About Letters Testamentary in Texas After a person passes away and leaves behind property to be administered, one of the first steps is for a personal representative to apply to the probate court for letters testamentary or letters of administration. Why Letters are Needed Letters testamentary or letters of administration give the personal representative the […]
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About Family Settlement Agreements in Texas Family settlement agreements are used to resolve probate litigation without trial. They can help avoid litigation costs and uncertainty associated with trial. Family settlement agreements can be used to resolve a number of probate disputes, such as will contests, will construction suits, claims and trust modifications, etc. They can […]
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In our last article, we wrote about how to probate an estate for a missing person and prior to that we wrote about lost wills. In response to these articles, one of our readers asked several questions about safe deposit boxes in Texas. This is another topic worthy of consideration. Texas’ estate laws address safe deposit […]
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We live in a digital world–well, most of our important documents do. Even today there are some documents that have to be kept in paper form. A will is an example. This begs the question, what happens when you lose your original will? Or what happens if you cannot locate the original will for a […]
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Texas law allows for an informal probate process. This gives the executor a considerable amount of leeway to administer the probate estate. But as highlighted in the recent In Re Cassar, No. 14-17-00825-CV (Ct. App.–Houston 2018) case, there are instances when the probate court will order the executor to post a bond to ensure that […]
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Texas Probate Attorney Ad Litem Fee is Not Negotiable Probate courts in Texas appoint attorneys to represent the unknown heirs. The attorneys fee is paid out of the probate assets. In Estate of Erwin, No. 07-16-00130-CV (Tex. App.–Amarillo 2018), the court addressed whether the beneficiaries and the attorney ad litem can negotiate or agree on […]
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Obtaining Clear Title When Will Not Probated How do you get clear title to real estate when the owner died with a will, but the will was never admitted to probate? The court addressed this in Ramirez v. Galvan, No. 03-17-00101-CV (Tex. App.–Austin 2018). Facts and Procedural History Mrs. Ramirez was diagnosed with terminal cancer. […]
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Settlement agreements entered into during the probate process are generally binding. But what happens when one party enters into an agreement and later changes their mind? Can they get out of the settlement agreement? The court recently addressed this in Estate of Riefler, No. 07-16-00375-CV (Tex. App.–Amarillo 2017). Facts and Procedural History The facts and […]
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The probate process can present a number of challenges for surviving spouses. These challenges can include figuring out how to pay personal expenses when the primary liquid assets are tied up in probate. Texas law allows for a widow’s allowance to cover these expenses. The court in Estate of Nielsen, No. 06-17-00055-CV (Tex. App.–Texarakana 2017) […]
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