re: Does louisiana have a law on who gets to make funeral arrangements?

If your dad is the executor, he must enter succession, get a death certificate, and pay all debts if sufficient funds exist. If the deceased didn't have a burial policy or did not add your father to his existing bank accounts before his death, the first step is to hire a lawyer to get financial access to his accounts. To be the executor you have to put up some of your own security to be held until succession is closed. It's usually a reduced amount (a few hundred) unless the estate is large.

It's no fun. Usually executors get a fee for the headaches.