivorship still doesn't work for real estate
It's worth being precise about a common point of confusion: Louisiana's small succession affidavit — the simplified process for smaller estates — specifically excludes property owned jointly with right of survivorship from the list of assets it can transfer. This isn't a contradiction of what's described elsewhere in this guide; it's a reminder that Louisiana simply doesn't recognize that form of ownership for real property in the first place, so it makes sense that a process meant to transfer succession assets wouldn't reference an ownership form Louisiana doesn't use for real estate.
Life insurance and retirement accounts
Life insurance and retirement accounts like a 401(k) or IRA follow the same basic rule as bank and securities accounts: the named beneficiary receives the asset directly, outside succession, as long as they're alive when the owner dies. Either one becomes part of the succession estate only if no beneficiary was ever named, every named beneficiary predeceased the owner with no contingent beneficiary in place, or the policy or plan names the owner's own estate.
Why these accounts genuinely differ from real estate
The reason these accounts can skip succession while real estate generally can't comes back to the fundamental civil-law distinction discussed in our guide to why Louisiana has no TOD deed: a beneficiary designation on a bank account or security is treated as a contract between the account holder and the institution, not as a disposition mortis causa requiring a testament. Real estate transfers don't get this same contractual treatment under Louisiana law, which is exactly why the workarounds for real property look so different from the simple beneficiary form used for accounts.