Art. 3381 Judgment of possession

When someone dies and their estate goes through a succession, the court eventually issues a judgment of possession. This document officially states who inherits the property and gives them legal ownership.

Before a judge signs this judgment, there usually needs to be a hearing. The succession representative (the person managing the estate) must be given a chance to respond or object, since this decision affects how the estate's property gets distributed.

However, if the succession representative agrees with the judgment and signs onto the request themselves, the process moves faster. In that case, the judge can sign the judgment right away without holding a separate hearing. This speeds things up when everyone involved is already in agreement about how the property should be distributed.