Arbor Law, L.L.C. — Louisiana Successions

Louisiana successions, handled with care.

When a loved one passes, their home and their affairs deserve a steady hand. Thomas G. Donelon has practiced law in Louisiana for fifty years. At Arbor Law, successions are handled for one flat fee, explained up front — no hourly meter, no surprises.

Request a Consultation Call (504) 920-3195

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The Question Every Family Asks

Mom’s gone. What happens to the house?

In Louisiana, a succession is the legal process that passes a person’s home and property to their family. It is required even when everyone agrees — the court record is what makes the transfer real.

Many Louisiana estates qualify for a simpler path: a small succession, for estates valued at $200,000 or less under current Louisiana law. Arbor Law’s Homeplace Succession™ service exists for one job: get the homeplace into the family’s hands, correctly, for a flat fee quoted before any work begins.

0 yrs

Of Louisiana practice

$0,000

Small-succession threshold

0 fee

Flat, quoted up front

A Louisiana homeplace porch at golden hour

How It Works

Three steps. One steady hand.

Step 01 — The Conversation

It starts with a conversation, not a meter.

A short conversation about your family and the property — what your loved one owned, who the heirs are, and which road your succession is on. You will always know where things stand, and the first conversation costs nothing.

The System Behind the Firm

A law firm, powered like the future.

Arbor Law is part of The Arbor Group — a family of companies building a private intelligence system right here in Metairie. The firm’s work is organized by that system, so nothing falls through a crack. But every legal word is written or approved by Thomas G. Donelon himself. Technology in service of the law — never in place of it.

The Arbor agent team in front of Arbor headquarters

The Arbor Group agent team

Metairie, Louisiana

G.A.U.G.E.™

The Engine

The reasoning core of the Arbor system — it thinks in flows, not prompts, and keeps every file, deadline, and detail in its place.

VESTA™

The Voice

The firm’s front door, day or night. VESTA™ takes the message, books the conversation, and makes sure a human being calls you back.

KIARA™

The Platform

Successions, Explained Plainly

Two roads. We’ll tell you which one is yours.

When someone dies owning property in Louisiana — a house, land, accounts — that property does not pass to the family automatically, no matter what a will says or what everyone agrees to. A succession is the court process that makes the transfer official.

$200,000

The small succession

Louisiana law allows a simpler, faster succession for smaller estates. Under current law (as of August 1, 2026), estates valued at $200,000 or less may qualify, when the other legal requirements are met. A small succession can often be completed with an affidavit instead of a full court proceeding.

Full

The full succession

Larger or more complicated estates — property in several parishes, a contested will, minor heirs — go through a full succession. The firm handles both, and will tell you plainly which one your family needs.

What It Costs

One flat fee. Quoted in writing, before work begins.

Succession Affidavit

$1,000

Uncontested Succession

$2,500

Probate of a Will

$3,000

Both Parents, One Succession

$3,250 + court costs

Contested Matters

$250 / hour

The First Conversation

Free

The fee is quoted in writing before work begins and does not change because a file took longer than expected. No hourly billing on successions, ever.

An attorney's desk with bound law volumes

The Firm

Thomas G. Donelon

Thomas G. Donelon is a Louisiana attorney with fifty years of practice. From the firm’s office on N. Hullen Street in Metairie, he has spent his career on the work that holds families together at the hardest moments — property, inheritance, and the paperwork that protects both.

Arbor Law, L.L.C. is his firm. It does a small number of things, carefully: successions, title work, and the counsel that surrounds them. You talk to the people doing the work.

— Arbor Law, L.L.C., Metairie

Request a Consultation

Tell us a little about your situation.

The firm replies to every request personally. However you reach out — phone, form, or social — it comes to the same desk.

Call the Firm

(504) 920-3195

Instagram

@donelon.sean

The Office

3500 N. Hullen St
Metairie, LA 70002