Intestacy

Will My Surviving Sibling Inherit My Entire Estate If I Die Without A Will?

September 5, 2012

I was contacted recently by a man I’ll call Jack, whose uncle had just passed away. Jack’s uncle was single, his parents had predeceased him, and he left only one surviving sibling, Jack’s mother. Jack assumed his mother would be the sole heir of her brother’s estate. Jack was surprised when the probate judge asked [...]

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The Rigidity of the Intestacy Statutes

August 1, 2012

I received an email this week from a grieving and very frustrated man. He lost his wife this month after sixteen years of marriage. Both he and his wife had been married before, and each of them had children from their previous marriages. They owned a home in Texas. His wife never worked outside the [...]

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Why Do I Need A Will?

June 27, 2012

Estate planning attorney, Scott Zucker, wrote a great article several weeks ago explaining the importance of estate planning. He reminded readers that how you dispose of your property at death is so important that if you don’t have a will, the state creates one for you. Each state has an intestacy statute, which is a [...]

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Who Inherits When Unmarried
Sibling Dies Without a Will in Texas

June 6, 2012

When an unmarried sibling dies without a will in Texas, the distribution of his estate will depend on whether he has any surviving descendants or parents. If he is survived by descendants, the Texas Probate Code specifies that the entire estate will pass to them. If he is not survived by descendants, his estate will [...]

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The Unintended Consequences of Not Having A Will:
Deadbeat Dad Claims Part of Deceased Son’s Estate

January 9, 2012

While I was in Houston over the Holidays, I read an article in the Houston Chronicle that illustrates the unintended consequences of not having a will. It was about a man named Timothy Cole, whose father had not been a part of his life since he was seven years old. Timothy Cole died in the [...]

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The Characterization of Property in Texas

September 26, 2011

I have written before that in the case of intestacy, the characterization of property as separate or community dictates how and to whom it is distributed.  It also affects which property you can dispose of in a Will at your death. But how does one distinguish between which property is community and separate? The following [...]

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