4.5.2 Lapsed Legacies

A legacy may lapse for several reasons including renunciation, invalidity, or the legatee’s death prior to that of the testator.1

The will controls the disposition (or “accretion”) of a lapsed legacy.2 In the absence of a governing testamentary provision, accretion occurs by the following rules:

1. A special rule applies when the legatee is the testator’s child or sibling, or a descendant thereof. In that case, the lapsed legacy goes to descendants of the legatee.3 The remaining rules apply to all other legatees.

2. If a joint legatee dies before the testator, the legatee’s share goes to the other joint legatee(s) equally.4 A legacy is “joint” if made to more than 1 person without assigning shares.5 The testamentary language controls this classification. For example, “I give my immovable property to A and B” creates a joint legacy, but the language “share and share alike” or “to share equally” does not. If the legacy is not joint, each legatee owns a specific portion without a right of survivorship in favor of co-legatees.6

3. When a particular or general legacy lapses, accretion takes place in favor of the successor who, under the will, would have received the thing if the legacy had not been made.7

4. A lapsed legacy that is not disposed of under the above rules goes ratably to the universal legatees.8

5. Any portion of the estate not disposed of under the above rules devolves by intestacy rules.9

• 1La. C.C. art. 1589.
• 2La. C.C. art. 1590.
• 3La. C.C. art. 1593.
• 4La. C.C. art. 1592.
• 5La. C.C. art. 1588.
• 6Succession of Lambert, 28 So. 2d 1 (La. 1946).
• 7La. C.C. arts. 1591, 1586–1587.
• 8La. C.C. arts. 1585, 1595.
• 9La. C.C. art. 1596.