The 1997 Successions and Donations Revision—A Critique in Honor of A.N. Yiannopoulos

Article by Cynthia Ann Samuel

As the first reporter to complete a part of Louisiana State Law Institute's revision of the Louisiana Civil Code A.N. Yiannopoulos set the standard for all subsequent civil-code revision. In light of the Yiannopoulos standards, this Article analyzes the most recent piece of civil-code revision to emanate from the Law Institute, the 1997 revision of the law of successions and donations. Topics in the new law that are discussed include acceptance, renunciation, accounting among successors, formalities for wills, lapsed legacies, revocation, and interpretation. The new rules are compared to their counterparts in modern common-law and civil-law jurisdictions. The author concludes that improvements are needed to make the new law worthy of both the present law of successions and donations and Professor Yiannopoulos's preceding revisions of the Louisiana Civil Code.


About the Author

Cynthia Ann Samuel. W.R. Irby Professor of Law, Tulane University.

Citation

73 Tul. L. Rev. 1041 (1999)