Title ES, Estates Code

Sec. 201.002. SEPARATE ESTATE OF AN INTESTATE. (a) If a person who dies intestate leaves a surviving spouse, the estate, other than a community estate, to which the person had title descends and passes as provided by this section. (b) If the person has one or more children or a d…

Sec. 201.003. COMMUNITY ESTATE OF AN INTESTATE. (a) If a person who dies intestate leaves a surviving spouse, the community estate of the deceased spouse passes as provided by this section. (b) The community estate of the deceased spouse passes to the surviving spouse if: (1) no …

Sec. 201.051. MATERNAL INHERITANCE. (a) For purposes of inheritance, a child is the child of the child's biological or adopted mother, and the child and the child's issue shall inherit from the child's mother and the child's maternal kindred, both descendants, ascendants, and col…

Sec. 201.052. PATERNAL INHERITANCE. (a) For purposes of inheritance, a child is the child of the child's biological father if: (1) the child is born under circumstances described by Section 160.201, Family Code; (2) the child is adjudicated to be the child of the father by court …

Sec. 201.053. EFFECT OF RELIANCE ON AFFIDAVIT OF HEIRSHIP. (a) A person who purchases for valuable consideration any interest in property of the heirs of a decedent acquires good title to the interest that the person would have received, as purchaser, in the absence of a claim of…

Sec. 201.054. ADOPTED CHILD. (a) For purposes of inheritance under the laws of descent and distribution, an adopted child is regarded as the child of the adoptive parent or parents, and the adopted child and the adopted child's descendants inherit from and through the adoptive pa…

Sec. 201.055. ISSUE OF VOID OR VOIDABLE MARRIAGE. The issue of a marriage declared void or voided by annulment shall be treated in the same manner as the issue of a valid marriage. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 680 (H.B. 2502), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sec. 201.056. PERSONS NOT IN BEING. No right of inheritance accrues to any person unless the person is born before, or is in gestation at, the time of the intestate's death and survives for at least 120 hours. A person is: (1) considered to be in gestation at the time of the inte…

Sec. 201.057. COLLATERAL KINDRED OF WHOLE AND HALF BLOOD. If the inheritance from an intestate passes to the collateral kindred of the intestate and part of the collateral kindred are of whole blood and the other part are of half blood of the intestate, each of the collateral kin…

Sec. 201.058. CONVICTED PERSONS. (a) No conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate except as provided by Subsection (b). (b) If a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or contract is convicted and sentenced as a principal or accomplice in wilfully bringing…

Sec. 201.059. PERSON WHO DIES BY CASUALTY. Death by casualty does not result in forfeiture of estate. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 680 (H.B. 2502), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sec. 201.060. ALIENAGE. A person is not disqualified to take as an heir because the person, or another person through whom the person claims, is or has been an alien. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 680 (H.B. 2502), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sec. 201.061. ESTATE OF PERSON WHO DIES BY SUICIDE. The estate of a person who commits suicide descends or vests as if the person died a natural death. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 680 (H.B. 2502), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2014.

Sec. 201.062. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS. (a) A probate court may enter an order declaring that the parent of a child under 18 years of age may not inherit from or through the child under the laws of descent and distribution if the court finds by clear and co…

Sec. 201.101. DETERMINATION OF PER CAPITA WITH REPRESENTATION DISTRIBUTION. (a) The children, descendants, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, or other relatives of an intestate who stand in the first or same degree of relationship alone and come into the distribution of the intest…

Sec. 201.102. NO DISTINCTION BASED ON PROPERTY'S SOURCE. A distinction may not be made, in regulating the descent and distribution of an estate of a person dying intestate, between property derived by gift, devise, or descent from the intestate's father, and property derived by g…

Sec. 201.103. TREATMENT OF INTESTATE'S ESTATE. All of the estate to which an intestate had title at the time of death descends and vests in the intestate's heirs in the same manner as if the intestate had been the original purchaser. Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 680 (…

Sec. 201.151. DETERMINATION OF ADVANCEMENT; DATE OF VALUATION. (a) If a decedent dies intestate as to all or part of the decedent's estate, property that the decedent gave during the decedent's lifetime to a person who, on the date of the decedent's death, is the decedent's heir,…

Sec. 201.152. SURVIVAL OF RECIPIENT REQUIRED. If the recipient of property described by Section 201.151 does not survive the decedent, the property is not considered in computing the division and distribution of the decedent's intestate estate unless the decedent's contemporaneou…

Sec. 202.001. GENERAL AUTHORIZATION FOR AND NATURE OF PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP. In the manner provided by this chapter, a court may determine through a proceeding to declare heirship: (1) the persons who are a decedent's heirs and only heirs; and (2) the heirs' respective s…

Sec. 202.002. CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP IS AUTHORIZED. A court may conduct a proceeding to declare heirship when: (1) a person dies intestate owning or entitled to property in this state and there has been no administration in this state of the pers…

Sec. 202.0025. ACTION BROUGHT AFTER DECEDENT'S DEATH. Notwithstanding Section 16.051, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, a proceeding to declare heirship of a decedent may be brought at any time after the decedent's death. Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1136 (H.B. 2912),…

Sec. 202.004. PERSONS WHO MAY COMMENCE PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP. A proceeding to declare heirship of a decedent may be commenced and maintained under a circumstance specified by Section 202.002 by: (1) the personal representative of the decedent's estate; (2) a person claim…

Sec. 202.005. APPLICATION FOR PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP. A person authorized by Section 202.004 to commence a proceeding to declare heirship must file an application in a court specified by Section 33.004 to commence the proceeding. The application must state: (1) the decede…

Sec. 202.006. REQUEST FOR DETERMINATION OF NECESSITY FOR ADMINISTRATION. A person who files an application under Section 202.005 not later than the fourth anniversary of the date of the death of the decedent who is the subject of the application may request that the court determi…

Sec. 202.007. AFFIDAVIT SUPPORTING APPLICATION REQUIRED. (a) An application filed under Section 202.005 must be supported by the affidavit of each applicant. (b) An affidavit of an applicant under Subsection (a) must state that, to the applicant's knowledge: (1) all the allegatio…

Sec. 202.008. REQUIRED PARTIES TO PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP. Each of the following persons must be made a party to a proceeding to declare heirship: (1) each unknown heir of the decedent who is the subject of the proceeding; (2) each person who is named as an heir of the dec…

Sec. 202.009. ATTORNEY AD LITEM. (a) The court shall appoint an attorney ad litem in a proceeding to declare heirship to represent the interests of heirs whose names or locations are unknown. (b) The court may expand the appointment of the attorney ad litem appointed under Subsec…

Sec. 202.051. SERVICE OF CITATION BY QUALIFIED DELIVERY METHOD WHEN RECIPIENT'S NAME AND ADDRESS ARE KNOWN OR ASCERTAINABLE. Except as provided by Section 202.054, citation in a proceeding to declare heirship must be served by a qualified delivery method on: (1) each distributee …

Sec. 202.052. SERVICE OF CITATION BY PUBLICATION. If the address of a person or entity on whom citation is required to be served cannot be ascertained, citation must be served on the person or entity by publication in the county in which the proceeding to declare heirship is comm…

Sec. 202.053. REQUIRED POSTING OF CITATION. Except in a proceeding in which citation is served by publication as provided by Section 202.052, citation in a proceeding to declare heirship must be posted in: (1) the county in which the proceeding is commenced; and (2) the county of…

Sec. 202.054. PERSONAL SERVICE OF CITATION MAY BE REQUIRED. (a) The court may require that service of citation in a proceeding to declare heirship be made by personal service on some or all of those named as distributees in the application filed under Section 202.005. (b) If a di…

Sec. 202.055. SERVICE OF CITATION ON CERTAIN PERSONS NOT REQUIRED. A party to a proceeding to declare heirship who executed the application filed under Section 202.005, entered an appearance in the proceeding, or waived citation under this subchapter is not required to be served …

Sec. 202.056. WAIVER OF SERVICE OF CITATION. (a) A distributee who is 16 years of age or older may waive citation required by this subchapter to be served on the distributee. (b) A parent, managing conservator, guardian, attorney ad litem, or guardian ad litem of a distributee wh…

Sec. 202.057. AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE OF CITATION. (a) A person who files an application under Section 202.005 shall file with the court: (1) a copy of any citation required by this subchapter and the proof of delivery of service of the citation; and (2) an affidavit sworn to by the…

Sec. 202.101. REQUIRED TRANSFER OF PENDING PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. If, after a proceeding to declare heirship is commenced, an administration of the estate of the decedent who is the subject of the proceeding is granted in this state or the dec…

Sec. 202.102. TRANSFER OF RECORDS. The clerk of the court from which a proceeding to declare heirship is transferred under Section 202.101 shall, on entry of the order under that section, send to the clerk of the court named in the order a certified transcript of all pleadings, e…

Sec. 202.103. PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO TRANSFERRED PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP; CONSOLIDATION WITH OTHER PROCEEDING. A proceeding to declare heirship that is transferred under Section 202.101 shall proceed as though the proceeding was originally filed in the court to which the…

Sec. 202.151. EVIDENCE IN PROCEEDING TO DECLARE HEIRSHIP. (a) The court may require that any testimony admitted as evidence in a proceeding to declare heirship be reduced to writing and subscribed and sworn to by the witnesses, respectively. (b) Except as provided by Subsection (…

Sec. 202.201. REQUIRED STATEMENTS IN JUDGMENT. (a) The judgment in a proceeding to declare heirship must state: (1) the names of the heirs of the decedent who is the subject of the proceeding; and (2) the heirs' respective shares and interests in the decedent's property. (b) If t…

Sec. 202.202. FINALITY AND APPEAL OF JUDGMENT. (a) The judgment in a proceeding to declare heirship is a final judgment. (b) At the request of an interested person, the judgment in a proceeding to declare heirship may be appealed or reviewed within the same time limits and in the…

Sec. 202.203. CORRECTION OF JUDGMENT AT REQUEST OF HEIR NOT PROPERLY SERVED. If an heir of a decedent who is the subject of a proceeding to declare heirship is not served with citation by a qualified delivery method or personal service in the proceeding, the heir may: (1) have th…

Sec. 202.204. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OF CERTAIN PERSONS ACTING IN ACCORDANCE WITH JUDGMENT. (a) The judgment in a proceeding to declare heirship is conclusive in a suit between an heir omitted from the judgment and a bona fide purchaser for value who purchased property after ent…

Sec. 202.205. EFFECT OF CERTAIN JUDGMENTS ON LIABILITY TO CREDITORS. (a) A judgment in a proceeding to declare heirship stating that there is no necessity for administration of the estate of the decedent who is the subject of the proceeding constitutes authorization for a person …

Sec. 202.206. FILING AND RECORDING OF JUDGMENT. (a) A certified copy of the judgment in a proceeding to declare heirship may be: (1) filed for record in the office of the county clerk of the county in which any real property described in the judgment is located; (2) recorded in t…

Sec. 203.001. RECORDED STATEMENT OF FACTS AS PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF HEIRSHIP. (a) A court shall receive in a proceeding to declare heirship or a suit involving title to property a statement of facts concerning the family history, genealogy, marital status, or the identity of the…